Kuta is a city on the island Bali, south from the capital city Denpasar.
It has a long, wide sandy beach, which is why a center of western mass tourism has developed here. The sand beach of Kuta is suitable for sunbathing, swimming and surfing. The cityscape is mainly characterised by hotels and discos. This is why Kuta has been “devastated” over the last few years. Most tourists in Bali come from Indonesia, Germany, Japan, China, the Netherlands, India, Malaysia and Australia. The International Airport Denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Kuta. On 12 October in 2002, Kuta was the target of an attack of Islamic extremists. Two discotheques were completely destroyed by the detonation of an Autobomb and a total of 202 people, mainly Australians, were killed. On Legian Street there is a large monument with the names of the victims.
As a result of the attack, tourism into Bali dropped. The city and the island have still not fully recovered from this event. On 1 October in 2005 the city was again shocked with several deaths by another attack. An explosive exploded in a restaurant in the Matahari shopping mall. At the same time, there were more explosions in two beach restaurants in Jimbaran, about 15 kilometers away.
