New
7 Natural Wonders of the World
New Seven Wonders of Nature-One
of 28 nominees. Winners will be announced in 2011.
Komodo is one of the
17,508 islands that make up the Republic
of Indonesia. The island has a surface
area of 390 km² and over 2000
inhabitants. The inhabitants of the
island are descendants of former convicts
who were exiled to the island and
who have mixed themselves with the
Bugis from Sulawesi. The population
are primarily adherents of Islam but
there are also Christian and Hindu
minorities.
Komodo is part of the
Lesser Sunda chain of islands and
forms part of the Komodo National
Park. Particularly notable here is
the native Komodo dragon. In addition,
the island is a popular destination
for diving. Administratively, it is
part of the East Nusa Tenggara province.
Komodo lies between the substantially
larger neighboring islands Sumbawa
to the west and Flores to the east.
The island is famous
not only for its heritage of convicts
but also for the unique fauna which
roam it. The Komodo dragon, the world's
largest living lizard, takes its name
from the island. A type of monitor
lizard, it inhabits Komodo and some
of the smaller surrounding islands,
attracting many tourists.
The Island was visited
in 1910 by a Dutch Officer Van Steyn
van Hensbroek. However, both Portuguese
and Japanese sailors had landed before
this. [3]
The Komodo Dragon. Scary
man eater!
