Solor is a volcanic island located off the eastern tip 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 t ...
island in the
Lesser Sunda Islands of
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 Gui ...
, in the
Solor Archipelago. The island supports a small population that has been
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
for hundreds of years. They speak the languages of
Adonara and
Lamaholot. There are at least five
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...
es on this island which measures only by . The island's area is ,
and it had a population of 34,029 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 35,045.
Administrative Districts
The island is divided into three
districts (''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas (in km
2) and their populations at the 2010 Census and 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2021. The entire island is administered by the
East Flores Regency.
History of European contact
In 1520, the Portuguese established a
trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
in the village of
Lamakera on the eastern side of the island as a transit harbor between
Maluku and
Portuguese Malacca. In 1562,
Dominican priests built a palm-trunk fortress which
Javanese Muslims burned down the following year. The fort was rebuilt from more durable materials and the Dominicans commenced the
Christianisation of the local population. By 1590 the Portuguese and Christian population numbered about 25,000. There were, however, repeated displays of resistance against both the Portuguese and their religion; in 1598–1599, for example, the Portuguese required an armada of 90 ships to put down a Solorese uprising.
At this time, there was a conflict between the traders and the priests, so the traders left Solor and settled in
Larantuka at
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 t ...
island. When the Dutch came in 1613, the priests surrendered at the first attack and were brought to Larantuka, too.
The Dutch kept the fort, but did not make a profit close to the Portuguese port. After two commanders defected to the Portuguese, they gave up Solor. In 1636 the Portuguese were attacked by the Dutch and had to abandon the fort. In 1646 the Dutch occupied the fort again. The first of the new commanders was suspended, because he married an indigenous woman. The second commander challenged the Portuguese commander to a duel and was slain. In 1648 the Dutch left and the Dominican priests returned.
In 1851 the Portuguese governor José Joaquim Lopes de Lima sold Solor and other areas of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which had been under Portuguese sovereignty, to the Netherlands for 200,000 florins without authorization from Lisbon. Lisbon did not recognise the sale and had Lopes arrested. He died on the way back to Europe. From 1854 the agreements were renegotiated. The sale was finally confirmed in the Lisbon Treaty and was ratified in 1859. Although the Dutch occupied the fort with a small force, the occupation was withdrawn again in 1869 for economic reasons but the official affiliation to the Netherlands remained.
[M. C. Ricklefs: A History of Modern Indonesia Since c.1300. 2. MacMillan, London 1991, ISBN 0-333-57689-6, p.25] It was under
Japanese occupation between 1942 and 1945, but along with the state of East Indonesia was later annexed into the
United States of Indonesia
The United States of Indonesia ( nl, Verenigde Staten van Indonesië, id, Republik Indonesia Serikat, abbreviated as RIS), was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (exce ...
with independence in 1949.
Towns and villages
*Aplame
*Balawelin
*Kelike
*Kukuwerang
*
Lamakera, Indonesia
*Lamawolo
*Lewograran
*Liko
*Pamakayo
*Balawelin I - Riangtaliha and Lamalewo
*Balawelin II - Riangmuda and Rianglaka
*Daniwato
*Enatukan
*Sulengwaseng
*Kenere
*Lemanu
*Kelike - Lewolo and lamagohan
*Karawatung
*Ongalereng
*Menanga
*Liwo
*Lebao
*Lamboleng
*Apelame
*Buwu-Atagamu
*Lewograran
*Lewohedo
*Amakebo
*Wulublolong
*Lohayong
References
External links
Portuguese and Dutch in Timor and Solor
{{Authority control
Solor Archipelago
Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia
1613 establishments in the Dutch Empire