Denpasar (; Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ, Dénpasar) is the capital and the largest city of the province of Bali, Indonesia.
Denpasar is the largest city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest city in Eastern Indonesia after Makassar. It is bordered by Badung Regency to its west and north, Gianyar Regency to its east, and the Indian Ocean and the Badung Strait to its south. The growth of the tourism industry on the island of Bali has pushed the city of Denpasar to become a center of business activities, and has positioned the city as an area with high per capita income and growth in Bali. The population of the city at the end of 2024 was 670,210. The Denpasar metropolitan area centred on Denpasar (called Sarbagita) had 2,187,198 residents in end 2024. The COVID-19 pandemic and travel related closures has further exacerbated the population loss.
Etymology
The name Denpasar – from the Balinese words "dén", meaning north, and "pasar", meaning market – indicates the city's origins as a market-town on the site of what is now Kumbasari Market (formerly "Peken Payuk"), in the northern part of the modern city.
History
thumb|Denpasar,
Founder
The city of Denpasar was founded by I Gusti Ngurah Made Pemecutan who was a descendant of Puri Pemecutan of Badung. The name Denpasar emerged when the area which was previously known as the Badung region was led by two sub-kingdoms in Badung, namely Puri Pemecutan and Puri Jambe Ksatrya. According to the researcher of the history of Denpasar City who is also a professor of history at the Faculty of Letters, Udayana University, AA Bagus Wirawan, at that time there were two palaces which indicated the existence of two governments, namely Puri Alang Badung and Puri Pemecutan.
Colonial era
thumb|Photo of the Main Gate of the [[:id:Puri Agung Denpasar|Puri Agung Denpasar Palace before the Dutch intervention in Bali (1906)]]
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Denpasar functioned as the capital of the Hindu Majapahit Kingdom of Badung, thus the city's former name being Badung. The royal palace was looted and razed during the Dutch intervention in 1906. A statue in Taman Puputan (Denpasar's central square) commemorates the 1906 Puputan, in which as many as a thousand Balinese, including the King and his court, committed mass suicide in front of invading Dutch troops, rather than surrender to them.
Tuban Airfield, now part of Denpasar International Airport, opened in 1931. It was seized by the Imperial Japanese forces in 1942 during World War II.
Independence era
In 1958, Denpasar became the seat of government for the province of Bali. It remained the administrative centre of both Badung Regency and the City of Denpasar.
Both Denpasar and Badung Regency have experienced rapid physical, economic, social, and cultural growth.
Climate
Denpasar, located just south of the equator, has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification: Aw) and is under the influence of the Australian monsoon system. Daytime temperatures typically range from 20 °C to 33 °C throughout the year. Between December and March, the West monsoon may bring heavy rain and high humidity, though days are generally sunny, with rain falling mainly at night and clearing quickly. From June to September, humidity is low, and evenings can be mild.
Demographics
Population
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;width:70%;border:0px;text-align:center;line-height:120%;"
! style="background: #FFEBCD; color: #000080" height="17" | Year
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1990
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 2000
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 2003
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 2010
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 2024
|- Align="center"
! style="background: #FFEBCD; color: #000080" height="17" | Total population
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 320,597
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 532,440
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 585,150
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 788,589
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 670,210
|-
| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|<small>Population history of Denpasar City<br />Source:</small> but the 2020 Census demonstrated that the population had fallen to 725,314. There were some 7,098 more men than women in Denpasar in mid-2022.
In relation to being a tourist city, then Denpasar is also supported by several areas such as Kuta and Ubud. This area is often referred to as Sarbagi (Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar) or Sarbagita (Denpasar Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan) or simply Denpasar metropolitan area based on Presidential Regulation No. 45 of 2011. The following are the populations of several of these areas:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
! Administrative Division
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! Density (/km<sup>2</sup>)
!Population (Ministry of Home Affairs 2024) Denpasar residents from other ethnic, many come from the Javanese ethnic, and some others are Chinese, Sasak, Madura, Sunda, Flores, Malays, Bugis, Batak, and several other ethnic groups.