Rote Island (, also spelled ''Roti'') is an
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, part of the
East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara (; ) 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 north, with a total land area of 47,238.07 km2. It cons ...
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the
Lesser Sunda Islands
The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...
. According to legend, this island got its name accidentally when a lost
Portuguese sailor arrived and asked a farmer where he was. The surprised farmer, who could not speak Portuguese, introduced himself, "Rote". About 80% of the people of Rote Island in Indonesia are Christian. Christianity is an important part of the community.
Geography
Rote lies 500 km (310.686 miles) northwest of the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n coast and 150 km (105.633 miles) north of the
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited Australian States and territories of Australia#External territories, external territory consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs (Ashmore and Cartier), ...
. The island is situated to the southwest of the larger 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 Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
. To the north is the
Savu Sea
The Savu Sea (or the Sawu Sea) (, , ) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu (Sawu) on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Raijua to the south, the islands of Rote and Timor (split between East Timor and ...
, and to the south is the
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...
. To the west lie
Savu
Savu (, also known as Sabu, Havu, and Hawu) is the largest of a group of three islands, situated midway between Sumba and Rote, west of Timor, in Indonesia's eastern province, East Nusa Tenggara. Ferries connect the islands to Waingapu on Su ...
and
Sumba
Sumba (; ), natively also spelt as Humba, Hubba, Suba, or Zuba (in Sumba languages) is an Indonesian island (part of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago group) located in the Eastern Indonesia and administratively part of the East Nusa Tenggara pro ...
. The uninhabited
''Pamana'' (or ''Ndana'') island, just south of Rote, with an area of , is the southernmost
island of Indonesia
The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago () or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands composing the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. Indonesia is the world's largest ar ...
. Along with some other nearby small islands, such as
Nuse Island and
Ndao island to the west of Rote, it forms the
kabupaten (regency) of
Rote Ndao Regency
Rote Ndao Regency is a Subdivisions of Indonesia, regency in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia, consisting primarily of the island of Rote Island, Rote, situated south-west of the western tip of West Timor with an area of 978.54 km2, t ...
, which in the 2020 decennial census recorded a population of 143,764; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 148,811. Rote island has an area of (including offshore islands).
The main town,
Ba'a
Ba'a (''Baa'', ''Baadale'') is the capital of the Indonesian island of Rote and of the Rote Ndao Regency (''kabupaten''), in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. It lies in the district (''kecamatan
In Indonesia, district or ambiguously subdistri ...
, is located on the northern side of the island. Rote has a good
surf area in the south, around the village of
Nembrala
Nembrala or Nemberala is a village (''desa'') on Rote Island, in Rote Barat district, Rote Ndao regency, East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur) province, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeas ...
.
For the most part, the island is covered by grassland and palms. This island experiences
tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...
(''Aw'') with dry months for much of the year because of the dry winds that blow from mainland Australia. The main rainfall usually occurs between November and March. Between 80% and 95% of all rain falls during the wet west monsoon period and with little or no rain falling between July and October. The mean rainfall for Rote Island is around 1,200 to 1,300 mm annually. During the dry season, many streams and rivers run dry and local inhabitants must rely only on wells for their water supplies.
Geology
Rote is the youngest island of the
Banda
Banda may refer to:
People
* Banda (surname)
* Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician
* Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor
* Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician
*Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...
Fore Arc. The Banda Fore Arc is an accretionary wedge forming in response to an arc continent collision between oceanic crust of the
Eurasian Plate and the
Australian Plate
The Australian plate is or was a major tectonic plate in the eastern and, largely, southern hemispheres. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, Australia remained connected to India and Antarctica until approximately when Indi ...
. As the Australian continental shelf subducts under the Banda Arc, marine sediment is transferred to the upper plate, forming and
accretionary wedge
An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism forms from sediments accreted onto the non- subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary. Most of the material in the accretionary wedge consists of marine sediments scraped off from the ...
. Most of the wedge is submarine, but some parts are exposed above sea level forming the islands of
Sumba
Sumba (; ), natively also spelt as Humba, Hubba, Suba, or Zuba (in Sumba languages) is an Indonesian island (part of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago group) located in the Eastern Indonesia and administratively part of the East Nusa Tenggara pro ...
,
Savu
Savu (, also known as Sabu, Havu, and Hawu) is the largest of a group of three islands, situated midway between Sumba and Rote, west of Timor, in Indonesia's eastern province, East Nusa Tenggara. Ferries connect the islands to Waingapu on Su ...
, Rote and
Timor
Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
.
Rote and Savu are the youngest of these islands. Researchers have investigated the
biostratigraphy
Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. "Biostratigraphy." ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Biology ...
of
microfossil
A microfossil is a fossil that is generally between 0.001 mm and 1 mm in size, the visual study of which requires the use of light or electron microscopy. A fossil which can be studied with the naked eye or low-powered magnification, ...
s to time the uplift of these islands and the rate at which they rose from below sea level. Planktonic microorganisms called
Foraminifera
Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are unicellular organism, single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class (biology), class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell bio ...
build shells of
calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
. When they die, their shells accumulate on the seafloor as thick sequences of chalk.
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
forms in deep marine, low energy environments. The
Neogene
The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
Batu Putih Formation is a deposit of chalk, 100s of meters thick, that accumulated on top of the Banda Fore Arc accretionary wedge. This chalk is exposed at the surface on Rote and Savu.
