Bali Island

Bali Island

Bali Island is part of the Indonesian Republic and is located at the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Bali Island is one of Indonesia’s 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island. The Bali island has an area of only 5,600 square kilometers (2,150 square miles) and measures just 54 miles (89 kilometers) along the north and south axis and less than about 88 miles (135 kilometers) from East to West. Because of this it's rather easy to explore Bali on daily tours. You can go any part of the island you want and return back to your accommodation in the evening.

The two major towns of the Bali island are Singaraja and Denpasar (the provincial capital with a populaton of 300,000). Other main cities are Klungkung, a centre of wood carving and gold and silver industries, Gianyar, which has a lively bazaar, Kuta, Sanur, and Nusa Dua, centers of the growing tourist trade and Ubud, with a nice art museum. Almost all Balinese villages have temples and an assembly hall, usually located on a square that serves for festivals and bazaars. Each family lives in its own compound surrounded by stone walls.

The population of the Bali island is around 3,5 million people. The island is home to a majority of Hindu minority of the Indonesian Republic. About 94% of the population adheres to Balinese Hinduism while the rest is Muslim. Bali is also the largest touristic attraction in Indonesia.

The highest point on the Bali island is the Mount Agung which is 3,140 meters (9,400 feet) high. Both peaks of the Bali island, Mount Agung and Mount Batur (11700 meters-4200 feet), are volcanic mountains and Agung is still active (last eruption in 1963). The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches located on the south of Bali are white sanded while the beaches on the north and east side of the island are black sanded. Although their rarity, black sanded beaches are not yet developed for tourism.

Until the 1980’s, the Bali economy depended mostly on agriculture. Although agriculture is still wide in the island, economy, today, depends about 80% on tourism. Because of this the island is one of the wealthiest regions of the Indonesian Republic. In spite of the bombing sufferings of 2002 and 2005, the industry is recovering fast.

Bali is rich regarding tropical vegetation, palm tress, rice, spices and various tropical fruits. The principal agricultural products are rice, coffee, clove and tropical fruits such as mango, papaya, durian and salak fruit.

Bali locals grow up with speaking 2 related languages that are both based on Malay. Balinese language is spoken in homes and among the villagers and the national language Bahasa Indonesia is used exclusively. The people living near the tourist resorts and everyone who are related to the tourism industry speak English.

Gods and spirits have been an important part of Bali's cultural life for hundreds of years. Gunung Agung, Bali's holy mountain, is internationally regarded as one of the eight Chakra points in the world.

Temples occupy a very important of the Balinese architecture. Temples are places for contacting the spirits and the true centers of arts and the nexus of Balinese culture. Bali is often called as an “island of thousand temples”. Every family compound have a family temple as a place to contact with holy ancestors and in each village there are 3 temples which are dedicated to the Trinity Gods (Brahma, Wisnu, Siwa) such as,

Pura Desa is the temple to honor the God as Dewa Brahma - the creator.
Pura Puseh is for honoring the manifestation as Dewa Wisnu - the protector.
Pura Dalem is dedicated to the Dewa Siwa - The Destroyer.