Flores

Small department in southeast Uruguay; area 5,144 sq km/1,986 sq mi; population (1996) 24,739. Its chief town and capital is Trinidad, which is linked by rail to Durazno. Flores lies just north of the main agricultural zone of Uruguay. Cattle and sheep farming are the main activities, but wheat and other cereal crops are grown, together with fruit.

Flores

Island in Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda Islands), Indonesia; area 15,100 sq km/5,830 sq mi. The main town is Ende. Flores is generally mountainous with both active and extinct volcanoes; there are periodic earthquakes. Agriculture is mainly shifting cultivation of maize, and some rice farming. Sandalwood and copra are exported. The island is known for its characteristic ikat cloth.

The climate is marked by a long dry season, and the vegetation is tropical deciduous.

The population of Flores consists of Melanesian, Australoid, and indigenous peoples, not Malay, and is predominantly Roman Catholic in religion. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to colonize the island, and eventually sold it to the Dutch in the 17th century. The is land was not actually conquered by the Dutch until 1907–08. Of little economic importance, Flores was most affected by colonization through missionaries.