Alor Island

For other uses, see Alor (disambiguation).

Alor

Native name: Pulau Alor
Map of the islands of East Nusa Tenggara, including Alor in the far northeast
Location in Indonesia
Geography
Coordinates
Archipelago	Alor archipelago
Area
Highest elevation	1,423 m (4,669 ft)
Highest point	Gunung Muna
Country
Indonesia
Largest settlement	Kalabahi (pop. 60,000)
Demographics
Population	145,299 (as of 2010)
Density	51.9 /km2 (134.4 /sq mi)

Alor (Indonesian: Pulau Alor) is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago and is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. It is located at the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands that runs through southeastern Indonesia, which from the west include such islands as Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, and Flores.

To the east of the island across the Ombai Strait lie the islands of Wetar and Atauro, the latter belonging to East Timor. To the south, across the Strait of Alor, lies the western part of Timor. To the north lies the Banda Sea. To the west lies Pantar and the other islands of the Alor archipelago, and further yet the rest of the Sunda Islands.

Geography

Alor has an area of about 2800 km², making it the largest island of the Alor archipelago. Kalabahi is the only town on the island of Alor, with a metropolitan population of about 60,000. The variety of goods obtainable in Kalabahi is surprising considering its size and location. The 2010 census population of the island is 145,299 out of 190,000 in the regency.

Alor is of volcanic origin and has very rugged terrain. The region near Kalabahi is the only flat area. This may be why the Dutch chose the location as the capital and main harbor (Alor-Kecil) in 1911.

On 12 November 2004, an earthquake occurred, killing 34 people, and injuring 400. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.5 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).

Economy

The island's infrastructure is only weakly built. The inhabitants practice mainly subsistence agriculture. The government seeks to change this with the help of international organizations. In the villages, vanilla, tamarind, almonds and other nuts are cultivated. In the forests sandalwood is cut down for trade.

The latest geological explorations have discovered valuable resources such as gypsum, kaolin, petroleum, natural gas, tin, gold, and diamonds. Alor's snorkelling and diving may promise an increase in tourism in the future. Depletion of the fisheries has however damaged the coral reefs in recent years.

Alor warriors, 1895.

Religion

Over 168,000 people live on Alor. Three-fourths are Protestants, the rest are either Muslims or in a few villages Roman Catholics. Animistic rites and traditions are still strongly practiced.

Language

More than 15 different indigenous languages are spoken on Alor, the majority of them classified as Papuan or non-Austronesian. These include Abui, Adang, Hamap, Kabola, Kafoa, Woisika, Kelon, and Kui. In addition, Alorese (Bahasa Alor; ISO 639-3: aol) is a Malayo-Polynesian language which is spoken along the coast of the western and southern Bird's Head of Alor Island and in places on surrounding islands.

Many of the Papuan languages of Alor are endangered and are no longer being actively acquired by children. Some languages have fewer than 1000 speakers remaining. Significant linguistic documentation efforts have been undertaken recently by Leiden University. The language of daily communication is Alor Malay, a unique Malay variety with some similarities to Kupang Malay. Indonesian is taught in schools and used widely in media.

Transportation

During the dry season, Kalabahi is serviced by flights five times a week from Kupang the provincial capital, using a [ATR42] 46 seat by TransNusa Trigana Air and Kasa 18-seat airplane. These flights were run by the now defunct Merpati Airlines. Most of them were simply Kupang–Kalabahi–Kupang, but mid-2003 a new flight Kupang–Kalabahi–Kisar–Ambon, returning the next day, was introduced. The two Pelni passenger ships Serimau and Awu also pass through Kalabahi each week. Transport to Alor during the wet season is sometimes disrupted due to high winds and large waves.

On 17 November 2006, Trigana Air suffered its first ever plane accident. The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter struck a mountain in Puncak Jaya (Indonesia) seven minutes before it was scheduled to land in the remote Indonesian province of Papua. All 12 passengers on board died shortly after the incident.

See also

• List of islands of Indonesia

External links

• Alor and Pantar Languages Project
• Van Galen's Memorandum on the Alor Islands in 1946, part 1
• Van Galen's Memorandum on the Alor Islands in 1946, part 2