Bali is one of the thousands islands constructing the Indonesian Archipelago that has been famous as a leading tourist destination in South Pacific and even in the world for its exotic, vibrant art and culture, natural beauties surrounded and the hospitality of the people.
It covers an extent of 5,632.86 square kilometers consisted of mountain range stretches from the West tip to the East. Hinduism is adhered by almost 95% of its population of more than 3 millions people, specifically blended with Buddhism and the Ancestor's worship. It is made inseparable from everyday life and no opportunity is missed to worship Gods in an unending series of ceremonies stretches from birth uo to after death.
The people mainly live agriculture with rice as staple crop, while the others are : coconut, coffee, clove, vanilla, maize, etc. Bali is also known for its wide variety of tropical fruit like mango, mandarin citrus, banana, salak (snake skinned fruit), grape, and many others. Along with the development of tourism, small scale and home industry like handicrafts are also flourishing, offering more jobs opportunities to the people. English is widely understood, along with the development of tourism, particularly in major tourist resorts. While Japanese, French, Germany, Korean, Chinese and other foreign languanges are also spoken instead of English.
The conducive environment in Bali is supported by the Balinese philosophy of life called "Tri Hita Karana". Tri Hita Karana distates that happiness can only be achieved if there are harmonious relationship between human and Gods; between human and their community; and between human and nature (its surrounding). This philosophy has become a way of life among the Balinese and is practiced in their daily life.
Bali has such a mild and agreeable climate the whole year round with average temperature of the day in coastal areas varies from about 30 degrees of Celcius (86 Fahrenheit) during May to July to about 34 degrees of Celcius (93.2 Fahrenheit) in March to October, while the most pleasant weather is between MAy to September with pouring sunshine all day long.
With regard to the efforts in maintaining and preserving the local culture, the Government has decided to develop such tourism based on the every aspect of local culture, which is harmoniously woven together with ages-old tradition, inspired by Hinduism as major religion.
Many nicknames have been given to this small island, such as : The Island of Thousand Temples, Morning of the World, Paradise Island, Island of Gods and many others. The latest nickname that has been given during the 51 PATA Annual Conference 2002 in India for Bali is "The Island of Peace"
->source : Bali Govt tourism office (with several additional facts)
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| one of the many ceremonies held by Hindunese in Kuta Beach |
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| another shot of the ceremony |
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| women with stacks of "sesembahan" |
