A WORLD HERITAGE SITE
Komodo National Park is located between the islands of Sumbawa
and Flores in the Lesser Sunda Islands, at a distance of
200 nautical miles to the east of Bali. It has a total land
area of 75,000 hectares and encompasses a number of islands,
the largest of which are Komodo (34,000 hectares), Rinca
(20,000 hectares), Padar, Nusa Kode, Motang, numerous smaller
islands, and the Wae Wuul sanctuary on Flores. A total of
112,500 hectares of the surrounding waters are also under
the jurisdiction of the park rangers.
HISTORY
In 1938 Padar and the south and west of Rinca were declared
a Wildlife Sanctuary, but it was only in 1965 that the island
of Komodo was formally included in the sanctuary. Komodo
National Park was established by government decree in 1980
followed by the designation of Komodo National Park as a
World Heritage Site in 1991
CLIMATE
Komodo National Park has the lowest annual rainfall in all
of Indonesia, with an abbreviated rainy season in the month
of January. For most of the year Komodo is dry and hot,
parched by arid winds from the Australian desert that blow
from April through October. Maximum temperatures reach 43
C, with minimums of 17 C in August
TOPOGRAPHY
Most of the Park is dry, rugged and hilly, a combination
of ancient volcanic eruptions and more recent tectonic uplift
of sedimentary seabeds. The irregular coastline is indented
with rocky headlands and sandy bays, many framed by soaring
volcanic cliffs.
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