page_title: Mount Tambora
section_title: Geographical setting
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Tambora / Geographical setting
caption_attribution_description: English: View of Mount Rinjani from Mount Tambora - Lesser Sunda Islands - Indonesia. The viewing distance between the summit of Rinjani and the point where the photo was taken is 165 km or about 103 miles.
context_page_description: Mount Tambora, or Tomboro, is an active stratovolcano in the northern part of Sumbawa, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. It was formed due to the active subduction zones beneath it, and before its 1815 eruption, it was more than 4,300 metres high, making it one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago.
  Tambora's 1815 eruption was the largest in recorded human history and the largest of the Holocene. The magma chamber under Tambora had been drained by pre-1815 eruptions and underwent several centuries of dormancy as it refilled. Volcanic activity reached a peak that year, culminating in the eruption. The explosion was heard on Sumatra island, more than 2,000 kilometres away. Heavy volcanic ash rains were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands, and the maximum elevation of Tambora was reduced from about 4,300 metres to 2,850 metres. Although estimates vary, the death toll was at least 71,000 people. The eruption caused global climate anomalies in the following years, while 1816 became known as the "year without a summer" due to the impact on North American and European weather.
context_section_description: Mount Tambora, also known as Tomboro, is situated in the northern part of Sumbawa island, part of the Lesser Sunda Islands. It is a segment of the Sunda Arc, a chain of volcanic islands that make up the southern chain of the Indonesian archipelago. Tambora forms its own peninsula on Sumbawa, known as the Sanggar peninsula. To the north of the peninsula is the Flores Sea and to the south is the 86 kilometres (53 mi) long and 36 kilometres (22 mi) wide Saleh Bay. At the mouth of Saleh Bay there is an islet called Mojo.
  Besides the seismologists and vulcanologists who monitor the mountain's activity, Mount Tambora is an area of interest to archaeologists and biologists. The mountain also attracts tourists for hiking and wildlife activities, though in small numbers. The two nearest cities are Dompu and Bima. There are three concentrations of villages around the mountain slope. At the east is Sanggar village, to the northwest are Doro Peti and Pesanggrahan villages, and to the west is Calabai village.
  There are two routes of ascent to the caldera. The first begins at Doro Mboha village on the southeast of the mountain and follows a paved road through a cashew plantation to an elevation of 1,150 metres (3,770 ft). The road terminates at the southern part of the caldera, which at 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) is reachable only by hiking. This location is only one hour from the caldera, and usually serves as a base camp from which volcanic activity can be monitored. The second route starts from Pancasila village at the northwest of the mountain and is only accessible on foot. The 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) hike from Pancasila at 740 metres (2,430 ft) elevation to the caldera of the volcano takes approximately 14 hours with several stops (pos) en route to the top. The trail leads through dense jungle with wildlife such as Elaeocarpus batudulangii, Asian water monitor, reticulated python, hawks, orange-footed scrubfowl, pale-shouldered cicadabird (Coracina dohertyi), brown and scaly-crowned honeyeater, yellow-crested cockatoo, yellow-ringed white-eye, helmeted friarbird, wild boar, Javan rusa and crab-eating macaques.
caption: View of Mount Rinjani from Mount Tambora. Viewing distance is 165 kilometres (103 mi).
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