| Nusa Penida | |
| Map: | Indonesia Bali |
| Location: | South East Asia |
| Archipelago: | Lesser Sunda Islands |
| Area Km2: | 202.84 |
| Elevation M: | 524 |
| Country: | Indonesia |
| Country Admin Divisions Title: | Province |
| Country Admin Divisions: | Bali |
| Country Admin Divisions Title 1: | Regency |
| Country Admin Divisions 1: | Klungkung |
| Country Admin Divisions 2: | Nusa Penida |
| Country Largest City: | Batukandik |
| Country Largest City Population: | 6,500 |
| Population: | 63,900 |
| Population As Of: | mid 2023[1] |
| Density Km2: | 315 |
| Ethnic Groups: | Nusa Penidian and other minority ethnic group |
Nusa Penida (ban|ᬦᬸᬲᬧᭂᬦᬶᬤ|nusa pĕnida) is an island located near the southeastern Indonesian island of Bali, which forms a district of the same name in Klungkung Regency. The Badung Strait separates the island and Bali. The interior of Nusa Penida is hilly with a maximum altitude of 524 metres, and the climate is drier than Bali. Like Bali, it is a major tourist destination.
In addition to Nusa Penida, the administrative district of Nusa Penida includes the nearby islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, plus eleven even smaller islands. The district had a population of 45,110 at the 2010 census, covering 202.84 km2,[2] and the official estimate as of 2023 was 63,900.[3]
See main article: Nusa Penida Balinese. The people of Nusa Penida speak a unique dialect of Balinese called Nusa Penida Balinese (basa Nosa), which cannot be understood by speakers from mainland Bali. It is reportedly close to the language of the Bali Aga, Bali's aboriginal population.[4]
Nusa Penida, together with neighbouring Lembongan and Ceningan Islands, forms a bird sanctuary.[5] The island communities have used traditional Balinese village regulations to create the sanctuary. The idea of a sanctuary came from the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF).[6]
In 2006 all 35 villages (now 41 villages) agreed to make bird protection part of their traditional regulations (ban|ᬳᬯᬶᬕ᭄ᬳᬯᬶᬕ᭄|awig-awig). Since then, the FNPF has rehabilitated and released various Indonesian birds, most notably the critically endangered Bali starling which is endemic to Bali but whose numbers in the wild had declined to less than 10 in 2005. After a two-year program by FNPF in which 64 cage-bred birds were rehabilitated and released onto Nusa Penida, their number had increased to over 100 in 2009. Other released birds include the Java sparrow, Mitchell's lorikeet, and sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Points of interest on Nusa Penida include:
Nusa Penida covers a wide area of diving locations, including Penida Bay, Batu Lumbung (Manta Point), Batu Meling, Batu Abah, Toya Pakeh, and Malibu Point.[7] The flow through the Lombok Strait is, overall, south-tending, although the strength and direction of the tidal streams are influenced by the monsoon seasons.
During the southeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends south; during the northeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends north. In the area of the strait north of Nusa Penida, the pattern is relatively simple, with a flow, at peak tide, of about three-and-one-half knots. Tidal streams in Badung Strait are semi-diurnal, but the character of the stream is very complicated because its direction runs obliquely to the general south-to-north direction of Lombok Strait, and the channel has a curved shape.
Based on a survey in 2009, there were about 1,419 hectares of coral sites with 66 percent covering the sites in 3 metres depth and 74 percent covered the sites in 10 metres depth.[8]