Bima territory includes the Sanggar Peninsula, where the extinct Papuan language Tambora was once spoken.

[2] Long thought to be closely related to the languages of Sumba Island to the southeast, this assumption has been refuted by Blust (2008), which makes Bima a primary branch within the Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian subgroup.

[3] Bima is primarily spoken on the eastern half of Sumbawa Island in Indonesia.

[4] According to Ethnologue, dialects of the language include Kolo, Sangar (Sanggar), Toloweri, Bima, and Mbojo.

It is spoken by about 25,000 people who were formerly primarily Christians and animists; many have converted to Islam, mostly as a result of intermarriages.