|
|
MAIN ISLANDS
SULAWESI
In former times well known under the name
Celebes, Sulawesi has the most visible landscape of Indonesia, above
and under water. It is the home for different groups of people, with 114
different languages (population ca. 12 million). Fisherman along the
coast, rice and corn farmers in the deeper regions as well as farmers in
the mountains, who are cultivating coffee, cocoa, gloves, vanilla and
nutmeg. Because of the Bugis, the groups of Makassar and Mandar people,
in the south, who always traveling around the world with their sailing
ships, doing merchandise, were this island never isolated from the rest
of the world. This causes the existence of different religions as there
are Christians, Islamic people, Buddhism and Hinduism, completed with
the members of Confucianism. All of them stay together - peaceful with
out any troubles. Additional there are some natives, who came from
China, Middle East and Europe in former times. With a surface of 227.000
square kilometers Sulawesi is only few smaller than England and Scotland
together. From North to the South it has a length of about. 2.000
kilometers. There are 17 volcanoes, most of them are located in the
north of Sulawesi and on Sangihe Talaud Islands. Sulawesi is divided by
4 provinces: North Sulawesi 27,487,63 kmē (Capital city
Manado), Central Sulawesi 68,000 kmē (Capital city Palu), South- East
Sulawesi 36,000 kmē (Capital city Kendari) and South Sulawesi 83,000 kmē
(Capital city Makassar). |
