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Mataram (city)

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

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.

Pantai Ampenan Mataram
Pantai Ampenan Mataram

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.

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File:Pantai_Ampenan_Mataram.jpg
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