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Sulawesi ( , ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Within Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and New Guinea are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra are more populous.
The landmass of Sulawesi includes four peninsulas: the northern Minahasa Peninsula, the East Peninsula, the South Peninsula, and the Southeast Peninsula. Three gulfs separate these peninsulas: the Gulf of Tomini between the northern Minahasa and East peninsulas, the Tolo Gulf between the East and Southeast peninsulas, and the Gulf of Boni between the South and Southeast peninsulas. The Strait of Makassar runs along the western side of the island and separates the island from Borneo.
The name Celebes was originally given to the island by Portuguese explorers. While its direct translation is unclear, it might be a Portuguese rendering of the native name "Sulawesi".
The Strait of Makassar runs along the western side of the island. The island is surrounded by Borneo to the west, by the Philippines to the north, by Maluku Islands to the east, and by Flores and Timor to the south.
According to plate reconstructions, the island is believed to have been formed by the collision of from the Asian Plate (forming the west and southwest) and from the Australian Plate (forming the southeast and Banggai regency), with previously in the Pacific (forming the north and east peninsulas). Because of its several tectonic origins, various faults scar the land and as a result the island is prone to , including the deadly 2018 and 2021 quakes.
Off the eastern coast of Sulawesi, the North Banda Sea was created through subduction rollback during the early Miocene. Evidence for this tectonic event lies with the extensive interconnected fault network found in the area, a volcanic seamount with its surrounding ridges, and an accretionary wedge. Off the coast of east Selawesti and Banggai is an accumulation of carbonate rocks from the late Miocene. These carbonates are likely pinnacle reefs and the carbonate platform has a total thickness of around 180–770 meters.
Sulawesi, in contrast to most of the other islands in the Biogeography region of Wallacea, is not truly oceanic, but a composite island at the centre of the Asia-Australia collision zone. Parts of the island were formerly attached to either the or Australian continental margin and became separated from these areas by Vicariance. In the west, the opening of the Makassar Strait separated West Sulawesi from Sundaland in the Eocene c. 45 Mya. In the east, the traditional view of collisions of multiple fragments sliced from New Guinea with an active volcanic margin in West Sulawesi at different times since the Early Miocene c. 20 Mya has recently been replaced by the hypothesis that extensional fragmentation has followed a single Miocene collision of West Sulawesi with the Sula Spur, the western end of an ancient folded belt of Variscan orogeny in the Late Paleozoic.
Before October 2014, the settlement of South Sulawesi by modern humans had been dated to 30,000 BC on the basis of radiocarbon dates obtained from rock shelters in Maros. No earlier evidence of human occupation had at that point been found, but the island almost certainly formed part of the land bridge used for the settlement of Australia and New Guinea by at least 40,000 BC.C.C. Macknight (1975) The emergence of civilization in South Celebes and elsewhere, in A. Reid and L. Castles (ed.) Pre-Colonial state systems in Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society: 126–135. There is no evidence of Homo erectus having reached Sulawesi; crude stone tools first discovered in 1947 on the right bank of the Walanae River at Barru Regency (now part of Bone Regency), which were thought to date to the Pleistocene on the basis of their association with vertebrate fossils, are now thought to date to perhaps 50,000 BC.
Following Peter Bellwood's model of a southward migration of Austronesian-speaking farmers (AN),Peter Bellwood,1997, The prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian archipelago. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press). radiocarbon dates from caves in Maros suggest a date in the mid-second millennium BC for the arrival of a group from east Borneo speaking a Proto-South Sulawesi language (PSS). Initial settlement was probably around the mouth of the Sa'dan river, on the northwest coast of the peninsula, although the south coast has also been suggested.Bulbeck, F.D. 1992. 'A tale of two kingdoms: The historical archaeology of Gowa and Tallok, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.' PhD thesis, The Australian National University.
Subsequent migrations across the mountainous landscape resulted in the geographical isolation of PSS speakers and the evolution of their languages into the eight families of the South Sulawesi language group. Languages of South Sulawesi If each group can be said to have a homeland, that of the Bugis – today the most numerous group – was around lakes Lake Tempe and Lake Sidenreng in the Walennaé depression. Here for some 2,000 years lived the linguistic group that would become the modern Bugis; the archaic name of this group (which is preserved in other local languages) was Ugiq. Despite the fact that today they are closely linked with the Makassarese, the closest linguistic neighbors of the Bugis are the Torajan people.
