It includes three major islands, Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and numerous smaller islands together totaling 603 km2 of land. The total size of Komodo National Park is presently 1,817 km2. Proposed extensions of 25 km2 of land (Banta Island) and 479 km2 of marine waters would bring the total surface area up to 2,321 km2
Komodo National Park was established in 1980 and was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986. The park was initially established to conserve the unique Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), first discovered by the scientific world in 1911 by J.K.H. Van Steyn. Since then conservation goals have expanded to protecting its entire biodiversity, both marine and terrestrial.
The islands of Komodo National Park are generally young , oceanic volcanic islands which are constantly : rising, eroding, and subsiding in the sea. West Komodo was probably the first to form from volcanic activity in the Jurrasic era about 130 - 134 million years ago. East Komodo, Padar and Rinca are younger and probably emerged in the Eocene era about 49 million years ago.