bali ** an indonesian **land located at 8°25′23〃s,115°14′55〃ecoordinates:8°25′23〃s,115°14′55〃e,the westernmost of the lesser sunda **lands,lying between j**a to the west and lombok to the east.it ** one of the country's 33 provinces with the provincial capital at denpasar towards the south of the **land.the **land ** home to the vast majority of indonesia's small hindu minority.it ** also the largest tour**t destination in the country and ** renowned for its highly developed arts,including dance,sculpture,painting,leather,metalwo**ng and music.
bali has been inhabited since early preh**toric times firstly by descendants of a preh**toric race who migrated through mainland asia to the indonesian archipelago,thought to h**e first settled in bali around 3000 bc.[citation needed]stone tools dating from th** time h**e been found near the village of cekik in the **land's west.
the end of the preh**toric period in indonesia was marked by the arrival of hindu people from india around 100 bc as determined by brahmi inscriptions on potsherds.the name balidwipa has been d**covered from various inscriptions,including the blanjong charter **sued by sri kesari warmadewa in 913 ad and mentioning walidwipa.it was during th** time that the complex irrigation system subak was developed to grow rice.some religious and cultural traditions still in ex**tence today can be traced back to th** period.the hindu majapahit empire(1293–1520 ad)on eastern j**a founded a balinese colony in 1343.when the empire declined,there was an exodus of intellectuals,art**ts,priests and musicians from j**a to bali in the 15th century.
the first european contact with bali ** thought to h**e been when dutch explorer cornel** de houtman arrived in 1597,though a portuguese ship had foundered off the bukit peninsula as early as 1585.[citation needed]dutch rule over bali came later,was aggressively fought for,and they were never ultimately able to establ**h themselves as they had in other parts of indonesia such as j**a and maluku.
in the 1840s,a presence in bali was establ**hed,first in the **land's north,by playing off various d**trustful balinese realms against each other.the dutch mounted large n**al and ground assaults first against the sanur region and then denpasar.the balinese were hopelessly overwhelmed in number and armament,but rather than face the humiliation of surrender,they mounted a final defensive but suicidal assault,or puputan.despite dutch pleas for surrender,an estimated 4,000 balinese marched to their death against the invaders.afterwards the dutch governors exerc**ed little influence over the **land,generally allowing local control over religion and culture to remain intact.
japan occupied bali during world war ii during which time a balinese military officer,gusti ngurah rai,formed a balinese 'freedom army'.following japan's pacific surrender in august 1945,the dutch promptly returned to indonesia,including bali,immediately to reinstate their pre-war colonial admin**tration.th** was res**ted by the balinese rebels now using japanese weapons.
on 20 november 1946,the battle of marga was fought in tabanan in central bali.colonel i gusti ngurah rai,29 years old,finally rallied h** forces in east bali at marga rana,where they made a ** attack on the he**ily armed dutch.the balinese battalion was entirely wiped out,breaking the last thread of balinese military res**tance.in 1946 the dutch constituted bali as one of the 13 admin**trative d**tricts of the newly-proclaimed republic of east indonesia,a rival state to the republic of indonesia which was proclaimed and headed by sukarno and hatta.bali was included in the‘’republic of the united states of indonesia’’when the netherlands recogn**ed indonesian independence on dec.29,1949.in 1956 bali officially renounced the dutch union and legally became a province within the republic of indonesia.
the 1963 eruption of mount agung killed thousands,created economic h**oc and forced many d**placed balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of indonesia.
in 1965,after a failed coup d'etat in jakarta against the national ** of indonesia,bali,along with other regions of indonesia most notably j**a,was the scene of widespread killings of(often falsely-accused)members and sympathizers of the commun**t party of indonesia(pki)by right-wing general soeharto-sponsored militias.possibly than 100,000 balinese were killed although the exact numbers are unknown to date and the events remain legally unclosed.[citation needed]many unmarked but well known mass gr**es of victims are located around the **land[citation needed].
on october 12,2002,a car bomb attack in the tour**t resort of kuta killed 202 people,largely foreign tour**ts and injured a further 209.further bombings occurred three years later in kuta and nearby jimbaran bay.
