Bali (Vegetarian World)

Bali is a republic located in the south-central portion of "Nusantara" (the Malayan Archipelago). This thus also situates it in insular. In the late 1800s, it was eyed by the Netherish, who already had control of the islands of Sumatra and Java. The Balinese, seeing this as a threat, sent ambassadors to to gain their protection. India was wary of starting trouble with the Netherish, but eventually it agreed to establish a protectorate over Bali. This gave India more sway over the Nusantara region, which was a priority if it wanted to assure access not only to, but to , with which Indian trade was burgeoning at the time. India would soon sign a treaty with Netherland, expressly giving Netherish ships access to Bali's ports under Indian control, and promising peace between the nations. In 1948, soon after the and the independence of the neighboring Netherish islands, Bali was given its independence.

Regencies
Bali is divided into regencies. Badung, Bangli, Buleleng, Gianyar, Jembrana, Karangasem, Klungkung, Mengui, and Tabanan. Denpasar, the capital, is located in Badung Regency.

Vegetarianism

 * 70% Vegetarian
 * 30% Non-Vegetarian

Ethnic Groups

 * 84% Balinese
 * 10% other Nusantaran peoples
 * 05% Indians
 * 01% others

Religions
The old Balinese religion had roots in both Hinduism and local beliefs. When India gained control of much of Bali, Indians were horrified that Balinese called their religion Hinduism yet sacrificed animals and had very little idea of vegetarianism. Indians, usually accepting of other cultures, felt that this was going too far, and set up Hindu schools to teach the local populace some basic principles that were practiced in India. Animal sacrifice was outlawed. Eventually, the Balinese religion began to conform more to Indian standards, at which time Indians accepted their religion as a form of Hinduism. That religion is now called "Balinese Nusantara Hinduism", though Indian sects are also present.


 * 84% Hindu
 * 65% Balinese Nusantara Hinduism
 * 19% various Indian varieties of Hinduism
 * 09% Non-religious
 * 05% atheist
 * 04% agnostic
 * 04% Muslim ("Nusantara Islam" predominant)
 * 02% Buddhist (mostly Mayayana)
 * 01% others

Languages

 * 86% Balinese
 * 09% other Malayan languages (including Nusantara Malay)
 * 02% Dravidian languages (Tamil, Malayalam)
 * 02% Hindustani
 * 01% others

Note: Nusantara Malay (or, inter-island Malay) is often used as a medium of communication between different ethnic groups over most of the Malay Archipelago, also called "Nusantara".