The Solor Archipelago () is a group of islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, lying to the east of

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

and to the west of the Alor Strait and the Alor Archipelago. To the north is the west part of the

Banda Sea The Banda Sea ( id, Laut Banda, pt, Mar de Banda, tet, Tasi Banda) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halma ...

, while to the south across the

Savu Sea The Savu Sea (or the Sawu Sea) ( id, Laut Sawu, pt, Mar de Savu, tet, Tasi Savu) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu (Sawu) on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Rai Jua to the south, the islands of ...

lies the island of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

. The largest islands are, from west to east, Solor,

Adonara Adonara is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, located east of the larger island of Flores in the Solor Archipelago. To the east lies Lembata, formerly known as Lomblen. Adonara is the highest of the islands of the archipelago, re ...

, and

Lembata Lembata is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, also known as Lomblen island; it is the largest island of the Solor Archipelago, in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. It forms a separate regency of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur. The ...

(formerly known as Lomblen), although there are many small islands as well. Administratively, the islands of Solor and Adonara are included within the East Flores Regency, while Lembata (with smaller offshore islands) forms its own regency (''kabupaten''), the

Lembata Regency Lembata Regency is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. Established on 4 October 1999 (under administrative Law UU 52/1999) from part of East Flores Regency, the regency covers the island of Lembata (formerly known as Lomblen), to ...

. Both regencies lie within the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Timur – NTT; pt, Sonda Oriental) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the nor ...

. The islands are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, and according to the official estimates for mid 2021, together with the number of administrative districts (''kecamatan'') on each island. In addition to the national language of

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

, the population also speak Lamaholot as a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

. There are also many local languages, for example

which is spoken on Adonara and Solor. On the South coast of Lembata, the village of Lamalera (pop. 2,500) is known for its hunting of the sperm whale and other deep-sea species. This is allowed under

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

regulations around

aboriginal whaling Indigenous whaling is the hunting of whales by indigenous peoples recognised by either IWC (International Whaling Commission) or the hunting is considered as part of indigenous activity by the country. It is permitted under international reg ...

but

conservationists The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the f ...

worry that commercial whaling is also done.Lamera whaling
/ref> Lamalera and

Lamakera Lamakera in 1904. Lamakera is a village in Indonesia, on the east tip of Solor Island. It was known for being the place where the most manta rays are killed. It was featured in the 2015 documentary film, ''Racing Extinction''. The villagers also h ...

(on the neighbouring island of Solor) are the last two remaining Indonesian whaling communities.

References

Archipelagoes of Indonesia Lesser Sunda Islands Landforms of East Nusa Tenggara Inner Banda Arc {{ENusaTenggara-geo-stub