Bali
BALI.
Bali (Balinese: ᬩᬮᬶ, Indonesian: Pulau Bali, Provinsi Bali) is an island and province of Indonesia with the biggest Hindu population. 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.
With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census,[5] and 4,225,000 as of January 2014,[6] the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism,[3] followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5% and Buddhism 0.5%.[7]
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in tourists since the 1980s.[8] Tourism-related business makes up 80% of its economy.[9] 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.[10]
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species.[11] 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.[14] The royal houses are not recognised by the government of Indonesia; however, they have been operational since their establishment prior to Dutch colonisation.
| Bali ᬩᬮᬶ |
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| Province | |||
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From top, left to right:
Sunset over Amed beach with Mount Agung in the background, Garuda Wisnu Kencana monument, Tanah Lot temple, view from top of Besakih Temple, scuba diving around Pemuteran, sunset over Kuta Beach, and various traditional Balinese people activities |
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| Nickname(s): Pulau Dewata (Island of Deities), Island of Gods, Island of Peace, Morning of The World, Island of Hinduism, Island of Love[1] | |||
| Motto(s): ᬩᬮᬶ ᬤ᭄ᬯᬶᬧ ᬚᬬ Bali Dwipa Jaya (Balinese) (meaning: Glorious Bali Island) |
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 Location of Bali in Indonesia (shown in green) |
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| Coordinates: 8°39′S 115°13′ECoordinates: 8°39′S 115°13′E | |||
| Country |  Indonesia |
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| Capital |  Denpasar |
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| Government | |||
| • Governor | I Made Mangku Pastika (PD) | ||
| • Vice Governor | I Ketut Sudikerta | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 5,780 km2 (2,230 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2014) | |||
| • Total | 4,225,384 | ||
| • Density | 730/km2 (1,900/sq mi) | ||
| Demographics | |||
| • Ethnic groups | Balinese (90%), Javanese (7%), Baliaga (1%), Madurese (1%)[2] | ||
| • Religion | Hindu (83.5%), Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.5%), Buddhist (0.5%)[3] | ||
| • Languages | Indonesian (official), Balinese, Balinese Malay | ||
| Time zone | WITA (UTC+08) | ||
| Vehicle registration | DK | ||
| HDI |  0.743 (High) |
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| HDI rank | 5th out of 34 (2017) province of Indonesia | ||
| Website | www.baliprov.go.id | ||
| Native name: Pulau Bali | |
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Bali Island, Indonesia
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| Geography | |
| Archipelago | Lesser Sunda Islands |
| Area | 5,636 km2 (2,176 sq mi)[4] |
| Length | 145 km (90.1 mi) |
| Width | 80 km (50 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 3,148 m (10,328 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Agung |
| Administration | |
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Indonesia
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| Province | Bali |
| Largest settlement | Denpasar (pop. 834,881) |
| Demographics | |
| Ethnic groups | Balinese, Javanese, Sasak |
With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census,[5] and 4,225,000 as of January 2014,[6] the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism,[3] followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5% and Buddhism 0.5%.[7]
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in tourists since the 1980s.[8] Tourism-related business makes up 80% of its economy.[9] 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.[10]
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] The royal houses are not recognised by the government of Indonesia; however, they have been operational since their establishment prior to Dutch colonisation.[15]
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Geography
- 3 Climate
- 4 Ecology
- 5 Environment
- 6 Administrative divisions
- 7 Economy
- 8 Transportation
- 9 Demographics
- 10 Culture
- 11 Sports
- 12 Heritage sites
- 13 Beauty pageant
- 14 International partnerships
- 15 Gallery
- 16 See also
- 17 References
- 18 Bibliography
- 19 Further reading
- 20 External links
History
Ancient
Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia.[16][17] Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines and Oceania.[17] Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.[18][19]In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.[20]
Inscriptions from 896 and 911 do not mention a king, until 914, when Sri Kesarivarma is mentioned. They also reveal an independent Bali, with a distinct dialect, where Buddhism and Sivaism were practiced simultaneously. Mpu Sindok's great-granddaughter, Mahendradatta (Gunapriyadharmapatni), married the Bali king Udayana Warmadewa (Dharmodayanavarmadeva) around 989, giving birth to Airlangga around 1001. This marriage also brought more Hinduism and Javanese culture to Bali. Princess Sakalendukirana appeared in 1098. Suradhipa reigned from 1115 to 1119, and Jayasakti from 1146 until 1150. Jayapangus appears on inscriptions between 1178 and 1181, while Adikuntiketana and his son Paramesvara in 1204.[21]:129,144,168,180
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning Walidwipa. It was during this time that the people developed their complex irrigation system subak to grow rice in wet-field cultivation. Some religious and cultural traditions still practiced today can be traced to this period.
The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. The uncle of Hayam Wuruk is mentioned in the charters of 1384–86. A mass Javanese immigration to Bali occurred in the next century when the Majapahit Empire fell in 1520.[21]:234,240 Bali's government then became an independent collection of Hindu kingdoms which led to a Balinese national identity and major enhancements in culture, arts, and economy. The nation with various kingdoms became independent for up to 386 years until 1906, when the Dutch subjugated and repulsed the natives for economic control and took it over.[22]
Kandapat Sari statue in Semarapura, one of the old settlements in Bali.
Historically, Balinese art and culture is born and based in this town.
