Bali (Indonesian: Pulau Bali, Provinsi Bali) is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital, Denpasar, is located in the southern part of the island.
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in tourists since the 1980s. Tourism-related business makes up 80% of its economy. It is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali. In March 2017, TripAdvisor named Bali as the world’s top destination in its Traveller’s Choice award.
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species. In this area alone, over 500 reef-building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean. Most recently, Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013. Bali is the home of the Subak irrigation system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also home to a unified confederation of kingdoms composed of 10 traditional royal Balinese houses, where each house rules a specific geographic area. The confederation is the successor of the Bali Kingdom. The royal houses are not recognised by the government of Indonesia; however, they have been operational since their establishment prior to Dutch colonisation.
Geography : An islet just south of Bali made of pillow basalt. Much of Bali is made of volcanic rock. The island of Bali lies 3.2 km (2 mi) east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km (95 mi) wide and spans approximately 112 km (69 mi) north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District, its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.
Bali’s central mountains include several peaks over 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) in elevation and active volcanoes such as Mount Batur. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m (9,944 ft), known as the “mother mountain” which is an active volcano rated as one of the world’s most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. As of late 2017 Mount Agung has started erupting and large numbers of people have been evacuated, the airport in Bali has been closed. The extent of the eruption is as of November 2017 impossible to predict. See Mount Agung, 2017 seismic activity and eruption. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali’s volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali’s large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism. The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali’s second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar’s urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island’s cultural centre.
Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.
To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010. Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World’s Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece
Access : Coordinates : -8.65, 115.216667 / By Aircraft : Most visitors will arrive at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport (IATA: DPS), also known as Bali International Airport or Denpasar International Airport. Despite the misleading names, the airport is actually located in Tuban between Kuta and Jimbaran, roughly 30 mins away from Denpasar. Ngurah Rai is Indonesia’s 3rd busiest international airport (after Jakarta and Surabaya) and a major hub well-connected to Australia, South-East Asia, and the rest of Indonesia
By bus : There are direct bus services to Bali from all major cities on Java and Lombok that link with ferries for sea crossings By boat : Ferries cross from Ketapang on the island of Java to Gilimanuk in western Bali every 15 min, 24 hr every day. These are very cheap, and the crossing takes just 30 min.
Main Attractions : Mount Batur Volcano in Kintamani , Uluwatu Temple – Pura Luhur Uluwatu , Besakih Temple in Bali – Pura Besakih , Tegallalang Rice Terraces in Bali , Serangan Beach , Kuta beach , Pantai Segara Ayu Beach in Bali Scenic Beach in Sanur , Gitgit waterfall , Sekumpul waterfalls , Munduk and Melanting waterfalls , Tegenungan waterfalls, Singsing waterfalls , tanah lot .
Go next : Lombok / Gili Islands / Flores (Indonesia) / Yogyakarta / Bandung / Borobudur
