Badung Regency

Capital : Denpasar
Population : Over 300.000
Location : Central & South Bali
Important Phone Numbers :
Direct Inquiries : 0361 108
Badung Tourist Office Address : Jl. Bakungsari No.1 – Kuta.
Phone : 0361 756176

Bali is divided into nine kabupaten (administrative districts, or regencies), based on the old post-Majapahit kingdoms; of these, Badung contains the neon-lit tourist swath of Legian, Kuta, and Nusa Dua. Badung also extends inland to the over tourist monkey forest of Sangeh and on to the slopes of Gunung Catur (2,096 meters), high in the central mountains. Regency of Badung which is located between 08 degree South latitude and 115 degree east longitude, shaped like a “kriss” the regency which has only 418,52 square kilometers of land

Consist of 6 sub districts (Kecamatan) such as:

Sub district Petang, Sub district Abiansemal, Sub district Mengwi, Sub district South Kuta , Sub district Kuta, Sub district North Kuta And consist 40 villages, 16 kelurahan (Administrative village) and 328 Dusun (Administrative sub-village), 119 Linkungan (environment), 28 propose environment, 119 Desa Adat (Traditional village) and 522 Banjar (Administrative sub-village). Total population according June 2001 report is 332.265 people, with average population density as much as 794 persons per sq. kilometers.

In this five years term development Badung is divided into 3 Development Territories

1. North-Badung : Includes Districts of Petang and Abiansemal centered in Blahkiuh. The nomination here in board term, and ground conservation.

2. Central-Badung : cover the whole Mengwi district with food crops Agriculture, and home industry priority.

3. South Badung : Tourism industry, education and commercial are the priority in this area which embraces: Kuta, Nusa Dua, Tanjung Benoa, Bukit, Jimbaran and Kedonganan.

Agriculture and industries (especially home industry and small-scale industries) supporting tourism sector are hoped to be intensively expanded. Extension in tourism sector is up on cultural-base rooted to Hindu religion. Tourism sector become the main sector to strengthen foreign exchange, devise, employment, equity of earnings and private business, which finally increase the community welfare. Badung has the island’s highest prices and the pushiest, most sophisticated hotels.

Yet central and northern Badung are regions of fertile rice fields carved exquisitely out of hills and valleys, with small, densely settled villages surrounded by groves of coconut palms. Wealthy southern Bali ‘s temple festivals, ceremonies, and dance performances are lavish and unending. The drier, sparsely populated clubfoot shaped peninsula known as Bukit (“The Hill”) is attached to the southernmost body of the island by a narrow isthmus. Here, high cliffs fall steeply into the Indian Ocean and surf pounds stretches of isolated coast; this is among the earth’s top surfing spots.

Although the soil is thin, water scarce, and the climate arid, Bukit is fast becoming an overflow residential area for the mushrooming population of Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, and Tanjung. Between Bukit and southern Bali’s fertile plains is Ngurah Rai International Airport , which receives hordes of tourists from all over the world. The bulk of Bali ‘s tourists visit the concentrated international beach enclaves of the south, taking day trips to sites all over the island.

History

Since it’s the most accessible seaport in the southern part of the island, Badung region has always been an important point of contact with the outside world. The Javanese Majapahit army came ashore at Kuta in 1343 to conquer Bali . The first Dutchmen landed on Bali at Kuta in 1597. In the 1830s an ambitious Danish trader, Mads Lange, established a thriving trading post at the same site. Once ruled by the raja of Mengwi, Badung split from Tabanan in 1885.

This historical event explains the regency’s odd vertical shape-like an exclamation point-and accounts for Mengwi being included within its territory. The Pemecutan clan of Denpasar defeated Mengwi in 1891, but held sway only briefly, until the incursion of a new and increasingly powerful player, the Dutch. Though the Dutch subdued the northern part of the island in 1849, the fertile lava-rich lowlands of the south came under colonial rule only after prolonged resistance.

Since the northern port of Singaraja was blocked by a central mountain range, all the trade of the south took place through the reef-sheltered port of Kuta ; the only place ships could anchor and unload. This made it an irresistible target of Dutch expansion. One of the last areas of Indonesia to be occupied, Badung was pounded into submission in 1906, setting the stage for the conquest of all of southern Bali . Since the establishment of the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban in 1969, the provincial government of Bali has attempted to confine tourist development to the south.

A whole generation of local residents has built ‘losmen’ and restaurants in the south’s tourist enclaves of Kuta and Sanur, and entrepreneurs from all over Indonesia flock here for money-making opportunities. Thousands of laborers from Java are also attracted to work on the new roads and hotels of the constantly expanding economic infrastructure. Thus Badung Regency is where Balinese culture has undergone the most radical and deepest changes.

Kuta beach is not the only place to get wet in Bali ‘s southern peninsula. There are many other sandy strips, which are often even more pleasant than Kuta, despite its fame. Sanur beach, for example, is free of the break that buffets bathers at Kuta and for that locals favor reason, especially on Sundays. The trader-free Jimbaran Bay provides quick depth and a view of the colorful Madureses fishing boats docked at the end of the beach. The drive to Nusa Dua beach is a scenic one, leading through the landscaped garden and past the luxury hotels of this resort.

Shopping is getting bigger and better by the minute in southern Bali , with the opening of many new malls, squares and centers and the entry of a variety of international labels. It’s difficult to miss places like Gallery Nusa Dua, Kuta Center and Kuta Square , but for more eccentric shoppers, the Pasar Badung in Denpasar, just west of the Puputan Square , is a must. Night time between 12am and 5am is the best time to shop for fruit and vegetables fish and meat there, and down river from the bridge the bustling sea of traders and shoppers is indeed a sight at this hour. The abundant handicraft stalls, which sell anything from silver to carved wooden goods to cloth and bamboo, are only open during the daylight hours.

Interesting locations within the Badung Regency are :

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