Bali, island and propinsi (or provinsi; province) in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the island of Java, separated by the narrow Bali Strait. Area province, 2,232 square miles (5,780 square km). Pop. (2000) province, 3,151,162; (2010) province, 3,890,757.
Terrain
Utmost of Bali is mountainous ( basically an extension of the central mountain chain in Java), the loftiest point being Mount Agung, or Bali Peak, bases ( metres) in height and known locally as the “ nexus of the world.” It proved to be an active flash point, erupting in 1963 (after a dormancy of 120 times), killing further than persons and leaving thousands homeless. The main tableland is south of the central mountains. The period of the southeast thunderstorm (May to November) is the dry season. Bali’s foliage ( substantially hilly tropical rain timber) and fauna act those of Java. Some teak grows on Bali, and the giant banyan (waringin) trees are held sacred by the Balinese. Barracuda are plant in the west, and deer and wild gormandizers are multitudinous.
When Islam triumphed over Hinduism in Java (16th century), Bali came a retreat for numerous Hindu patricians, preachers, and intellectualists. Moment it's the only remaining fort of Hinduism in the archipelago, and Balinese life is centred on religion — a mix of Hinduism ( especially that of the Shaivite side), Buddhism, Malay ancestor cult, and animistic and magical beliefs and practices. Places of deification are multitudinous and wide, and there's a establishment belief in reincarnation. Caste is observed, though less rigorously than is the case in India, because the great maturity of the population belongs to the Sudra, the smallest estate. The nobility is divided into preachers (Brahman), the service and ruling kingliness (Kshatriya), and the merchandisers (Vaishya). Some Muslims and Chinese live in northern and western Bali, and there are a many Christians. The Balinese language is distinct from that of eastern Java, but the upper- class form contains numerous Javanese and Sanskrit words.
The two major municipalities are Singaraja and Denpasar, the parochial capital; others include Klungkung, a centre of wood figure and gold and tableware diligence; Gianyar, with a lively request; Kuta, Sanur, and Nusa Dua, centres of the flourishing sightseer trade; and Ubud, in the foothills, a centre for European and American artists, with a fine art gallery. All Balinese townlets have tabernacles and an assembly hall, generally located on a forecourt that serves for carnivals and requests. Each family lives in its own emulsion girdled by earthen or gravestone walls.
Balinese growers, raising basically rice, are organized into collaborative water- control boards. The average ranch is2.5 acres (1 hectare). About one-fourth of the agrarian realty is rinsed, the remainder being used for yams, cassava, sludge ( sludge), coconuts, fruits, and, sometimes, canvas win and coffee plantings. A large cattle population is supplemented by lower beast. There are several meat-processing shops; fishing is only a minor occupation. Food must be imported because of the growing population, but exports include beef, pork, coffee, copra, and win canvas. Tourism and the trade of craft papers are important to the frugality. There's an field near Denpasar.
The Balinese are fond of music, poetry, dancing, and carnivals, are extraordinarily suitable in trades and crafts, and are passionately fond of laying games, especially cockfighting. A typical Balinese gamelan ( symphony) consists of colorful percussion instruments, a two- string violin, and a flute; and every vill has its gamelan club. Stage plays and, especially, dancing are an integral part of Balinese life, serving magico-religious purposes or telling stories by pantomime. The cultural disposition is also apparent in form, oil, silverwork, and wood figure and bone figure and in the beast- shaped rustic palls in which corses are carried to the cremation ground.
History
Visited by Chinese dealers and Indian literati, the Balinese had embraced Hinduism by the 7th century CE. Mahendradatta, the mama of Airlangga (who ruled Java from 1019 toc. 1049), wedded Udayana, the Balinese king, and numerous Javanese Hindus immigrated to Bali. In 1284 Kertanagara, last king of Tumapel (Singhasari) in Java, captured Bali; upon his death in 1292, the islet recaptured its independence. Bali came under the rule of the Majapahit conglomerate of eastern Java in 1343 and continued under the Majapahits until the conglomerate was overthrown in 1478 by Muslims. The Dutch first visited Bali in 1597, when the islet was divided among a number of warring Muslim countries. The Dutch adjoined the northern Balinese countries of Buleleng and Jembrana in 1882, and, in the 1894 Dutch irruption of near Lombok Island, the Balinese Napoleon, Anak Agung Ktut, was killed. In 1906 the Dutch attacked Denpasar, slaughtered about Balinese, and captured the whole islet.
Bali was enthralled by the Japanese during World War II. In 1946 a battle was fought between Dutch colors and Indonesian revolutionary forces at Marga in western Bali. The islet came part of the Republic of Indonesia in 1950. A terrorist bombing on the islet in 2002 killed some 200 people.
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