Bali - Overview

The nation of Indonesia stretches out for more than 3,200 miles in the Indian Ocean, in a location that basically "sits" to the north of Australia. With that large a geographic span, and with somewhere around 18,000 individual islands, Indonesia is often referred to as the world's largest archipelago.

Bali is without question, one of the best known islands in Indonesia, and is located a little "left of center" in the archipelago, with the island of Java to the west and the island of Lombok to the east. Bali is similar to a "state" in the United States, as one of the country's 33 provinces, with the capital city of Denpasar located towards the south of the island.

With a population of around 4,000,000, as much as 75% are Balinese Hindus, with most of the remainder following Islam, and then also Christianity. Bali is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, wood carving and music.

Bali's volcanic mountains stretch across the middle of the island from the west to the east, and include several peaks over 9,000 feet in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (9,944'), known as the "mother mountain" and is an active volcano near the east coast. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and the tall mountain ranges provide a substantial rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector.

East Bali is a large region with natural habitat ranging from lush forests and black sand beaches to barren gravel plains. Amed—a small fishing village on Bali's southeast coast—is an increasingly popular and charming location that provides visitors a much more authentic experience of life in Bali, like it was 20-30 years ago.

Amed and Bayu Cottages - Map