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Tourism and Destination of Sulawesi Island of Indonesia

Sulawesi Indonesia

About Sulawesi Island

Tongkonan is a name a traditional house Tana Toraja

Sulawesi island is a name of an island in Indonesia which located in the middle of Maluku archipelago and Kalimantan Island. It has about 174,600 square km which made it as the 11th biggest island in the world. In Indonesia, Sulawesi Island is the 4th biggest island after Papua, Kalimantan and Sumatera. In English, the old nickname was Celebes. Celebes is a name for Sulawesi which was firstly used by the Portuguese.

Estimated, the name of Sulawesi itself came from word sula and wesi. Sula means island, and wesi means iron, which can be referred to the iron core trading that become mining product located in Matano lake area.

In Indonesian map, Sulawesi has a memorable shape. It shaped letter ‘K’ which extend from north to south. It is next to Kalimantan island which separated by Makassar Straight ,and next to Maluku archipelago that separated by Maluku sea. In the north side, it’s bordered with Filipina, in the south side it bordered with Flores, and in the south east side it is next to Timor.

Based on population density, below is the list of 10 big cities in Sulawesi :

  1. Makasar
  2. Manado
  3. Palu
  4. Kendari
  5. Bitung
  6. Gorontalo
  7. Palopo
  8. Baubau
  9. Parepare
  10. Kotamobagu

Sulawesi Indonesia is divided into 6 provinces, which are West Sulawesi with Mamuju city as the capital, Central Sulawesi with Palu as capital city, South Sulawesi with Makassar as capital city, Gorontalo with Gorontalo as the capital city, North Sulawesi with Manado as the capital city and South East Sulawesi with Kendari as the capital city.  Central Sulawesi has the biggest area amongst all provinces with land broad is reach to 68,033 square km, and sea broad around 189,480 square km. it covers all peninsula in the east side and covers some parts peninsula in the north side, Togean archipelago in Tomini Bay and few islands in Banggai archipelago in Tolo Bay. There are 4 peninsulas in Sulawesi which are East, South, South East, and Minahasa peninsula. The highest area with height about 3,478 m above sea level is the top of Rantemario Mountain. This mountain is located in South Sulawesi.

Phinisi is a culture legacy of Bugis tribeIn Sulawesi Island, Bugis tribe is the dominant tribe. They can be found in all part of Sulawesi. The majority occupation of Bugis tribe is trader. This tribe is highly-minded about pride and dignity. Bugis tribe is also known with Phinisi ship. Phinisi is a culture legacy of Bugis tribe.

Rambu Solo CeremonyBeside Bugis tribe, there is also Toraja tribe, the native people of Sulawesi Island which live in the south part. Toraja tribe has beautiful architecture diversity and unique culture, such as Toraja tribe funeral ceremony.  It is a very important ritual in the life of Torajan people because they believe that for those who died without any appropriate funeral ceremony, the soul of the died will bring disaster to the left relatives.

Islam is the majority religion in Sulawesi Indonesia. Most dominant Islam sect is Sulawesi Islam Sunni. Christian can be found mostly in the north peninsula in Manado city and around Poso, in Central Sulawesi. Other religions that still developing are traditional beliefs.

Bunaken National ParkSulawesi is one of popular destination in Indonesia. Various tourism places exist in this island such as Kendari Bay, Nambo beach, Samparona waterfall and many others. The unique of Sulawesi Island is the beautiful beach shore, the magnificent mountain area, tradition and culture diversity, and also the amazing sea park which is also one of the finest sea park in the world, Bunaken National Park.

Sulawesi Island Tourism

Had never been to the Sulawesi island? Some of the following article might help you.

About Sulawesi Indonesia

sulawesi indonesia Welcome to GoCelebes.com! A website that provides complete instructions on tourism of the Sulawesi island, Indonesia, from the info on tourist attractions such as Bunaken, Makassar, and Manado, until Bugis and Toraja culture. Sulawesi is the 11th biggest island in the world who are in the middle of the Borneo and the Maluku Islands.

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