bali lies 3.2 km east of j**a and approximately 8 degrees south of the equator.east to west,the **land ** approximately 153 km wide and 112 km north to south(95 by 69 miles,respectively),with a surface area of 5,632 km².the highest point ** mount agung at 3,142 m(10,308 feet)high,an active volcano that last erupted in march 1963.mountains cover centre to the eastern side,with mount agung the easternmost peak.mount batur(1,717 m)** also still active.about 30,000 years ago it experienced a catastrophic eruption—one of the largest known volcanic events on earth.
in the south the land descends to form an alluvial plain,watered by shallow rivers,drier in the dry season and overflowing during periods of he**y rain.
the principal cities are the northern port of singaraja,the former colonial capital of bali,and the present provincial capital and largest city,denpasar,near the southern coast.the town of ubud(north of denpasar),with its art market,museums and galleries,** arguably the cultural center of bali.
there are major coastal roads and roads that cross the **land mainly north-south.due to the mountainous terrain in the **land's center,the roads tend to follow the crests of the ridges across the mountains.there are no railway lines.
the **land ** surrounded by coral reefs.beaches in the south tend to h**e white sand while those in the north and west black sand.the beach town of padangbai in the south east has both:the main beach and the secret beach h**e white sand and the south beach and the blue lagoon h**e much darker sand.pasut beach,near ho river and pura segara,** a quiet beach 14 km southwest of tabanan.the ho river ** n**igable by small sampan.black sand beaches between pasut and klatingdukuh are being developed for tour**m,but apart from the seaside temple of tanah lot,th** ** not yet a tour**t area.
bali ** famous for many forms of art,including painting,sculpture,woodcarving,handcrafts,and performing arts.balinese gamelan music ** highly developed and varied.the dances portray stories from hindu epics such as the ramayana.famous balinese dances include pendet,legong,bar**,topeng,barong,and kecak(the monkey dance).
national education programs,mass media and tour**m continue to change balinese culture.immigration from other parts of indonesia,especially j**a,** changing the ethnic composition of bali's population.
the hindu new year,nyepi,** celebrated in the spring by a day of silence.on th** day everyone stays at home and tour**ts are encouraged to remain in their hotels.on the preceding day large,colorful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits.other festivals throughout the year are specified by the balinese pawukon calendrical system.
tahiti ** the largest **land of french polynesia,located in the archipelago of society **lands in the southern pacific ocean at 17°40′s,149°30′w.the **land had a population of 169,677 inhabitants according to the 2002 census.(th** makes it the most populated **land of french polynesia holding 69%of the total population.)the capital ** papeete,on the northwest coast.tahiti has also been h**torically known as otaheite.
tahiti ** some 45 km(28 mi)long at the widest point and covers 1,048 km²(404 sq mi),with the highest elevation being at 2,241 m(7,352 ft)above sea level(mount orohena).the **land cons**ts of two roughly round portions centered on volcanic mountains,connected by a short **thmus named after the small town of tar**ao,which sits there.the northwestern part ** known as tahiti nui("big tahiti"),and the southeastern part,much smaller,** known as tahiti iti("small tahiti")or taiarapu.whereas tahiti nui ** quite he**ily populated(especially around papeete)and benefits from rather good infrastructure such as roads and highways,tahiti iti has remained quite **olated,its southeastern half(te pari)being accessible only by boat or hiking.
the vegetation ** tremendously lush rain forest.
some references m**takely label november through april as tahiti's wet season.but,per a 2001 ucla research study done using years of ** cataloged weather data,the **lands of tahiti receive,on **erage,hours of sun,and less hours of rain,than hawaii does year round.graphs demonstrating the results of the study can be found at tahiti tour**me north america's website(the official ** sanctioned site for the destination).
tahiti was estimated to h**e settled by polynesians between ad 300 and 800 coming from tonga and samoa,although some estimates place the date earlier.the fertile **land soil combined with f**hing provided ample food for the population.
although the first european sighting of the **lands was by a span**h ship in 1606,spain made no effort to trade with or colonize the **land.samuel wall**,an sea captain,sighted tahiti on june 18,1767,and ** considered the first european v**itor to the **land.the perceived relaxed and contented nature of the local people and the characterization of the **land as a parad**e much impressed early european v**itors,planting the seed for a romanticization by the west that endures to ...