The island is divided into eight districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas (in km2) and their populations at the 2010 Census[2] and 2020 census,[3] together with the official estimates as at mid 2022.[4]
Note: (a) Adonara Timur District, notwithstanding its name, actually occupies the south-central part of Adonara Island, with Wotan Ulu Mado District to the southwest and Ile Boleng District to the southeast. (b) including the two kelurahan of Lamatewelu and Waiwerang Kota.
(c) Adonara District covers only the north-central part of Adonara Island ("Adonara Utara"), with Kelubagolit and Witihama Districts to the east and Adonara Barat and Adonara Tengah Districts to the west.
Local history on Adonara is documented from the sixteenth century, when Portuguese traders and missionaries established a post on the nearby island of Solor. By that time Adonara and the surrounding islands were ritually divided between a population of coastal dwellers known as Paji, and a population mainly settling the mountainous inland called Demon. The Paji were susceptible to Islam, while the Demon tended to fall under Portuguese influence. The Paji areas on Adonara contained three principalities, namely Adonara proper (centered on the north coast of the island), and Terong and Lamahala (on the south coast). Together with two principalities on Solor (Lohayong and Lamakera), they constituted a league called Watan Lema ("the five shores"). The Watan Lema allied with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1613, confirmed in 1646. The Adonara principalities had frequent feuds with the Portuguese in Larantuka on Flores, and were not always obedient to the Dutch authorities.
In the course of the nineteenth century, the ruler of Adonara (proper) in the north strengthened his position in the Solor Archipelago; by then, he was also the overlord of parts of eastern Flores and Lembata. The Demon areas stood under the suzerainty of the principality of Larantuka, which in turn was under Portuguese rule until 1859, when it was ceded to the Netherlands. The principalities of Larantuka and Adonara (proper) were abolished by the Indonesian government in 1962. Some post-independence local officials trace their roots to past rulers, called raja, of Adonara (proper). These include:
Bapa Tuan (son of Kamba Begu), temporary Raja in 1893 for 6 months
Arkiang Kamba (Arakang; brother of Bapa Tuan, b. 1866), 1893 or 1894 – abdicated December 18, 1930
Bapa Ana (son of a sister of Kamba Begu), Regent with the title of Kapitan 1930 – December 1, 1935, condemned to life imprisonment 1935 and sent to Kupang
Bapa Nuhur, (son of Gela, a son of Bapa Tuan, b. 1915), 1941–1947
Bapa Kaya, (son of Bapa Ana, d. 12/1/1954), Regent 1947–1951
Mohamad Eke (great-grandson of Raja Jo, 1929 – c. 1985), 1951–1962, first referred as Government Asst during Bapa Kaya's rule and also Kapitan of Adonara
Geography
Adonara Island is a part of the Indonesian regency of East Flores. It can be reached by airplane from Jakarta to Kupang, then by ferry to Larantuka, then by boat.
The town of Waiwerang and its neighbouring desa (villages) forms the only urban area on Adonara. There is no single administrative centre on the island, as each district has its own centre, all subservient to the regency administration at Larantuka on Flores island.
Notes
^Monk, K.A.; Fretes, Y.; Reksodiharjo-Lilley, G. (1996). The Ecology of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. Hong Kong: Periplus Editions Ltd. p. 8. ISBN962-593-076-0.
