The eastern zone is dominated by a range of verdant hills which drop steeply to the coast of the Alor Strait.

The western zone is relatively flat, consisting of a plain which gently slopes to the west from Mount Sirung, an 862-metre-high (2,828-foot) active volcano.

Owing to its relatively low elevation, the entire island is drier than neighboring Alor.

The earliest written reference to Pantar is in the fourteenth-century Javanese poem Nagarakretagama, which describes the power and extent of the empire ruled by the fourth king of Majapahit, Hayam Wuruk.

Excess production is sometimes traded for fish or to help support school children studying in the district capital of Kalabahi.

Small wooden power boats ply the route between Alor and Pantar daily, serving numerous communities.

The state-run ferry serves Baranusa weekly between Kalabahi (Alor) and Larantuka (Flores).

(e) includes offshore islands of Pulau Kangge and uninhabited Kambing, Rusa and Tikus.