Bali About Island of Bali

ABOUT BALI

Bali is devided into eight regencies. They are Badung, Gianyar, Tabanan, Buleleng, Bangli, Klungkung, Karangasem and Negara. Bali has 3,2 millions of population. Denpasar is the capital city and has more than half a million of population. Bali has international airport called Ngurah Rai Airport where many International Airlines are landed everyday. Bali is one of the famous tourist destinations in Indonesia and offers more than 200 hotels and villas are spreading in these regencies, but mostly concentrated on southern part of the island, those are Nusa Dua, Kuta, Jimbaran and Sanur area. Other hotel areas are Lovina in Buleleng, Candidasa and Amed in Karangasem, Ubud in Gianyar also Tanah Lot in Tabanan.

Geografy

Bali stretches approximately 140 km from east to west and 80 km from north to shouth. A small island lying between 8 and 9 degrees south of the equator, it has a complex physical geography consisting of mountains, coastal lowland and limestone fringes. The mountains are spectacular, dominated by Mt. Agung and its neighbours Mt. Abang and Mt. Batur. In the hilly norther coastal regions, the main roduce is caffee, copra spices, vegetables, cattle and rice. The southern lime-stone fringes are dry and difficult to cultivate

Social organization

The Balinese people's lives are communual. They have organizations of village, farming and creative arts. The banjar is the community organization that arranges all village meetings, festivals, and ceremonies. Most villages have at least one banjar. The other community organization is the Subak, which oversees the production of rice and organizes the complex irigation system. The members of the Subak are those who own padi fields. The Subak will ensure that every member gets his fair distribution of irigation water.

The Weather

Bali has a short, hot and wet season and a longer, cooler dry season. The mountains are humid throughout the year, averaging 2,500 to 3,000 mm ( 100 t0 200 inches) of rainfall annually, with warm days and coolest nights. The rainy season lasts from November to March, the dry seasons is from April to October.

The Fruit

Bali has a rich volcanic soil and healty monsoon season that makes this island extremly fertile. A wide variety of tropical fruits are grow here including bananas, which are mainly used in offering, mangos, papayas, pinapples, oranges, rambutans, mangosteen, durians, and guavas.

Wildlife

The forest in Bali is protected in a nature reserve and is a haven for a wide range of animals and birds, especially the endangered Bali Starling ( Rothchid's Myna) that can only be found in Bali. Another rare species in Bali is the wild Javan buffalo ( Bos Javanicus). Other mammals here include deer, leopards, civets, macaques and several other species of monkey. Bali boats around 300 different bird species, including migrants, from massive hornbills and storks to tynu sunbirds and spider hunters.

Culture

The Balinese people have strong spiritual roots and despite the large influx of tourists over the years, Balinese culture is still very much alive. The main religion is Hindu, but although originally from India, the Balinese Hindu is a unique blend of Hindu, Buddhist, Javanese and ancient indigenous beliefs. The Balinese people are naturally creative and their talents are traditional used for religious purpose. The majority of Bali's 3 million people live in tight village communities with large extended families.

Ceremonies

Balinese life is a life of ritual and devotion. The porpose of every ritual is to cleanse object and people. There are five ritual categories, the so-called yadnya. These are dewa yadnya which carries out rites to honor the divinities, bhuta yadnya which carries out rites to appease evil forces, manusa yadnya the life-cycle rites to ensure a person's spiritual and material well-beeing, resi yadnya to ordain priests, and pitra yadnya rites for the ancestors. Some of the better-known Balinese rituals include the tooth-filling ceremony, an example of manusa yadnya and the cremation ceremony, which is a from of pirtra yadnya.

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