Sulawesi
(2002 pop. 14.4 million). Sulawesi, formerly known as Celebes, is a large island in the Malay Archipelago in eastern Indonesia. It is divided into four provinces: Sulawesi Utara (North Celebes), Sulawesi Tengah (Central Celebes), Sulawesi Tenggara (Southeast Celebes), and Sulawesi Selatan (South Celebes). Manado in the north and Ujung Pandang (formerly Macassar) in the south are the largest cities. Mountainous, volcanic, and unusual in shape, Sulawesi consists of four large peninsulas covering 227,654 square kilometers.
Sulawesi lies in the transition zone between Asiatic and Australian flora and fauna and has a tropical climate with distinct rainy and dry seasons. There are extensive teak forests and many kinds of orchids; fauna include unique animals such as the anoa (dwarf buffalo) and babirusa (large wild swine) as well as tapirs and maleo birds. The economy is based on subsistence agriculture, especially rice, and on the export of such products as timber, spices, cacao, coconuts, fish, and minerals. Predominant indigenous groups include the Toraja, Buginese, Makassarese, and Minahasa.
Ruled by Buddhist and Hindu empires prior to the rise of Islamic states in the sixteenth century, the island was later colonized by the Dutch, who arrived in 1609. In recent times, there has been conflict between the large Christian minority and the Muslim majority in the city of Poso in central Sulawesi.
Further Reading
Ricklefs, Merle Calvin. (2001) A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1200. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave.
Whitten, Anthony, Muslimin Mustafa, and Gregory S. Henderson. (2001) The Ecology of Sulawesi. Boston: Tuttle.
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