Geography of Bali

The island of Bali is blessed with incredible natural health. From sparkling seas and soft sand beaches to cool volcanic highlands covered with lush green ricefields and colorful tropical foliage, the landscape offer postcard perfect panoramas at every turns. Bali's overwhelming environmental beauty is in part a happy result of its geography. Tucked in between hotter, more humud Java to the west and drier Lombok to the east, and sorrounded by the cool blue of the Indian Ocean, the island sits just eight degrees south of the equator.

This location provides it with a mild tropical climate, fresh sea breezes and abundant rainfall. A rocky spine of volcanoes – some of them are still quiet active – bisect the island, bringing fertility to the fields in the form of rich volcanic soil and rainwater from the clouds blanketing the high peaks. This geothermal activity also bubbles up in the hit springs that dot island, places where the visitors can bathe in the warm mineral waters reputed to heal illness and certain to refresh the soul.

The climate of Bali is gentle, with average temperatures ranging between 25 and 30 degree calcious. Although travellers from colder areas may think of Bali as the island of endless summer, there are actually two seasons, the dry season which lasts from April to October and the rainy season which lasts from November to March.

The temperatures during the rainy season are a bit higher, reaching its peak in December and January, but the heat is broken by the soft shower and torrential downpours that marks the monsoon. The rains rarely last long, and they are followed by the sweet smell of the Lang washed clean and the shimmering beauty of the foliage dripping with fresh colour.

For a place that has inspired so many legends, Bali is suprisingly small, stretching only 90 kilometres from North to South, and 135 kilometres from West to East. But within this area there is a stunning range of contrasts.

The South is Bali's "rice bowl", where the grain that provides the major portion of the Balinese diet and inspires a good part of its mythology and ritual activity grows in lush wet fields irrigated with the mountain water that flows down from the North through a complex series of channels.

The center and East part of the island is covered with rolling hills and high mountains, and the West coast is home to Bali’s only national park, The West Bali National Park, much of which is virgin rainforest. With so much to choose from, it would take a lifetime to explore all the natural wealth of Bali.

(Source : Bali Interactive CD-Rom "Bali, the Island of Peace" by Bali Tourism Authority, 2000)

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