Pre-1200 Bugis society was most likely organized into chiefdoms. Some have speculated these chiefdoms would have warred and, in times of peace, interbred. Further, they have speculated that personal security would have been negligible and head-hunting an established cultural practice. The political economy would have been a mixture of hunting and gathering and swidden or shifting agriculture. Speculative planting of wet rice may have taken place along the margins of the lakes and rivers.
In Central Sulawesi, there are more than 400 granite (Behoa Valley Pokekea Megalithic Site, Bada Valley and Napu valleys within the Lore Lindu National Park), which various archaeological studies have dated to be from 3000 BC to AD 1300. They vary in size from a few centimeters to approximately . The original purpose of the megaliths is unknown. Approximately 30 of the megaliths represent human forms. Other megaliths are in form of large pots ( Kalamba) and stone plates ( Tutu'na). Sangadji, Ruslan: C. Sulawesi's Lore Lindu park, home to biological wealth, The Jakarta Post, 5 June 2005 , retrieved 11 October 2010
A burial of a woman associated with the hunter-gatherer Toalean culture dating to 7,000 years ago has yielded DNA that has provided rare insight into early migrations in and through the region.Nogrady, Bianca, First ancient human DNA found from key Asian migration route, Nature, August 26, 2021
"we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship."
Dr. Maxime Aubert, of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, said that was the minimum age for the outline in Pettakere Cave in Maros, and added: "Next to it is a pig that has a minimum age of 35,400 years old, and this is one of the oldest figurative depictions in the world, if not the oldest one."On 11 December 2019, a team of researchers led by Dr. Maxime Aubert announced the discovery of the oldest hunting scenes in prehistoric art in the world that is more than 44,000 years old from the Solutional cave of Leang Bulu' Sipong 4. Archaeologists determined the age of the depiction of hunting a pig and buffalo thanks to the calcite 'popcorn', different isotope levels of radioactive uranium and thorium.
In March 2020, two small stone '' were found by Griffith University archaeologists in the Leang Bulu Bettue cave, dated to a time between 26,000 and 14,000 years ago. While one of the stones contained an anoa (water buffalo) and what may be a flower, star, or eye, another depicted astronomic rays of light.
In January 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of cave art that is at least 45,500 years old in a Leang Tedongnge cave. According to the Science Advances, the cave painting of a warty pig is the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region. An adult male pig, measuring 136 cm x 54 cm and what is likely a Sulawesi or Celebes warty pig (Sus celebensis), was depicted with horn-like facial warts and two hand prints above its hindquarters. According to co-author Adam Brumm, there are two other pigs that are partly preserved and it appears the warty pig was observing a fight between the two other pigs.
In January 2026, newly discovered images of hand stencils and human figures in caves on the Southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi were dated to be at least 67,800 years old, making them the earliest known evidence of rock art in the world and predating the previous record-holding images in the Cave of Maltravieso by over one thousand years.
Starting in the 13th century, access to prestige trade goods and to sources of iron started to alter long-standing cultural patterns and to permit ambitious individuals to build larger political units. It is not known why these two ingredients appeared together; one was perhaps the product of the other.
In 1367, several identified polities located on the island were mentioned in the Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama dated from the Majapahit period. Canto 14 mentioned polities including Gowa, Makassar, Luwu and Banggai. It seems that by the 14th century, polities in the island were connected in an archipelagic maritime trading network, centered in the Majapahit port in East Java. By 1400, a number of nascent agricultural principalities had arisen in the western Cenrana valley, as well as on the south coast and on the west coast near modern Parepare.Caldwell, I.A. 1988. 'South Sulawesi A.D. 1300–1600: Ten Bugis texts.' PhD thesis, The Australian National University; Bougas, W. 1998. 'Bantayan: An early Makassarese kingdom 1200 -1600 AD. Archipel 55: 83–123; Caldwell, I. and W.A. Bougas 2004. 'The early history of Binamu and Bangkala, South Sulawesi.' Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 64: 456–510; Druce, S. 2005. 'The lands west of the lake: The history of Ajattappareng, South Sulawesi, AD 1200 to 1600.' PhD thesis, the University of Hull.
