Mataram The Main City

Mataram is the administrative capital of West Nusa Tenggara—a state which comprises Sumbawa and Lombok island—and is the largest and the most densely population in its province as the latest population census in 2010 shows that Mataram is resided by more than 400.000 people from several ethnic groups. As the provincial capital, this city becomes the center of government, education, trade and services.

There are four main important towns in Mataram, those are Mataram,  Ampenan, Cakranegara and Sweta. These four towns are spotted in one line which is connected by several one-way streets. It lies from the west to the east. The town of Ampenan—the former port—now is functioned as the second commercial town and is planning to be the port again by the current ruled government. This town is dominated by Arabic Indonesian, Bugese and Chinese. About 5 minutes from Ampenan, Mataram stands and hosts various state companies, schools and government offices. Straight to the east, the main commercial town, Cakraneraga that is nicknamed as Cakra get its thriving from Chinese and Balinese. Various shopping centers, restaurant and private companies are owned by Chinese. The third town is Sweta. It is about 10 minutes drive from Cakra to Sweta. This town is mainly functioned as trade and transportation center. This is where the bus terminal hosted. These four towns are served by modern and traditional transportation. Modern transportation such as Bemo is mainly found operated on several main streets that connected these three towns. While, traditional transportation such as Cidomo—the horse car—is found in the outer part of the towns areas.  Taxi and Ojek—Motor bike taxi—are the most flexible transportation that is not limited by time and area. Besides, Mataram is served by Labuhan Lombok that is connected Lombok Island and Sumbawa, Lembar that is connected Lombok with Bali and several small harbors which connect Lombok with its gili—tiny islands around Lombok. In 2011, Mataram is served by Lombok International Airport or Badara International Lombok (BIL) which is located in central Lombok and can be reached by hourly operated bus.

Since Mataram is resided by various ethnic groups i.e. Sasaks, Mbojo, Balinese, Chines, Javanese and etc, who embrace various beliefs have given different texture of cultural ambiences in Mataram. Most people in Mataram are Muslim, Hindust and Christian. Therefore, it is commonly found that mosques, temples and or churches stand next to each other. In the future Mataram is foreseen as one of the next coming city after Denpasar.