MAPbali BaliIsland

Bali Maps By Area
Amlapura / Karangasem	Kota Madya Denpasar	Semara Pura / Klungkung
Badung	Gianyar	Singaraja
Bangli	Negara/Jembrana	Tabanan

Denpasar as the Balinese capital with direct access to Sanur and Benoa seaports in the east, Kuta in the west. with it's
strategic position Denpasar ensured its rapid growth. From just 15,000 inhabitants sixty years ago, the city population has expanded dramatically to 400,000, plus another 100,000 residents of Kuta and Nusa Dua. Following the expansion of Ngurah Rai Airport, the most interesting feature of Denpasar is the way it combines tradition with modernity. While functioning very much in the traditional way, the "villages in the city" still have their exclusive banjar neighborhood, dance groups, and temple festivals. These days, residents often make a living by renting rooms to newcomers from other regions of Bali and Indonesia.
The capital hosts all government administration offices as well as most universities and higher learning institutions, home to about 25,000 students. The local economy is geared to the needs of the nearby resorts of Sanur, Kuta and Nusa Dua, to where many residents commute daily. The dynamism of the local economy has brought not only Balinese from other parts of the island, but new-comers from all over the country to Denpasar investors, managers, even laborers. In Denpasar, ethnic homogeneity is a thing of the past.
Non-Balinese now make up around 30% of the city population. There are several Javanese kampung, Chinese and Arab/Punjabi areas. On the whole, except in the "old villages of the city" which are solely Balinese, the population is very mixed. The Muslim calls to prayer, the rumble of the beleganjur orchestra and the parson's sermon represent just some of the sounds in the Denpasar day. This variety has important cultural consequences. The Indonesian language is increasingly taking over from Balinese in daily communication.
To see the old city, take a drive around the old villages of Kedaton, Sumerta, Tonja and especially Kesiman, whose brick-style shrines and gates are the simplest yet most beautiful in Bali.
Other beautiful monuments include the temple and palace of Kesiman, Penambangan temple (near Pemecutan palace), and Satria temple, with its nearby bird market. Pemecutan, Kesiman and Badung (now the name of the nearby regency) were the three "united kingdoms" in the territory of Denpasar.
Denpasar is also where Bali displays its modern image. The Taman Budaya, the Arts Centre to the east of the city, is a complex dedicated to the preservation of Balinese culture. It contains the gigantic Ksirarnawa amphitheater and a museum with an important collection of paintings and sculptures from the period of Balinese renewal, but no contemporary art.
The Sanur area, the beach front of Denpasar now extending from Sanur westwards to the Suwung marshes and Serangan island, is steeped in history. The Blanjong, written in Sanskrit in 1913, is the oldest inscription of its kind in Bali. It tells of the founding of a Buddhist monastery. Sanur was for centuries an important trading place.
Tourism in Sanur began in the 1930's. Expatriates, writers and other luminaries had beach bungalows there. After independence, the Dutch painter Le Mayeur lived there and gained fame for his affair with and marriage to Ni Polok, one of the best dancers of his day. Le Mayeur's impressionistic work, while heavily damaged, can be seen at Le Mayeur Museum Grand Bali Beach Hotel. Donald Friend, one of Australia's great artists, also lived in Sanur until the 1960's. Sanur was where the Indonesian government made its first attempt at mass tourism with the construction of the Bali Beach Bunker, built using Japanese war reparations. Some other interesting places to visit in Sanur are the Art Market (Pasar Seni) and the Beach Market. Halfway between Denpasar and Sanur is the handicraft centre, Sanggraha Kriya Asti.
The main road passes inland, not along the beachfront itself. The beach varies from black sand in Padang Galak to white sand in the stretch from Grand Bali Beach to Semawang. Further west, the coat turns to swamp prior to Suwung village, the location of a small pier for travel to Serangan island. This island is currently developing into a popular resort area. It has several attractions for tourists, the most famous being the Pura Sakenan temple, built in the coral-stone architecture of the coast.  There is also a turtle hatchery on the island. Turtle meat used to be a favorite Balinese delicacy.