Lombok Strait in the context of "Alas Strait"

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is roughly circular, with a "tail" (Sekotong Peninsula) to the southwest, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) across and a total area of about 4,566.54 square kilometres (1,763.15 square miles) including smaller offshore islands. The provincial capital and largest city on the island is Mataram.

Lombok is somewhat similar in size and density, and shares some cultural heritage with the neighboring island of Bali to the west. However, it is administratively part of West Nusa Tenggara, along with the larger but less densely populated island of Sumbawa to the east. Lombok is surrounded by a number of smaller islands locally called Gili.

The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley.

It separates the biogeographic realms of Asia and 'Wallacea', a transitional zone between Asia and Australia formerly also called the Malay Archipelago and the Indo-Australian Archipelago (present day Indonesia). To the west of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origins is present. Wallace noticed this clear division in both land mammals and birds during his travels through the East Indies in the 19th century.

The String of Pearls is a geopolitical hypothesis proposed by United States political researchers in 2004. The term refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan in the Horn of Africa. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centres in Somalia and the littoral South Asian countries of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Maldives.

Many commentators in India believe this plan, together with the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor and other parts of China's Belt and Road Initiative under Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping, is a threat to India's national security. Such a system would encircle India and threaten its power projection, trade, and potentially territorial integrity. Furthermore, China's support for India's traditional enemy of Pakistan and its Gwadar Port is viewed as a threat, compounded by fears that China may develop an overseas naval military base in Gwadar, which could allow China to conduct expeditionary warfare in the Indian Ocean Region. From the east, the deep-water port of Kyaukpyu is also viewed with a similar concern. The first comprehensive academic analyses of Chinese plan and its security implications for New Delhi was undertaken in February 2008 by an active-duty Indian naval officer. Antedating China's anti-piracy naval deployment in the Indian Ocean beginning in December 2008, and the ensuing acquisition of its first overseas military base in Djibouti in August 2017, his analysis predicting China's "permanent military presence" in the Indian Ocean is viewed by Indian policymakers as prescient. Accordingly, India has since been making moves of various types to counter the threat.

Klungkung Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Klungkung; Balinese: ᬓᬩᬸᬧᬢᬾᬦ᭄ᬓ᭄ᬮᬸᬂᬓᬸᬂ, Kabupatén Klungkung) is the smallest regency (kabupaten) in the province of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 315 km and had a population at the 2024 census of 223,720. It is bordered by Bangli Regency to its north, Gianyar Regency to its west, Karangasem Regency and the Lombok Strait to its east, and the Badung Strait and the Indian Ocean to its south. Its regency seat is the town of Semarapura.

The official estimate as at mid 2024 was 223,720 (107,177 males 106,815 and females in 2022).

Karangasem Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Karangasem; Balinese: ᬓᬪᬹᬧᬢᬾ​ᬦ᭄ ᬓᬭᬗᬲᭂᬫ᭄, Kabupatén Karangasĕm) is a regency (kabupaten) of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It covers the east part of Bali, has an area of 836.68 km (323.04 sq mi). It is bordered by Buleleng Regency and Bangli Regency to its west and Klungkung Regency to its south, and the Indian Ocean to its south, the Bali Sea and the Java Sea to its north and the Lombok Strait to its east. The population of the regency as of mid-2024 was 538,390. Its regency seat is the town of Amlapura.

Karangasem was devastated when Mount Agung erupted in 1963, killing 1,900 people. Karangasem was a kingdom before Bali was conquered by the Dutch.