By studying the faunal succession and thickness of chalk deposits, researchers have determined that the accretionary wedge began forming at least 5.6 million years ago. Rote rose to the surface around 200,000 years ago, half a million years after nearby Savu, from a depth of at least 2.5 km below sea level, at an average rate of 0.6 mm/year over the past 5.2 million years. Over the last 125,000 years that rate has increased to almost 1.4 mm/year. Changes in the rates in uplift is hypothesized to be a consequence of the subduction of the Scott Plateau of the Australian passive margin. More work is needed to understand the crustal and tectonic mechanisms that are at play in the development of the Rote and Savu islands.
Transportation
There is a daily
ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
to the island from
Kupang
Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as o ...
, the provincial capital on
West Timor
West Timor () is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The capital as well ...
, which provides transport for local passengers and goods as well as tourists. The trip between Kupang and Ba'a takes around two hours. The ferry leaves at 8.30 AM and costs 80,000
Indonesian rupiah
The rupiah (Currency symbol, symbol: Rp; ISO 4217, currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia, issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, Indonesians also inform ...
. The fare in 2023 had risen to 202,000 IDR.
Wings Air
PT Wings Abadi Airlines, operating as Wings Air, is a scheduled commuter passenger low-cost airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The airline operates out of Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar as well as several other airports aro ...
operates daily flights between Rote's
David Constantijn Saudale Airport
David Constantijn Saudale Airport , formerly known as Lekunik Airport, is an airport in Rote Ndao Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. It serves Ba'a, the capital city of Rote Ndao Regency as well as the largest town in Rote Island. The airpor ...
and Kupang's
El Tari International Airport
El Tari Airport — formerly Penfui Airport — is a domestic airport in Kupang on the island of Timor in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The airport is named after Elias "El" Tari (1926-1978), an Indonesian Army officer from Sa ...
. Flight time is about 30 minutes.
Economy

Rote consists of rolling hills, terraced plantations, acacia palm, savanna and some forests. The Rotinese depend, like the
Sabunese, on the
lontar palm not only for basic survival but also as a supplement to their income from fishing and jewelry making.
Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
is the main form of employment. Fishing is also important, especially in the eastern village of ''
Papela'' (east of ''Londalusi'' in the map), which has led to disputes with Australia over the water between them.
Tourist attractions
Rote has many historical relics including fine antique
Chinese porcelain
Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...
, as well as ancient arts and traditions. Several prominent Indonesian figures were born in Rote. A popular music instrument,
Sasando
The sasando, also called ''sasandu'' from Sandu or Sanu, is a tube zither, a harp-like traditional music string instrument native to Rote Island of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
The name ''sasando'' is derived from the Rote dialect word ”sasa ...
, is made of palm leaves.
In the eastern part of the island is a pond in
Landu Village that has non-poisonous
jellyfish
Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...
. The pond also has a white sandy beach.
Rote Island, also known as Rote Ndao, is an island consisting of 96 small islands and 6 of them are inhabited. Many islands have natural beaches and other natural and frequent tourism, but so far only local tourists often come to Rote. 10 of the most famous tourist attractions in Rote that are Bo'a beach,
Nemberala beach,
Lutu Babatu beach, Falii water located in West Rote,
Oesosole beach in East Rote, Termanu stone in central Rote, Laguna Nirwana in Southwest Rote,
Oekode Waterfall, Zero Point Rote and Inaoe beach in South Rote.
Culture
The
ti'i langga
Ti'i langga is the wide-brimmed hat found in Rote Island, eastern Indonesia. Rote Island is the southernmost of the inhabited islands of Indonesia, in the island province of East Nusa Tenggara, not far away from Timor. The characteristic feature o ...
is a traditional hat with a horn-like protrusion at the top that is a symbol of Rote cultural identity.
There are many languages spoken on the island, all related to the languages on nearby Timor island. These languages are:
Bilba,
Dengka,
Lole,
Ringgou,
Dela-Oenale,
Termanu, and
Tii.
Trivia
The critically endangered
Rote Island snake-necked turtle is endemic to Rote Island.
The US-born Australian scholar,
James J. Fox, has written extensively about Rotinese culture.
Gallery
Nusa_Manuk,_Sth_West_Rote.jpg, The Beach on Nusa Manuk (Manuk Island), Southwest Rote
The_Raja_of_West_Rote.jpg, A Raja
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
T ...
(traditional king) of Rote wearing the ti'i langga
Ti'i langga is the wide-brimmed hat found in Rote Island, eastern Indonesia. Rote Island is the southernmost of the inhabited islands of Indonesia, in the island province of East Nusa Tenggara, not far away from Timor. The characteristic feature o ...
Rote drummer.jpg, A Rotenese drummer with traditional hat
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Radja van Korbafo Roti tussen twee lijfwachten in TMnr 10001756.jpg, Korbafo chief with warriors, 1900
UvA-BC 300.329 - Siboga - twee inheemse bewoners van het eiland Rotti (Roti).jpg, Two Rotenese (Koa Fola dan Besi Fola, 1812–1816)
See also
*
List of islands of Indonesia
The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago () or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands composing the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. Indonesia is the world's largest a ...
*
Rotenese languages
References
Further reading
*
James J. Fox's book –
{{Authority control
Lesser Sunda Islands
Rote Ndao Regency
Landforms of East Nusa Tenggara
Outer Banda Arc
Islands of Indonesia