West Lombok was under the control of Balinese rajas, based on their states of Mataram and Cakranegara, until the island was invaded and occupied by the Dutch in 1894.

The modern city is an urban sprawl in the middle of West Lombok, composed of three contiguous towns which were formerly separate but now share a single administration.

[1] The table also includes the number of administrative villages (all classed as urban kelurahan, also called "kampungs") in each district, and its postal codes.

Indonesian is the language most widely used in formal business, education and government contexts.

There is also a large community of Balinese speakers in the city, as in the past Mataram was a colony and center of government for the Karangasem kingdom of Bali.