To the north lies the Java Sea. To the west is Central Lombok Regency. To the south is the Lombok Basin and the Indian Ocean and to the east lies Elas Strait, a narrow body of water separating Lombok and the nearby small Gili Belang from Sumbawa which lies approximately 15 km to the east. The north of the Regency is on the eastern flank of Mount Rinjani which at 3,726 m is the third highest mountain the second largest volcano in the country. The mountain is an active volcano, the oldest recorded historical eruption was in 1847 and last eruption was in May 2010.
Administration
The area of East Lombok Regency is 2,679.88 km², consisting of a landmass area of 1,605.55 km ² and a seabed area of 1,074.33 km².
The districts are subdivided into 119 Desa/Kelurahan.
Population
The majority of the population are Sasak people. In 2008 East Lombok Regency recorded a total of 1,068,486 residents: 494,149 males and 574,337 females. In the 2010 Census, East Lombok Regency recorded 1,105,671 inhabitants, 24.7% being officially below Indonesian poverty level; the latest official estimatew is 1,155,247. The population of this regency are primarily Muslim, with few people of Balinese origin compared with West Lombok.
Ethnicity
The Sasak people are the indigenous people of Lombok and form the majority of East Lombok's residents. East Lombok is also home to people of Balinese, Chinese, Tionghoa-peranakan people of mixed Indonesian and Chinese descent and small number of Arab Indonesian people, mainly of Yemeni descent who originally settled in the early port city of Ampenan.
Most people in east Lombok normally speak the Sasak language. Sasak is the native language of the indigenous people of Lombok. Indonesian is the language most widely used in everyday interactions at places such as hotels, larger shops in the township of Praya and in government offices. When at home or a place of recreation east Lombok residents tend to use local eastern Lombok dialects of the Sasak language.
Land use
Rivers and catchment areas:' Lombok Island has four main watersheds. Menanga watershed, which is administratively in the territory of East Lombok, has been declared by the Governor of Nusa Teggara Barat to be a critical watershed by Decree No. 122 in 2005. Lombok is faced with a serious water supply and management problem, caused by increasing forest and water table damage, land degradation and poor forestry management. West Nusa Tenggara province as a whole is threatened with a water crisis caused by increasing forest and water table damage and degradation.
Services and development
The region is essentially agrarian in activity with rice, copra, casava, tobacco, timber and other crops. Rainfall is lower in the south of the Regency and higher in the north as the land rises toward Mount Rinjani. Rinjani supplies a rainfall catchment area to the region and several into eastern Lombok rivers flow from its slopes. The sea supports a small local fishing industry, seaweed harvesting, a pearl industry and prawn farming. The growing tourism industry in Lombok has had little effect on the eastern coast. The proximity of the new Lombok International Airport will possible lead to an increase in tourism related business and development in east Lombok in coming years.
Transport
Public ferries' provide services for both passengers and vehicles. Labuhan Lombok is in East Lombok Regency and provides connections eastward to Sumbawa. Tanjung Lembar in the south west of the island is Lombok's main port and handles small freighters, fishing boats and the combination vehicle and passenger ferries heading westward to Bali.
Alat Strait: Labuhan Lombok - Pototano, Sumbawa with 8 ferries providing 18 crossings per day.
Lombok Strait: Lembar Lombok - Padang Bai, Bali, with 12 ferries providing crossings once every hour.
These ferries connecting to nearby Sumbawa and Bali provide the principal facilities for road transport movements in and out of Lombok. Disruptions on these routes can significantly affect trade and the provision of supplies to the island as the shipping operators on these routes will often suspend services due to breakdown or heavy seas. East Lombok is served by the Lombok International Airport . The new airport provides domestic terminal facilities serving destinations in Java, Bali and Sumbawa. The main terminal building also provides international terminal facilities, currently limited to international connections to Singapore provided by SilkAir and Malaysia provided by AirAsia. Other international flights to Kuala Lumpur provided by Garuda and Merpati airlines depart from the Domestic terminal. The new international airport will provide facilities for wide bodied aircraft with more modern terminal facilities and improved cargo facilities. Lombok International Airport in Central Lombok is south west of Praya in south central Lombok. The airport commenced operations on 1 October 2011 replacing the previous international and domestic facilities at Selaparang Airport near Ampenan in West Lombok Regency which formally closed for operations on the evening of 30 September 2011. All services previously operated at the Selaparang airport were moved across to the new airport at that time.
