Bali Strait is a stretch of water separating

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

while connecting the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and the Bali Sea. At its narrowest it is wide.

Geography

The Bali Strait is one of the bodies of water surrounding the island of Bali:

Lombok Strait The Lombok Strait () is a strait of the Bali Sea connecting to the Indian Ocean, and is located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. The Gili Islands are on the Lombok side. Its narrowest point is at its southern opening, with a ...

to the east, the Badung Strait to the southeast, the Bali Sea to the north, the Indian Ocean to the southwest, and the Bali Strait to the west. Geologically the two islands of Bali and Java were joined until the end of the last ice age when the sea rose and cut the

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...

. They both share part of the tectonic plate called the

Sunda shelf Geology, Geologically, the Sunda Shelf () is a south-eastern extension of the continental shelf of Mainland Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include the Indonesia, Indonesian islands of Bali, Borneo, Java, Madura Island, Madura, an ...

Transportation

Bali-Strait Indonesia KMP-Sereia-do-mar-03

The Indonesian government has considered a bridge across the strait. The project is obstructed by economic hardships, as well as objections from certain locals in Bali. Currently there is no fixed link to Bali, only a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

between Ketapang in Java and Gilimanuk, Jembrana Regency, Bali.

History

On 28 January 1797 during the Bali Strait Incident a French squadron of six

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

encountered fleet of six British

East Indiaman East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...

in the Bali Strait. Disguising themselves as

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

, the British merchant ships were able to intimidate the French into withdrawing.

Ecology

The temperature of the water in Bali Strait is subject to noticeable seasonal fluctuations, predetermined by the periods of

monsoons A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

. During the period of the northwestern monsoon (January–March), average temperature is about 28–29 °C, whereas in the southeast (July–September) temperature drops to 26 °C. Regardless of the season, the water temperature in the northern part of the strait is 1–1.5 degrees lower than it is in the southern part. The level of

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

is more stable: about 33 ‰ in the season of the northwestern monsoons and about 34 ‰ in the southeast period. Sea currents in the strait have a very complex configuration, largely dependent on monsoon seasons: during the northwesterly winds, the northern vector predominates, while in the south-east it is the southern one. The maximum speed – up to 13 km / h – flows reach the northern, most narrow part of the strait. Tidal currents have a semi-diurnal amplitude. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were noticeable negative trends in the development of the ecological situation in the strait and on its shores, related to human economic activity. Numerous cases of water pollution with industrial wastes,

fertilizers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

, as well as chemicals used in

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

on the Javanese shore are recorded.

References

{{Authority control Straits of Indonesia Landforms of Bali Landforms of Java Straits of the Indian Ocean

Geography

Transportation

History

Ecology

See also

References