Portuguese contacts
The first known European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1512, when a Portuguese expedition led by Antonio Abreu and Francisco Serrão sighted its northern shores. It was the first expedition of a series of bi-annual fleets to the Moluccas, that throughout the 16th century usually traveled along the coasts of the Sunda Islands. Bali was also mapped in 1512, in the chart of Francisco Rodrigues, aboard the expedition.[23] In 1585, a ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung.[24]Dutch East Indies
Puputan monument
In June 1860, the famous Welsh naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, travelled to Bali from Singapore, landing at Buleleng on the north coast of the island. Wallace's trip to Bali was instrumental in helping him devise his Wallace Line theory. The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary that runs through the strait between Bali and Lombok. It has been found to be a boundary between species. In his travel memoir The Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote of his experience in Bali, of which has strong mention of the unique Balinese irrigation methods:
I was both astonished and delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well-cultivated a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast about ten or twelve miles (16 or 19 kilometres) inland, where it is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of coconut palms, tamarind and other fruit trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between them extend luxurious rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe.[26]The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who rather than yield to the superior Dutch force committed ritual suicide (puputan) to avoid the humiliation of surrender.[25] Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 200 Balinese killed themselves rather than surrender.[27] In the Dutch intervention in Bali, a similar mass suicide occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung. Afterward the Dutch governors exercised administrative control over the island, but local control over religion and culture generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
In the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee all spent time here. Their accounts of the island and its peoples created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature." Western tourists began to visit the island.[28] The sensuous image of Bali was enhanced in the West by a quasi-pornographic 1932 documentary Virgins of Bali about a day in the lives of two teenage Balinese girls whom the film's narrator Deane Dickason notes in the first scene "bathe their shamelessly nude bronze bodies".[29] Under the looser version of the Hays code that existed up to 1934, nudity involving "civilised" (i.e. white) women was banned, but permitted with "uncivilised" (i.e. all non-white women), a loophole that was exploited by the producers of Virgins of Bali.[30] The film, which mostly consisted of scenes of topless Balinese women was a great success in 1932, and almost single-handedly made Bali into a popular spot for tourists.[31]
Tourism
| # | Nationality | Tourists |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Australia |
1,137,413 |
| 2. |  China |
986,026 |
| 3. |  Japan |
234,590 |
| 4. |  United Kingdom |
221,149 |
| 5. |  India |
186,638 |
| 6. |  Malaysia |
179,451 |
| 7. |  United States |
170,283 |
| 8. |  France |
165,160 |
| 9. |  Germany |
153,861 |
| 10. |  South Korea |
149,481 |
| 11. |  Singapore |
136,299 |
| 12. |  Taiwan |
134,011 |
| 13. |  Netherlands |
95,707 |
| 14. |  New Zealand |
84,330 |
| 15. |  Russia |
66,967 |
| 16. |  Canada |
53,756 |
| As of 2016[61][62][63] | ||
Canyoning in Gitgit Waterfall, Bali, Indonesia
The Tirta Empul Temple draws tourists who seek its holy waters.
Pura Taman Ayun, another temple which is a popular tourist destination
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Ulun Danu Temple, located in Bratan Lake
The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), Ubud towards the center of the island, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer developments of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.
The United States government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The Australian government issued an advisory on Friday, 4 May 2012, with the overall level of this advisory lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June 2012 because of one tourist who died from methanol poisoning.[65] Australia last issued an advisory on Monday, 5 January 2015 due to new terrorist threats.[66]
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Kuta Beach is a popular tourist spot in Bali.
In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), mainly due to the worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist industry.
Bali's tourism economy survived the Islamists terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57 million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65%, so the island still should be able to accommodate tourists for some years without any addition of new rooms/hotels,[67] although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010.[68] 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. The Balinese culture and its religion are also considered as the main factor of the award. One of the most prestigious events that symbolizes a strong relationship between a god and its followers is Kecak Dance. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World's Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece.[69]
In August 2010, the film Eat Pray Love was released in theatres. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. It took place at Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list, had already fuelled a boom in Eat, Pray, Love-related tourism in Ubud, the hill town and cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.[70]
In January 2016, after music icon David Bowie died, it was revealed that in his will, Bowie asked for his ashes to be scattered in Bali, conforming to Buddhist rituals. He had visited and performed in a number of Southeast Asian cities early in his career, including Bangkok and Singapore.[71]
Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese tourists increased by 17% from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali.[72] In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by 222.18% compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists declined by 23.54% yoy.[73]
Bali reported that it welcomed 2.88 million foreign tourists and 5 million domestic tourists in 2012, marginally surpassing the expectations of 2.8 million foreign tourists.[74]
Based on a Bank Indonesia survey in May 2013, 34.39 percent of tourists are upper-middle class, spending between $1,286 to $5,592, and are dominated by Australia, France, China, Germany and the US. Some Chinese tourists have increased their levels of spending from previous years. 30.26 percent of tourists are middle class, spending between $662 to $1,285.[75] In 2017 it is expected that Chinese tourists will surpass Australian tourists as the most visited in Bali.
Transportation
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One of the major forms of transport in Bali is the scooter.
Trans Sarbagita bus, Denpasar and its outskirt areas main transportation
A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly encircles Denpasar. Bali has no railway lines.
In December 2010 the Government of Indonesia invited investors to build a new Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali with a projected worth of $30 million.[76] On 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess) anchored about 400 metres (1,300 feet) away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbour. The current pier is only 154 metres (505 feet) but will eventually be extended to 300 to 350 metres (980–1,150 feet) to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbour here is safer than the existing facility at Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of east Bali mountains and green rice fields.[77] The tender for improvement was subject to delays, and as of July 2013 the situation remained unclear with cruise line operators complaining and even refusing to use the existing facility at Tanah Ampo.[78]
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometres (351 miles) of railway along the coast around the island. As of July 2015, no details of this proposed railways have been released.[79][80]
On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome 2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine.[81] Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector.[82] The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has confirmed that 306 cruise liners are heading for Indonesia in 2013 – an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.[83]
A day-rent motorbike in Denpasar, mainly used by tourist
Bali Mandara toll plaza
To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will also build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.
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