Etymology[edit]
The
Portuguese were the first to refer to Sulawesi as 'Celebes'. The name 'Sulawesi' possibly comes from the words
sula ('island') and
besi ('iron') and may refer to the historical export of iron from the rich
Lake Matano iron deposits.
[1]
Geology[edit]
Sulawesi, in contrast to most of the other islands in the
biogeographical region of
Wallacea, is not truly oceanic, but a composite island at the centre of the Asia-Australia
collision zone.
[3] Parts of the island were formerly attached to either the
Asian or
Australiancontinental margin and became separated from these areas by
vicariant processes.
[3] For one. in the west, the opening of the
Makassar Strait separated West Sulawesi from
Sundaland in the
Eocene c. 45 Mya.
[3] In the east, the traditional view of collisions of multiple
micro-continental 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Early Miocene c. 20 Mya has recently been replaced by the hypothesis that extensional fragmentation has followed a single Miocene collision of West Sulawesi with the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 origin in the Late Paleozoic.
[3]
Prehistory[edit]
Before October 2014, the settlement of South Sulawesi by modern humans had been dated to c. 30,000 BC on the basis of radiocarbon dates obtained from rock shelters in Maros.
[4] 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 BCE.
[5] There is no evidence of
Homo erectus having reached Sulawesi; crude stone tools first discovered in 1947 on the right bank of the
Walennae River at
Berru, Indonesia, which were thought to date to the Pleistocene on the basis of their association with vertebrate fossils,
[6] are now thought to date to perhaps 50,000 BC.
[7]
Following Peter Bellwood's model of a southward migration of Austronesian-speaking farmers (AN),
[8] radiocarbon dates from caves in
Maros suggest a date in the mid-second millennium BC for the arrival of an 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.
[9] 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.
[10] If each group can be said to have a homeland, that of the
Bugis – today the most numerous group – was around lakes
Témpé and
Sidénréng 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
Makasar, the closest linguistic neighbors of the Bugis are the
Toraja.
Pre-1200 CE Bugis society was most likely organized into chiefdoms. Some anthropologists have speculated these chiefdoms would have warred and, in times of peace, exchanged women with each other. 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 over 400 granite
megaliths, which various archaeological studies have dated to be from 3000 BC to 1300 AD. They vary in size from a few centimetres to ca.4.5 metres (15 ft). The original purpose of the megaliths is unknown. About 30 of the megaliths represent human forms. Other megaliths are in form of large pots (
Kalamba) and stone plates (
Tutu'na).
[11][12]
In October 2014 it was announced that
cave paintings in Maros had been dated as being about 40,000 years old. Dr Maxime Aubert, of
Griffith University in
Queensland,
Australia, said that the minimum age for the outline of a hand was 39,900 years old, which made it "the oldest
hand stencil in the world" 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."
[13]
History[edit]
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. 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.
[14]
The first Europeans to visit the island (which they believed to be an archipelago due to its contorted shape) were the
Portuguese sailors Simão de Abreu, in 1523, and Gomes de Sequeira (among others) in 1525, sent from the Moluccas in search of gold, which the islands had the reputation of producing.
[15][16] A Portuguese base was installed in Makassar in the first decades of the 16th century, lasting until 1665, when it was taken by the Dutch. The Dutch had arrived in Sulawesi in 1605 and were quickly followed by the English, who established a factory in Makassar.
[17] From 1660, the Dutch were at war with
Gowa, the major Makasar west coast power. In 1669, Admiral Speelman forced the ruler, Sultan Hasanuddin, to sign the
Treaty of Bongaya, which handed control of trade to the
Dutch East India Company. The Dutch were aided in their conquest by the Bugis warlord Arung Palakka, ruler of the Bugis kingdom of
Bone. The Dutch built a fort at Ujung Pandang, while Arung Palakka became the regional overlord and Bone the dominant kingdom. Political and cultural development seems to have slowed as a result of the status quo. In 1905 the entire island became part of the Dutch state colony of the
Netherlands East Indies until
Japanese occupation in
World War II. During the
Indonesian National Revolution, the Dutch Captain
'Turk' Westerling led campaigns in which hundreds, maybe thousands were executed during the
South Sulawesi Campaign.