In 1905, the entire island became part of the Dutch state colony of the Netherlands East Indies until Japanese occupation in the Second World War. During the Indonesian National Revolution, the Dutch Captain 'Turk' Westerling led campaigns in which hundreds, maybe thousands died during the South Sulawesi Campaign.Kahin (1952), p. 145 Following the transfer of sovereignty in December 1949, Sulawesi became part of the federal United States of Indonesia, which in 1950 became absorbed into the unitary state Republic of Indonesia.Westerling, R. 1952. Challenge to Terror
=== Picture gallery ===
In the late 19th century, the Sarasins journeyed through the Palu valley as part of a major initiative to bring the Kaili under Dutch rule. Some interesting photographs were taken of shamans called Tadulako. Further Christian religious missions entered the area to make one of the most detailed ethnographic studies in the early 20th century.Kruyt & Adriani. The Swede Walter Kaudern later studied much of the literature and produced a synthesis. Erskine Downs in the 1950s produced a summary of Kruyts and Andrianis work: "The religion of the Bare'e-Speaking Toradja of Central Celebes," which is invaluable for English-speaking researchers. One of the most recent publications is "When the bones are left," a study of the material culture of central Sulawesi,Eija-Maija Kotilainen – History – 1992. offering extensive analysis. Also worthy of study are the brilliant works of Monnig Atkinson on the Wana shamans who live in the Mori area.
| 16,888,736 |
| 3,126,786 |
| 331,646 |
| 267,059 |
| 30,412 |
| 12,584 |
| 523 |
| 20,657,746 |
Islam is the majority religion in Sulawesi. The conversion of the lowlands of the south western peninsula (South Sulawesi) to Islam occurred in the early 17th century. The kingdom of Luwu in the Gulf of Bone was the first to embrace Islam in February 1605; the Makassar kingdom of Gowa-Talloq, centred on the modern-day city of Makassar, followed suit in September. However, the Gorontalo and the Mongondow people peoples of the northern peninsula largely converted to Islam only in the 19th century. Most Sulawesi Muslims are .
Christians form a substantial minority on the island. According to the demography Toby Alice Volkman, 17% of Sulawesi's population is Protestant and less than 2% is Catholic. Christians are concentrated on the tip of the northern peninsula around the city of Manado, which is inhabited by the Minahasa, a predominantly Protestant people, and the northernmost Sangir Islands and Talaud Islands. The Toraja people of Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi have largely converted to Christianity since Indonesia's independence. There are also substantial numbers of Christians around Lake Poso in Central Sulawesi, among the Pamona speaking peoples of Central Sulawesi, and near Mamasa.
Though most people identify themselves as Muslims or Christians, they often subscribe to local beliefs and deities as well.
Smaller communities of Buddhists and Hindus are also found on Sulawesi, usually among the Chinese, Balinese people, and Indian communities.
The largest cities on the island are the provincial capitals of Makassar, Manado, Palu, Kendari, and Gorontalo (the provincial capital of West Sulawesi – the town of Mamuju – is not a city); there are six other cities – Bitung, Palopo, Bau-Bau, Parepare, Kotamobagu and Tomohun.
| South Sulawesi | 45,330.56 | 8,034,776 | 9,073,509 | 9,362,290 | 206.5 |
| West Sulawesi | 16,594.75 | 1,158,651 | 1,419,229 | 1,481,077 | 89.2 |
| Southeast Sulawesi | 36,159.71 | 2,232,586 | 2,624,875 | 2,743,574 | 75.9 |
| Central Sulawesi | 61,605.72 | 2,635,009 | 2,985,734 | 3,086,750 | 50.1 |
| Gorontalo | 12,025.15 | 1,040,164 | 1,171,681 | 1,213,180 | 100.9 |
| North Sulawesi | 14,500.27 | 2,270,596 | 2,621,923 | 2,681,540 | 184.9 |
| Total Sulawesi | 186,216.16 | 17,371,782 | 19,896,951 | 20,568,411 | 110.5 |
| Makassar | South Sulawesi | 1,339,374 | 1,423,877 | 1,454,960 |
| Manado | North Sulawesi | 410,481 | 451,916 | 458,582 |
| Palu | Central Sulawesi | 336,532 | 373,218 | 387,493 |
| Kendari | Southeast Sulawesi | 289,966 | 345,107 | 351,095 |
| Bitung | North Sulawesi | 187,652 | 225,134 | 232,440 |
| Gorontalo | Gorontalo | 180,127 | 198,539 | 205,390 |
| Palopo | South Sulawesi | 147,932 | 184,681 | 192,760 |
| Baubau | Southeast Sulawesi | 136,991 | 159,248 | 161,280 |
| Parepare | South Sulawesi | 129,262 | 151,454 | 158,430 |
| Kotamobagu | North Sulawesi | 107,459 | 123,722 | 123,918 |
| Tomohon | North Sulawesi | 91,553 | 100,587 | 103,072 |
There are 127 known extant native mammalian species in Sulawesi. A large percentage, 62% (79 species) are Endemism, meaning that they are found nowhere else in the world. The largest of these are the two species of anoa or dwarf buffalo. Other artiodactyl species inhabiting Sulawesi are the warty pig and the babirusas, which are aberrant pigs. The only native is the Sulawesi palm civet (Asian palm and Malayan civet civets have been introduced). Primates present include a number of nocturnal ( Tarsius fuscus, Dian's, Gursky's, Jatna's, Wallace's, the Lariang tarsier and pygmy tarsier tarsiers) as well as Diurnality (Heck's, the booted macaque, crested black, Gorontalo, moor macaque, and Tonkean macaque macaques). While most of Sulawesi's mammals are Eutheria and have Asian relatives, several species of cuscus, arboreal marsupials of Australasian origin, are also present ( Ailurops ursinus and Strigocuscus celebensis, which are diurnal and nocturnal, respectively).
