KOMODO

island of the Lesser Sunda Islands, Nusa Tenggara Timur provinsi (province), Indonesia. The island is approximately 200 square miles (520 square km) in area, rather hilly (2,700 feet maximum), and lies between Flores and Sumbawa on the Sape Strait. The only village, Komodo, on a bay on the east coast, consists of a few score bamboo huts. The island is best known as the home of the giant monitor lizard, Varanus komodoensis, often called the Komodo dragon. Pop. (1971) 30,407.