slopes of Mount Tambora, a volcano on the north side of Sumbawa, thus creating the Tambora coffee variant. Tambora's colossal eruption in 1815 was the most powerful in recorded history, ejecting of ash and debris into the atmosphere. The eruption killed up to 71,000 people and triggered a period of global cooling known as the "Year Without a Summer" in 1816. It also apparently destroyed a small culture of Papuan affinity, known to archaeologists as the "Tambora culture". Administration Sumbawa is administratively divided into four regencies (kabupaten) and one kota (city). They are: The Indonesian Government is currently considering the division of Nusu Tenggara Barat Province to create a separate Sumbawa Island province. There is no information as to whether the remaining part of the present province (i.e. the districts comprising Lombok Island) would then be renamed. Demographics Islam, the dominant faith of the island, was introduced by the Makassarese of Sulawesi. Sumbawa had, historically speaking, three major linguistic groups who spoke languages that were unintelligible to each other. One group centered in the western side of the island speaks Basa Semawa (Indonesian: Bahasa Sumbawa) which is similar to the Sasak language from nearby Lombok; the second group in the east speaks Nggahi Mbojo (Bahasa Bima). They were once separated by the Tambora culture, which spoke a language related to neither. After the demise of Tambora due to the 1815 eruption, local kingdoms based in Sumbawa Besar and Bima became the two focal points of Sumbawa. This division of the island into two parts remains today; Sumbawa Besar and Bima are the two largest towns on the island, and are the centers of distinct cultural groups that share the island. The population of the island (including minor outlying islands) was 1.56 million at the latest decennial census in 2020, comprising 29.46% of the population of the entire Province of West Nusa Tenggara's 5.32 million people. Due to lack of work opportunities on the island and its frequent droughts, many people on the island seek work in the Middle East as laborers or domestic servants; some 500,000 workers, or over 10% of the population of West Nusa Tenggara, have left the country to work overseas. Geography The island is bounded by bodies of water; to the west is Alas Strait, south is the Indian Ocean, Saleh Bay creates a major north-central indentation in the island, and the Flores Sea runs the