ABOUT INDONESIA

 
 

 

 
 

About Indonesia

 

About Bali

 
 

GEOGRAPHY

•The Indonesian archipelago consists of approx 17.508 islands

•Stretching over an area  5,150 km, Indonesia is located  between the Australian and Asian continental main lands and divides the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the Equator

•With five main islands (Sumatera, Jawa, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua) and 30 others large islands, divided into 32 provinces, it is the fourth most populated country in the world with over 220 million people of various ethnic groups.

 

GEOGRAPHY
Bali lies between 8 & 9 degree south of the equator. The lowering ranges of volcanic peaks that dominate the island influence every aspect of Bali’s geography and ecology. They have created its landforms, periodically re-generated its soils and helped to produce the dramatic downpours, which provide the island with life-giving water

 

 

 

 
 

CLIMATE

•Located along the equator, Indonesia has a dry or a rainy season.

Most of Indonesia has the rainy season from October through April.

The temperature is almost constant at 30° to 31° C, but during the rainy season it becomes cooler. The temperature in the coastal area is about 28°C (82,4 in Fahrenheit)

 

   CLIMATE
Having a wet tropical climate, Bali’s temperature ranges between 21 - 33 degrees C. Rainy season starts from October through March and dry season starts from April through September

 

 

  
 

HISTORY

Ancient Indonesia has known hundreds of kingdoms, including the Buddhist Kingdom of Sriwijaya in the 7th Century, Hinduism in the Majapahit era in East Java, and has therefore various customs and traditions, and is rich in arts and culture.

 

The occupation of western countries attracted by tropical spices started with the Portuguese in 1509, followed by the Dutch in the middle of the 16th century, which lasted for 350 years. Japanese occupation in World War II was for 3,5 years, after which Indonesia proclaimed independence on August 17th, 1945.

 

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   HISTORY
The ancient kingdoms of the “Raja” (King) and princes of Bali were dismantled by colonial governments in the early part of this century, but many of their royal descendants still own traditional palaces and are very much respected as patrons of the arts

 

 

 

 

  
 

PEOPLE

The people of Indonesia consist of many ethnics groups with about 583 spoken languages, and many different dialects

 

Bahasa Indonesia is the national language, which is akin to Malay, written in Roman script and based on European orthography.

 

In all tourist destination areas English is the number one foreign language fairly spoken and written.

 

 

 

 

 

  

PEOPLE
Majority of Balinese are followers of Hindu. The very soul of Bali is rooted in religion and is expressed in art forms that have been passionately preserved over the centuries. It seems that almost every person is an artist, spending free time applying skills and images which have been passed down from generation to generation and grasped from a very young age

The Balinese have been dealing with more international tourists and generally speak more English than people in other parts of Indonesia. They have managed to preserve their culture despite overwhelming foreign influences brought to the region by an ever-increasing number of tourists

 

  
      CULTURE
Art and culture are strongly bonded to Bali’s unique form of Hinduism called “Hindu Darma”. Classical dance dramas, for example, are based on the old Hindu epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabarata, but contain an element of local folklore, peculiar to the island.
Whether expressed through beautiful and intricate paintings and dances, extraordinary carvings, superb weaving or even in decorations made for myriad shrines which can be found in public areas, on roads, in paddy fields or in homes; the island is alive with art.