pop (2000e) 14 715 000. Island in Indonesia, off E Borneo; mountainous and forested; rice, tuna, maize, kapok, copra; nickel, coal, asphalt, mica, sulphur, salt; divided into four provinces; Sulawesi Selatan, South Sulawesi, formerly South Celebes, pop (2000e) 8 205 000, area 27 686 km²/10 687 sq mi, capital Ujung Pandang; Sulawesi Tengah, Central Sulawesi, formerly Central Celebes, pop (2000e) 2 011 000; area 69 726 km²/26 914 sq mi, capital Palu; Sulawesi Tenggara, South-East Sulawesi, formerly South-East Celebes, pop (2000e) 1 586 000, area 72 781 km²/28 093 sq mi, capital Kendari; Sulawesi Utara, North Sulawesi, formerly North Celebes, pop (2000e) 2 913 000, area 19 023 km²/7343 sq mi, capital Manado; includes the Sangir Is.
Sulawesi (formerly more commonly known as Celebes, IPA: [ˈsɛlɛbiz] a Portuguese-originated form of the name) is one of the four larger Sunda islands of Indonesia.
The first Europeans to visit the island were Portuguese sailors, in 1512.
Geography
It is the world's eleventh-largest island, covering an area of 174,600 km². The island has a distinctive shape, dominated by four large peninsulas (see Sulawesi peninsulas). The central part of the island is ruggedly mountainous, such that the island's peninsulas have traditionally been remote from each other, with better connections by sea than by road.
The island is subdivided into six provinces: Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi. West Sulawesi is a new province, created in 2004 from part of South Sulawesi. The largest cities on the island are Makassar, on the southwestern coast of the island, and Manado, on the northern tip.
Flora and fauna
The island of Sulawesi straddles Wallace's Line, meaning that there are a mix of both Asian and Austronesian species.
There are 127 known mammalian species in Sulawesi. The largest native mammal in Sulawesi is the dwarf buffalo, locally known as the anoa. By contrast, because many birds can fly between islands, Sulawesian bird species tend to be found on other nearby islands as well, such as Borneo; only 34% of Sulawesi's birds are found nowhere else.
Sulawesi also has several endemic species of freshwater fish, such as those in the genus Nomorhamphus, a species flock of livebearing freshwater halfbeaks containing at least 19 distinct species, most of which are only found on Sulawesi , .
Demographics
The 2000 census population of the provinces of Sulawesi was 14,946,488, about 7.25% of Indonesia's total population.
Recent History
Sulawesi has been plagued by Muslim-Christian violence in recent years. Over 1,000 people were killed in violence, riots, and ethnic cleansing that ripped through Central Sulawesi.
Riots erupted again in September 2006 in Christian dominated areas of Central Sulawesi, as well as other part of Indonesia, after the execution by firing squad of three Catholics who were convicted of leading Christian militias during the violence of the early 2000s.
Arts and culture
The people of Sulawesi are famous for their dedication to their diverse art abilities, which include pottery, weaving, and dancing.
Religion
Islam is the majority religion in Sulawesi. Southern Sulawesi, around the city of Makassar, was the first major area of the island to accept Islam. Muslims can be found in all parts of Sulawesi.
Though Islam is the religion of the majority of Sulawesi's people, large regions of the island observe other religions as well. The famous Toraja people of Tana Toraja in Central Sulawesi have largely converted to Christianity since Indonesia's independence. There are also substantial numbers of Christians around Lake Poso in Central Sulawesi and among the Pamona speaking peoples of Central Sulawesi. There has also been growth in the Christian population of the Banggai Islands and the Eastern Peninsula in Central Sulawesi, traditionally thought of as Muslim areas (which in the past were controlled by Muslim sultanates in Tidore and Ternate). Christians can be found in every major Sulawesi city.
Smaller communities of Buddhists and Hindus are also found on Sulawesi, usual among the Chinese, Balinese and Indian communities.
Over 1,000 people are reported to have been murdered in Sulawesi in a religious conflict which started in 1998 .
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