Bali
Bali, one of the islands of Indonesia, begins the archipelago stretching to Timor that is known as the Lesser Sunda Islands. Among these islands, the most densely populated have been Bali and its neighboring island of Lombok. The island of Bali has an area of 5,620 square kilometers. Lying just 8° south of the equator, the island has the even and warm climate of the tropics. These tropical weather conditions, together with the scenic natural beauty of the island, have made it a well-known holiday resort destination.
Bali's volcanic range dominates the landscape and also divides the island in half, since it stretches from east to west. The tallest mountain is the Gunung Agung, or Great Mountain. This was 3,140 meters high before it erupted in 1963. The population density is high, with some 2.5 million people living on the island. The most densely populated areas are the plains of central Bali. These plains produce two crops of rice a year. Large streams that have fanned out southward from the line of active volcanoes have built up a fertile inclined-alluvial plain. This is constantly rejuvenated by water-borne volcanic ash, upon which dense settlements and rice fields have been developed on ingeniously irrigated terraces that extend inland and upward to about 600 meters. The other major crop in terms of acreage covered is maize.
The people of Bali are mostly Hindus. Descended from high-caste Hindu Javanese who were driven eastward by the Islamization of Java, the people have retained an aristocratic society and a strongly communal life that has found expression in an elaborate artistic culture that has reached higher forms on Bali than anywhere else among the island peoples of Indonesia. The temple architecture of Bali is therefore unusually striking and complex. The Balinese also have longstanding traditions of craftsmanship in wood, stone, gold, silver, and weaving. These have export value and also support the considerable tourism industry.
Further Reading
Black, Star, and David Stuart-Fox. (1980) Bali. Hong Kong: Apa.
Dobby, E. G. H. (1958) Southeast Asia. London: University of London Press.
Farmers work their terraced rice fields in Bali. (YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND/CORBIS)Stuart-Fox, David J. (1992) Bibliography of Bali: Publications from 1920 to 1990. Leiden, Netherlands: KITLV (Royal Dutch Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology).
Vickers, Adrian. (1994) Travelling to Bali: Four Hundred Years of Journeys. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and New York: Oxford University Press.
This is the complete article, containing 386 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