Sulawesi is home to a large number of endemic rodent genera. Muridae rodent genera endemic to Sulawesi and immediately adjacent islands (such as the Togian Islands, Buton, and Muna Island) are Bunomys, Echiothrix, Margaretamys, Taeromys and Tateomys as well as the single-species genera Eropeplus, Hyorhinomys, Melasmothrix, Paucidentomys, Paruromys, Sommeromys and the semiaquatic Waiomys. All nine Sciuridae are from three endemic genera, Hyosciurus, Prosciurillus and Rubrisciurus.
While over 20 bat species are present on Sulawesi, only a portion of these are endemic: Rhinolophus tatar, Scotophilus celebensis and the Acerodon celebensis, Boneia bidens, Dobsonia exoleta, Harpyionycteris celebensis, Neopteryx frosti, Rousettus celebensis and Styloctenium wallacei.
Several endemic shrews, the Sulawesi shrew, Sulawesi tiny shrew and the Sulawesi white-handed shrew, are found on the island.
Sulawesi has no , being situated between Borneo with its colugos and , and Halmahera with its .
Sulawesi also harbours several species of freshwater chelonians, two of which are endemic. They include the Forsten's tortoise and the Sulawesi forest turtle, both of which likely attribute their respective origins to the dispersal of the mainland Asian elongated tortoise and Malayan flat-shelled turtle from the then-exposed subcontinent of Sundaland during the Pleistocene epoch.
The remaining two species consist of the non-endemic Malayan box turtle of the Wallacean subspecies, and the Asiatic softshell turtle.
The genus Tylomelania of is also endemic to Sulawesi, with the majority of the species restricted to Lake Poso and the Malili Lake system.von Rintelen , T., K. von Rintelen, and M. Glaubrecht (2010). The species flock of the viviparous freshwater gastropod Tylomelania (Mollusca: Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) in the ancient lakes of Sulawesi, Indonesia: the role of geography, trophic morphology and color as driving forces in adaptive radiation. pp. 485–512 in: Glaubrecht, M., and H. Schneider, eds. (2010). Evolution in Action: Adaptive Radiations and the Origins of Biodiversity. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany.
The lowland forests on the island have mostly been removed." Rare and mysterious forests of Sulawesi 80% gone" – mongabay.com Because of the relative geological youth of the island and its dramatic and sharp topography, the lowland areas are naturally limited in their extent. The past decade has seen dramatic conversion of this rare and endangered habitat. The island also possesses one of the largest outcrops of serpentine soil in the world, which support an unusual and large community of specialized plant species. Overall, the flora and fauna of this unique center of global biodiversity is very poorly documented and understood and remains critically threatened.
The islands of Pepaya, Mas, and Raja islands, located in Sumalata Village – North Gorontalo Regency (about 30 km from Saronde Island), have been named a nature reserve since the Dutch colonial time in 1936. Four of the only seven species of can be found in the islands, the world's best turtle habitat. They include penyu hijau ( Chelonia midas), penyu sisik ( Eretmochelys imbricata), penyu tempayan ( Caretta caretta) and penyu belimbing ( Dermochelys coriacea). In 2011, the habitat was threatened by human activities such as illegal poaching and fish bombing activities; furthermore, many coral reefs, which represent a source of food for turtles, have been damaged.
Other environmental threats included bushmeat hunting and mining." Sulawesi Profile" – mongabay.com
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