[18] 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 Republic of Indonesia.
[19]
Toraja burial site.
Tau-tau, the statue representing the buried people, can be seen in niches on the cliff.
Central Sulawesi[edit]
The Portuguese were rumoured to have a fort in Parigi in 1555 (Balinese of Parigi, Central Sulawesi (Davis 1976), however she gives no source). The Kaili were an important group based in the
Palu valley and related to the Toraja. Scholars relate
[citation needed] that their control swayed under Ternate and Makassar, but this might have been a decision by the Dutch to give their vassals a chance to govern a difficult group. Padbruge commented that in the 1700 Kaili numbers were significant and a highly militant society. In the 1850s a war erupted between the Kaili groups, including the Banawa, in which the Dutch decided to intervene. A complex conflict also involving the Sulu Island pirates and probably Wyndham (a British merchant who commented on being involved in arms dealing to the area in this period and causing a row).
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 very surprising and interesting photographs were taken of shamen 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). A Swede by the name of 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 is the brilliant works of Monnig Atkinson on the Wana shamen who live in the Mori area.
Geography[edit]
Sulawesi is the
world's eleventh-largest island, covering an area of 174,600 km
2 (67,413 sq mi). The island is surrounded by
Borneo to the west, by the
Philippines to the north, by
Maluku to the east, and by
Flores and
Timor to the south. It has a distinctive shape, dominated by four large peninsulas: the
Semenanjung Minahassa; the
East Peninsula; the
South Peninsula; and the
South-east Peninsula. 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. Three bays dominate the island:
Gulf of Tomini,
Tolo Gulf, and
Bone Gulf, while the
Strait of Makassar runs the western side of the island.
[citation needed]
Minor islands[edit]
Population[edit]
The 2000 census population of the provinces of Sulawesi was 14,946,488, about 7.25% of Indonesia's total population.
[20] By the 2010 Census the total had reached 17,371,782, and the latest official estimate (for January 2014) is 18,455,058. The largest city is
Makassar.
Religion[edit]
Circumcision ceremony, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi.
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 accept Islam in February 1605; the Makassar kingdom of Goa-Talloq, centered on the modern-day city of
Makassar, followed suit in September.
[21] However, the
Gorontalo and the
Mongondow peoples of the northern peninsula largely converted to Islam only in the 19th century. Most Muslims are
Sunnis.
Christians form a substantial minority on the island. According to the
demographer Toby Alice Volkman, 17% of Sulawesi's population is
Protestant and less than 2% is
Roman 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 and
Talaud Islands. 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, 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. It is not uncommon for Christians to make offerings to local gods, goddesses, and spirits.
Administration[edit]
The island is subdivided into six
provinces:
Gorontalo,
West Sulawesi,
South Sulawesi,
Central Sulawesi,
Southeast Sulawesi, and
North Sulawesi. West Sulawesi is the newest province, created in 2004 from part of South Sulawesi. The largest cities on the island are
Makassar,
Manado,
Palu,
Kendari,
Bitung,
Gorontalo,
Palopo and
Bau-Bau.
| Province | Area in
km2 | Population
(2010 Census) | Population
(2014 Estimate) | Density
per km2
(2014) |
|---|
| South Sulawesi | 46,717.48 | 8,034,776 | 8,395,747 | 179.7 |
| West Sulawesi | 16,787.18 | 1,158,651 | 1,284,620 | 76.5 |
| Central Sulawesi | 61,841.29 | 2,635,009 | 2,839,290 | 45.9 |
| Southeast Sulawesi | 38,067.70 | 2,232,586 | 2,417,962 | 63.5 |
| Gorontalo | 11,257.07 | 1,040,164 | 1,134,498 | 92.9 |
| North Sulawesi | 13,851.64 | 4,973,129 | 5,126,643 | 172.0 |
| Total Sulawesi | 188,522.36 | 17,371,782 | 18,455,058 | 97.4 |
|
| City | Province containing the city | Population (2010 Census) | Population
(2014 Estimate) |
|---|
| Makassar | South Sulawesi | 1,339,374 | 1,398,804 |
| Manado | North Sulawesi | 423,354 | 570,190 |
| Palu | Central Sulawesi | 401,297 | 560,621 |
| Kendari | Southeast Sulawesi | 289,468 | 314,042 |
| Bitung | North Sulawesi | 117,468 | 242,042 |
| Gorontalo | Gorontalo | 179,991 | 196,464 |
| Palopo | South Sulawesi | 148,033 | 154,579 |
| Bau-Bau | Southeast Sulawesi | 137,118 | 148,366 |
|
Capital city of South Sulawesi, and Biggest city in Sulawesi,
Makassar.
