Portal:Indonesia/AOTW/33, 2007



Bali is an Indonesian island located between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 provinces; the provincial capital is Denpasar, located in the south of the island. The island is home to the vast majority of Indonesia's Hindu minority. It is the largest tourist destination in the country, and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music.

The highest point is 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) is also still active. About 30,000 years ago it experienced a catastrophic eruption &mdash; one of the largest known volcanic events on Earth.

Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculturally based, in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest single industry, and Bali is as a result one of Indonesia’s wealthiest regions. The tourism industry, however, has suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005.(Read More...)