North Lombok Regency

North Lombok Regency is bounded by the Java Sea to the north, Central Lombok Regency and West Lombok to the south, East Lombok Regency to the east and the Lombok Strait to the west. Central to the region is Mount Rinjani which at 3,726 metres (12,224 ft) is the third highest mountain and the second largest volcano in the country and is an active volcano.[3] The oldest recorded historical eruption was in 1847 and last eruption was in May 2010[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Buddhist Temple Sutta Dhamma Lenek near Tanjung

Buddhist Temple Vihara Dhamma in Tanjung

Pura Medana, a Hindu Temple in the west of Tanjung

The Regency of West Lombok was established in 1958 and included the northern section of Lombok now established as the Regency of North Lombok. The West Lombok Administrative Region previously oversaw the West coast, Ampenan, Tanjung, Bayan, Gerung, Gondang and Cakranegara.

In 1993 the West Lombok subdistrict was separated into two autonomous regions. As a consequence of the formation of the Government of Mataram in year 2000 the capital of West Lombok was moved from Mataram, West Lombok to Gerung in the south of the subdistrict. This move resulted the 5 subdistricts in the northern end of the island being too far away from the services of the West Lombok Subdistrict at Gerung. Subsequently, and with the full support of the local government of West Lombok regency North Lombok established its own regional government situated at Tanjung and the north of the island now functions autonomously from the West Lombok Regency.[10][11] The Regency was ratified Law Number 26 Year 2008, creating the Regency from within the existing boundaries of is a division of the West Lombok Regency .

Central to the region is Mount Rinjani which at 3,726 m is the third highest mountain the second largest volcano in the country and is and an active volcano The oldest recorded historical eruption was in 1847 and last eruption was in May 2010. Gunung Rinjani Observation Post Rinjani Sembalun is located in the village of Lawang, Sub Sembalun 12.5 km (4000 feet) northeast of G. Rinjani. Observers at this post monitor G.Rinjani, and G.Barujari[5][12]

North Lombok Regency is bounded by:

• The Java Sea to the north.
• The West Lombok Regency to the southwest.
• The Central Lombok Regency to the south.
• The East Lombok Regency to the east.
• The Lombok Strait to the west.

North Lombok Regency consists of five districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their populations at the 2010 Census:[20]

The subdistricts are divided into 33 villages (Kelurahan or Desa).

The majority of the population are Sasak people. At the 2010 Census, North Lombok Regency recorded a total of 199,904 inhabitants.[21]

The Sasak people are the indigenous people of Lombok and form the majority of north Lombok's residents. north Lombok is also home to people of Balinese, Chinese, Tionghoa-peranakan people of mixed Indonesian and Chinese descent and small number of Arab Indonesian people, mainly of Yemeni descent who originally settled in the early port city of Ampenan.

Islam is the religion of the majority population of north Lombok. Other religions practised in east Lombok are Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

The northern part of Lombok is home to the Wektu Telu ("Three times"), who as the name suggests pray only three times daily, instead of the five times stipulated in the Quran. Many of the Waktu Telu beliefs are entwined with animism. Waktu Telu has influences not only of Islam, but also Hinduism and pantheistic beliefs. There are also remnants of Boda (people without a religion) who maintain Pagan Sasak beliefs. There is some considerable uncertainty about this though as others believe that the term Buda was simply a pejorative term used by the Islamized Sasak to indicate those groups that refused to convert to Islam. If this hypothesis is true, the remnants of the Boda religion can be seen as representing a kind of original Sasak culture, undiluted by later Islamic innovations.[22] Many influences of animist belief still prevail within the Sasak people and most Sasak people believe strongly in the existence of spirits or ghosts. These original Sask belief systems appear to be much stronger in the Northern areas of Lombok than elsewhere on the island The sasak people regard both food and prayer as indispensable whenever they seek to communicate with spirits, including the dead[23] and many ritualistic traditional Sasak practices still endure despite the influences of both modernity and orthodox Islam. This is discussed in more detail in the Lombok article.

There are around 800 Buddhists living in and around Tanjung. The town is known for its two Buddhist temples. Pura Modena is a famous Hindu temple in the west of Tanjung.

C1934. Traditional male dancers with drums, Lombok

Most people in north Lombok normally the Sasak language. Bahasa Sasak is the native language of the indigenous people of Lombok. Bahasa Indonesian is the language most widely used in everyday interactions at places such as the larger hotels and in the government offices. When at home or a place of recreation north Lombok residents tend to use local northern Lombok dialects of the Sasak language.

Plantation sector

In August 2010 the Deputy Governor of West Nusa Teggara (NTB), Ir H Badrul Munir, MM, announced in Tanjung, North Lombok Regency, that the subdistrict of North Lombok has the potential to be developed as a plantation area, and as a national center for cocoa development in NTB, this region is rich with agricultural commodities such as cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and cloves.[24][25]

Small public ferries provide passenger access between Bangsal harbour and the Gili Islands. These are operated by the Sea Transportation Maritime Co-operative (Koperasi Angkutan Laut Karya Bahari). The Koperasi is in principal a community co-operative and they operate three boat services; the Public Boat, the Shuttle boat, the Island Hopping boat and also offer (official) Charter boats. The craft are principally of local design and wooden construction powered by petrol fuelled outboard engines. Prices are set by Kebupaten decree, the pricing of current operations is defined by Pengumuman Dinas Perhubungan Lombok Barat no.:551/662/V/dishub tanggal 26 Mei 2008. Informal private charter services also serve the Bangsal-Gili islands routes and inter-island traffic.

