Komodo Island

A rugged volcanic island, home of the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard.

Komodo is part of Komodo National Park. In 1991 the park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve. English Wikipedia gives the island's area as 291 square kilometres, while Korean Wikipedia says 390, so sources differ. About 1,800 people lived on the island at the 2020 census, and the waters around it are a popular place for diving.

How the dragons became known

Maps from the late 1700s and early 1800s show the name Comodo Island, but the outside world heard of dragon-like animals only in the early 1900s, from Dutch sailors based on Flores. Local people described the creature as a land crocodile. A Dutch official, Lieutenant Steyn van Hensbroek, went to the island with soldiers and killed one lizard to study it. Understanding the dragons were rare, the Dutch government passed a protection rule in 1915. Scientists from many countries have studied them since.

Wildlife on land and sea

Komodo is part of the Lesser Sundas deciduous forests ecoregion. Besides the dragon, the island is home to Javan deer, which are not native, as well as water buffalo, banded pigs, civets, cockatoos and macaques. The sea around it belongs to the Coral Triangle, one of the richest marine areas on Earth. The island was also chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011, a list that is considered controversial.

People and the 2020 plan

The Komodo people have lived here for generations. Some earlier reports said they had died out by about 1980, but newer research believes thousands of people have some Komodo ancestry, though their language is endangered. Today's residents also include descendants of exiled convicts who mixed with Bugis people from Sulawesi. In 2019 officials announced a plan to close the island to tourists for a time for conservation. The plan was controversial.

On the globe

The model shows the rugged island with its dry hills and a Komodo dragon.