Indonesia has been independent since 1945, after having been the Dutch East Indies for more than 350 years. It is a huge country, stretching along both sides of the Equator for more than 46 degrees of longitude (roughly 5100 km or 3200 miles). Comprised of some 17,000 islands (more than 6000 inhabited islands), it has hundreds of major aids to navigation. The arc of the Sunda Islands begins in the west with the major islands of Sumatra and Java, and continues eastward through a chain of smaller islands known in English as the Lesser Sunda Islands and in Indonesian as the Nusa Tenggara ("Southeastern Islands"). This page includes lighthouses of Lombok and Sumbawa, two islands united as West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Barat) Province. The Indonesian word for a lighthouse is mercusuar or (in two words) mercu suar. The phrase menara suar, which includes the Arabic word menara, is sometimes used instead. Tanjung and ujung are words for capes, gili or pulau is an island, selat is a strait, karang is a reef, and teluk is a harbor. In addition the word for an island is nusa in Balinese and gili in the Sasak language spoken on Lombok and Sumbawa. Aids to navigation in Indonesia are operated and maintained by the Directorate General of Sea Navigation. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume Q of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Lombok Lighthouses
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![]() Pulau Shopialouisa Light, Lombok Barat photo by Lombok Atraktif; permission granted for educational use |
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![]() Trawangan Light, November 2007 Panoramio photo copyright GerlingenDH; used by permission |
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![]() Teluk Lombok Light, Pringgabaya, May 2010 Panoramio photo copyright Hermit S. Parwoto; used by permission |
Sumbawa Lighthouses
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![]() Pulau Ular Light, Alas Strait, June 2010 Panoramio photo copyright Simon Potter; used by permission |
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![]() Tanjung Menangis Light, August 2011 Panoramio photo copyright Harri Daryanto; used by permission |
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![]() Bajo Light, Bajo, September 2013 Panoramio Creative Commons photo by Ata Kondas |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: South Sulawesi | East: Northeastern Sundas | West: Bali
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted January 10, 2009. Checked and revised May 16, 2019. Lighthouses: 55. Site copyright 2019 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.