Mataram (city)

Mataram is a big city.

It sits on the island of Lombok. It is the capital of its province. Many people live in this city.

It is a place for learning. The city has many schools. It also has a main airport. This helps people travel.

Some parts of the city are near the sea. You can see Ampenan Beach.

It is a very busy place.

The weather can be very wet. It rains a lot in the summer. Then the rain stops for a while.

Many different people live here. They speak many ways to talk. It is a lively city to visit.

Mataram is a big city in Indonesia. It is the capital of West Nusa Tenggara. The city sits on the island of Lombok. It is the largest city in that province. Many people live there. In 2023, about 441,147 people lived in Mataram.

The city is a center for many things. It is a place for business and culture. It is also a place for learning. All the public universities are in this city. It has the main airport and government offices too.

Mataram is made of three towns joined together. One part is the old port town of Ampenan. This part is near the sea.

Many different groups of people live here. Most people are Sasak. The Sasak are the native people of Lombok. Other people come from Bali and Java. People speak many languages. Most use Indonesian for school and work. Many also speak Sasak or Malay.

The weather is tropical. It has a monsoon season. This means there is heavy rain from October to March. From April to September, there is very little rain.

Mataram is a busy capital city in Indonesia. It is the main city of the West Nusa Tenggara province. The city sits on the western side of Lombok island. It is surrounded by the West Lombok Regency on all land sides. This city is a very important place for the region. It serves as a center for business, culture, and learning.

All the public universities are located here. The main airport and government offices are also in the city.

The city grew by joining three different towns together. These towns used to be separate but now share one government. The old port town of Ampenan is in the west. It merges into the administrative center of Mataram. This part then joins the commercial town of Cakranegara. Further east is the district of Sweta. Sweta is home to the biggest market on Lombok. It also holds the main bus terminal for the island.

History tells us about the different groups that ruled this area. A small city called Selaparang was a center of Sasak power. This happened from the 16th to the 17th century. Later, Balinese rajas controlled West Lombok from their states. They ruled from Mataram and Cakranegara. Then, the Dutch invaded and occupied the island in 1894. This changed how the region was managed.

Many different groups of people live in Mataram today. The Sasak people are the native people of Lombok. They make up the largest group of residents. You can also find Balinese, Javanese, and Buginese people here. There are also Tionghoa-Peranakan and Arab Indonesian people in the city. People speak many languages in their daily lives. Most use Indonesian for school, business, and government. Many also speak Sasak or the Ampenan Malay language.

Mataram is part of a very large metropolitan area. This area is called Mataram Raya or Gumi Rinjani. In 2015, about 3 million people lived in this whole area. It is one of the largest areas in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The weather in the city is a tropical monsoon climate. This means there is heavy rain from October to March. From April to September, there is much less rain.

Mataram is the capital city of the West Nusa Tenggara province in Indonesia. It is located on the western side of Lombok island. While the city is a major urban center, it is surrounded on all landward sides by the West Lombok Regency. Mataram serves as the primary economic, cultural, and educational hub for the entire province. It is home to all of the province's public universities. Additionally, the city hosts the main regional airport and the primary government offices.

The city is part of a massive metropolitan region known as Mataram Raya. Some people also call this the Gumi Rinjani Metropolitan Area. This area surrounds the city and includes many neighboring locations. In 2015, the total population of this metropolitan area was approximately 3 million people. This makes it one of the largest metropolitan areas in the Lesser Sunda Islands. It is comparable in scale to the Denpasar metropolitan area located in Bali.

Geographically, the modern city is an urban sprawl. It is formed by three contiguous towns that were once separate. These towns now share a single administrative government. The old port town of Ampenan sits in the west. It merges into the administrative center of Mataram. This center then merges into the commercial town of Cakranegara. Further east lies the district of Sweta. This district contains the largest market on Lombok and the island's main bus terminal. These towns are connected by a wide, 8km-long one-way street. This road begins as Jalan Langko in Ampenan. It becomes Jalan Pejanggik in Mataram and ends as Jalan Selaparang in Cakranegara. This route continues east as the principal highway toward Labuhan Lombok and Kayangan.

The history of the region involves several different powers. From the 16th to the 17th century AD, a small city called Selaparang was a center of Sasak power in East Lombok. Later, West Lombok fell under the control of Balinese rajas. These rulers were based in their states of Mataram and Cakranegara. This period of Balinese rule ended in 1894. That was the year the Dutch invaded and occupied the island. This event significantly changed the political landscape of Lombok.

Mataram is a diverse city with many different ethnic groups. The Sasak people are the indigenous people of Lombok. They make up the majority of the residents in Mataram. Even as urban dwellers, the Sasak people maintain a strong connection to their culture. Other groups living in the city include Balinese, Javanese, and Buginese people. There are also Tionghoa-Peranakan people, who are of mixed Indonesian and Chinese descent. A small number of Arab Indonesian people live there too. Many of these families are of Yemeni descent and arrived when the town was known as Ampenan. There is also an ethnic Malay settlement in Ampenan called Kampung Melayu.

Language is also very diverse in the city. Most people use the Sasak language, which is native to the indigenous people. Indonesian is the most common language for formal business, education, and government. In private homes, residents often use the Mataram Sasak dialect. Because Mataram was once a center for the Karangasem kingdom of Bali, there is a large community of Balinese speakers. In the old town of Ampenan, people use Ampenan Malay as a regional language. This specific Malay dialect has been used in the area since at least the mid-19th century.

The city's population has grown steadily over the years. The 2010 Census recorded 402,843 people living in Mataram. By the 2020 Census, that number rose to 429,651. An official estimate from mid-2023 placed the population at 441,147. This total included 219,625 males and 221,522 females. The city is divided into six administrative districts, known as kecamatan. These are Ampenan, Sekarbela, Mataram, Selaparang, Cakranegara, and Sandubaya. Each district has its own area and population. For example, the Mataram district covers 10.76 square kilometers. The total area of all six districts combined is 61.30 square kilometers.

The climate in Mataram is a tropical monsoon climate, also known as Köppen Am. This means the weather follows a distinct pattern of rainfall. There is heavy rainfall from October to March. From April to September, the city experiences moderate to very little rainfall. This seasonal cycle is a key part of life in the province.