Flora and fauna[edit]
Mammals[edit]
There are 127 known mammalian species in Sulawesi. A large percentage of these mammals, 62% (79 species) are
endemic, meaning that they are found nowhere else in Indonesia or the world. The largest native mammals in Sulawesi are the two species of
anoa or dwarf buffalo. Other mammalian species inhabiting Sulawesi are the
babirusas, which are aberrant pigs, the
Sulawesi palm civet, and primates including a number of
tarsiers (the
spectral,
Dian's,
Lariang and
pygmy species) and several species of
macaque, including the
crested black macaque, the
moor macaque and the
booted macaque. Although virtually all Sulawesi's mammals are
placental, and generally have close relatives in Asia, several species of
cuscus,
marsupials of Australasian origin, are also present.
By contrast, Sulawesian bird species tend to be found on other nearby islands as well, such as
Borneo; 31% of Sulawesi's birds are found nowhere else. One endemic bird is the largely ground-dwelling, chicken-sized
maleo, a
megapode which uses hot sand close to the island's volcanic vents to incubate its eggs. There are around 350 known bird species in Sulawesi. An international partnership of conservationists, donors, and local people have formed the Alliance for Tompotika Conservation,
[22] in an effort to raise awareness and protect the nesting grounds of these birds on the central-eastern arm of the island.
Freshwater fishes[edit]
Sulawesi also has several endemic species of
freshwater fish, such as those in the genus
Nomorhamphus, a
species flock of
viviparous halfbeaks containing 12 species that only are found on Sulawesi (others are from the Philippines).
[23][24] In addition to
Nomorhamphus, the majority of Sulawesi's 70+ freshwater fish species
[26] are
ricefishes, gobies (
Glossogobius and
Mugilogobius) and
Telmatherinid sail-fin silversides. The last family is almost entirely restricted to Sulawesi, especially the Malili Lake system, consisting of
Matano and
Towuti, and the small
Lontoa (Wawantoa),
Mahalona and
Masapi.
[27] Another unusual endemic is
Lagusia micracanthus from rivers in
South Sulawesi, which is the sole member of its genus and among the smallest
grunters.
[28] The
gudgeon Bostrychus microphthalmus from the
MarosKarst is the only described species of
cave-adapted fish from Sulawesi,
[29] but an apparently
undescribed species from the same region and genus also exists.
[30]
Freshwater crustaceans and snails[edit]
Orange delight shrimp (
Caridinasp.) from Sulawesi.
Miscellaneous[edit]
Conservation[edit]
The island was recently the subject of an Ecoregional Conservation Assessment, coordinated by
The Nature Conservancy. Detailed reports about the vegetation of the island are available.
[35] The assessment produced a detailed and annotated list of 'conservation portfolio' sites. This information was widely distributed to local government agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Detailed conservation priorities have also been outlined in a recent publication.
[36]
The lowland forests on the island have mostly been removed.
[37] 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.
Environment[edit]
The largest environmental issue in Sulawesi is deforestation. In 2007, scientists found that 80 percent of Sulawesi's forest had been lost or degraded, especially centered in the lowlands and the mangroves.
[38] Forests have been felled for logging and large agricultural projects. Loss of forest has resulted in many of Sulawesi's endemic species becoming endangered. In addition, 99 percent of Sulawesi's wetlands have been lost or damaged.
Other environmental threats included bushmeat hunting and mining.
[39]
The island of Sulawesi has six national parks and nineteen nature reserves. In addition, Sulawesi has three marine protected areas. Many of Sulawesi's parks are threatened by logging, mining, and deforestation for agriculture.
[39]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
This article incorporates CC-BY-4.0 text from the reference
[3]
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