Sumbawa, island of the LesserSunda Islands, west-centralNusa Tenggara Baratprovinsi (West Nusa Tenggara province), southernIndonesia. Sumbawa has several deeply cut bays producing numerous peninsulas and the excellent harbour of Bima. The island has an area of 5,965 square miles (15,448 square km). It is largely mountainous, with rocky coasts and only a few small plains. VolcanicMount Tambora (9,354 feet [2,851 metres]) erupted in 1815, killing 50,000 persons and causing 35,000 more to emigrate. Becauseshifting cultivation followed bygrazing was long practiced there, large areas of the island are now covered only by thornbush. Agriculture consists of wet rice cultivation and the raising of corn (maize), beans, tubers, and somecoffee and copra; cattle, goats, and horses are raised, partly for export. Sumbawa town has an airport, and a fair-weather road links it to the other main towns, Besar and Bima.

The inhabitants are of Malay ancestry, with the people in the west closely related to theSasak ofLombok and those of Bima in the east much like the Makasarese in language and customs; Papuan traits are strong in the eastern interior.Islam is theprevailing religion. Once part of theJavanese Majapahit kingdom, the Sumbawanese nobility in 1674 signed agreements with the Dutch that gave theDutch East India Company some power over the island. InWorld War II it was occupied by Japan.