The largest Indonesian settlement is located on Gili Air, however due to the amount of western expatriates who live on Trawangan together with the locals, it has become the more densely populated island, concentrated in a township stretching along its east side (this is also where the majority of tourist development has taken place).

Automobiles and motorized traffic are prohibited on the islands by local ordinance, so the preferred method of transportation is by foot and bicycle or the horse-drawn carriage called a cidomo.

Due to their close proximity to the Equator, the Islands have a warm, tropical climate with a dry and wet season.

[5] Due to their small size and population, and relatively recent settlement of the islands, published sources are limited.

In 1971 the governor of Lombok, Wasita Kusama, began to establish coconut plantations and gave land rights to private companies.

The local population grew beyond their allocated bounds (100 hectares) and began to erect homes and businesses on the private, abandoned land.

The longest standing locally owned and operated business is "Goodheart" resort, originally built in 1987 and rebuilt three times following demolition relating to the ongoing land dispute.

This fed local tourism and in the new millennium a wider spectrum of accommodation and entertainment began to be developed that catered to a broader range of visitors.

In 2000, a non-profit organisation by the name of Gili Eco Trust was established to help protect the coral reefs surrounding the islands and improve environmental education.

Many projects have since been organised to protect and restore coral reefs, improve waste management, struggle against erosion, treat animals, raise awareness and educate.

[8] Japanese presence during the second world war was on elevated topography in the South of the island, where anti-aircraft guns were housed.

The main concentration of settlement, recreation, accommodation and diving business is situated on the eastern side of the island.

[verification needed] The economy of Gili Trawangan centres on tourism, as the island is too small to support any broad scale agriculture, and too remote to allow economically viable industry or commerce.

On 26 March 2014 Will Goodman set a depth record on a closed circuit mixed gas rebreather with 290 m (950 ft).

[citation needed] Since 2009, the number of tourists visiting Gili Trawangan has doubled each year, from 35,000 to over one million in 2015,[10] overwhelming infrastructure and contributing to the destruction of surrounding coral reefs.

According to Thomas Egli – a photographer who travelled to Gili Trawangan in 2015 to document the overtourism problem – there is a huge rubbish tip in the centre of the island that is kept out of sight of visiting tourists.

[12] He also describes overwhelmed septic tanks leading to unfiltered waste entering the sea, unregulated building, and culture clashes between the predominantly-Muslim local population and (mostly) Western tourists.

Gili Air is the second smallest of the islands and the closest to mainland Lombok, making it popular with honeymoon couples and travellers seeking a quiet retreat.

The island offers excellent snorkelling and scuba diving off its east coast, and turtles can be seen along the coral reef.

The Islands can only be reached by sea, and are frequented by a variety of fast boats operating various routes from Bali and Lombok.

Many of the tourism businesses on the Gili Islands had commuting employees, living in Lombok, who were severely affected, losing family members, homes and more.

[19] However, the infrastructure for disaster management and relief was not adequately in place in and around Lombok, resulting in acute delays during the aftermath.

Therefore, the first responders to the disaster were stretched local government agencies such as police & military personnel, domestic volunteers and business owners in the Gili islands and the parts of Lombok that were less affected by the quakes.

These organised small scale international fundraising initiatives through social networks and the web to help source & acquire much needed basic resources such as food & clean water,[20] and shortly thereafter begin assisting with temporary and permanent shelter.