Small high speed passenger craft such as speedboats connect the Gili Islands to Teluk Nare on the Lombok mainland immediately to the east of the Gili islands and Senggigi a little further south along the coast. Speedboat services are also available for local in-shore charters from Teluk Nare a little south of Bangsal and at Gili islands. The majority of the speedboat services are owned and operated by the local hotels and dive shops.

Fast boat services are small high speed craft operating multiple daily scheduled high speed boat services across the Lombok Strait westward to Bali. The craft are of light duty construction having either fibreglass or aluminium hulls and are powered by petrol fuelled outboards. Significant operational and safety issues plague these vessels and the operators.

In August 2010 the Deputy Governor of West Nusa Teggara (NTB), Ir H Badrul Munir, MM, announced plans for the government to assist development in the tourism sector in North Lombok. These plans, including improvements to land and sea transportation infrastructure are intended to assist with the tourist traffic going to the three Gili islands. Improvements are to include safety, convenience and transit time for operations of the public ferry co-operative providing the services crossing between Bangsal and Gili Trawangan[24]

Passenger and vehicle ferries:

• Lombok Strait: Tanjung Lembar Lombok - Padang Bai, Bali, with 12 ferries providing crossings once every hour.
• Alat Strait: Labuhan Lombok - Pototano, Sumbawa with 8 ferries providing 18 crossings per day.[26]

These drive on, drive off ferries provide the principal facilities for road transport movements in and out of Lombok. Disruptions on these routes can significantly affect trade and the provision of supplies to the island as the shipping operators on these routes will often suspend services due to breakdown or heavy seas.

Tanjung Lembar seaport in the southwest of the island provides facilities for small freighters and fishing boats.

Public buses and Bemo run both along the west coast from the south and through Pusuk pass to connect to Mataram and Cakranegara. Limited services are available on the east coast to connect to Praya and south toward Kuta.

North Lombok is served by the Lombok International Airport (Bandara Internasional Lombok) (IATA: LOP, ICAO: WADL).

Lombok International Airport in Central Lombok commenced operations on 1 October 2011 replacing the previous international and domestic facilities at Selaparang Airport near Ampenan in West Lombok Regency which formally closed for operations on the evening of 30 September 2011. All services previously operated at the Selaparang airport were moved across to the new airport at that time.

Limited Helicopter charter is available from Bali and light fixed wing charter is available from both Lombok and Bali.

Rinjani erupting in 1994

The northern region of Lombok holds two of the islands most significant tourism attractions, Mount Rinjani (including Segara Anakan Lake) and the Gili Islands.
On the west coast this touristic region starts just north of the township of Senggigi at Klui beach and runs northward toward the northern townships of Pemenang and Tanjung. Bangsal and Tanjunk Teluk near Pemenang provide services connecting across the short distance of water to the Gili islands off the Sire Peninsular just south of Tanjung. A little further to the north are Bayan and Senaru which offer the main gateways to access Mount Rinjani.

Gunung Rinjani National Park (Taman Nasional Gunung Rinjani) is popular for mountain climbs and trekking and represents an important nature reserve and water catchment area. The park is officially 41,330 hectares within the park boundaries and a further 66,000 hectares of protected forest outside. The mountain and its satellites form the Mount Rinjani National Park (Taman Nasional Gunung Rinjani) - officially 41,000 hectares within the park boundaries and includes a further 66,000 hectares of protected forest outside. In 2008, the Indonesian government proposed to UNESCO that Mount Rinjani be one of the world's official geoparks. If this was approved by UNESCO, Mount Rinjani would become the first such geological park in Indonesia.[27][28][29][30]

• See the article on Mount Rinjani for more information.

Kosaido Golf Club is an international 18 holes championship course located on the Sire Peninsula in Tanjung. The course has views of Mt. Rinjani to the north east and the Gili Islands across the bay to the west. The course was designed by Peter Thompson, Michael Wolveridge & Perrett and pays respect to the natural onsite contours of the land. The 18 holes championship course offers a basic clubhouse facility and is promoted as having a unique, challenging and world class experience for golfers of all levels.[31]

In 2011, the regency serviced 337,646 domestic and foreign tourists. Mainly foreigners came from the West European countries.[32]

Tanjung is known for its market and for its two Buddhist temples. Sutta Dhamma Lenek is a comparatively new temple near Tanjung. Vihara Dhamma in the centre of Tanjung was severely damaged by an earthquake in 2006. The temple is being reconstructed at present. Pura Modena is a famous Hindu temple in the west of Tanjung.

The newly established Medana Bay Marina at Medana Bay near Tanjung has twenty five mooring buoys in more than 5m of water for 35 ft to 45 ft vessels and anchorage space for another twenty vessels.[33] The marina facilities were established in 2009 and hosted over 90 yacht during the Sail Indonesia event in September 2009.

•  PRC, Haikou[37]

Please see main Lombok article for more detail.

There are Four Regencies on the Island of Lombok.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for North Lombok.

• Kabupaten Lombok Utara the Regency of North Lombok
• Kabupaten Lombok Tengah, the Regency of Central Lombok
• Kabupaten Lombok Timur, the Regency of East Lombok
• Kabupaten Lombok Barat, the Regency of West Lombok
• Nusa Teggara Barat, West Nusa Teggara
• Kota Mataram, City of Mataram
• Lombok travel guide from Wikivoyage