The Celebes or Sulawesi Island (long term or in English United Kingdom: Celebes) is an island in the territory of the flag of Indonesia Indonesia located in between the islands of West Kalimantan and Maluku islands to the East. With an area of 174,600 km2, is the largest island of Sulawesi, the 11th in the world. Indonesia's only island, Sumatra, Borneo and New Guinea alone the wider territory than the island of Sulawesi, while in terms of the population only Java and Sumatra alone is larger than the population of Sulawesi.

The name of Sulawesi is estimated to come from words in the languages of Central Sulawesi Word sula which means nusa (Island) and said mesi which means iron (metal), which may refer to the practice of the trade of iron ore produced by mines that There are around the Lake Matano, near Sorowako, East Luwu. While the nation/the Portuguese who come around 14-15 century a.d. was the first foreign nation that used the name to refer to the Celebes Sulawesi island as a whole.

It is the fourth largest island of Sulawesi in Indonesia after Papua, Kalimantan and Sumatra with a land area of 174,600 square kilometers. The unique shape of roses resemble a spider or the letter K big stretching from North to South and three peninsula lies to the Northeast, East, and Southeast. The island is bounded by the Strait of Makassar in the West and is separated from Borneo and the Maluku islands also separated by the Molucca sea. Sulawesi Island borders the West of Borneo, the Philippines in the North, the South Flores, Timor, Maluku and Southeast to the East.

Since the 13th century, access to valuable trade goods and iron mineral resources began to change old patterns of cultural disulawesi, and allows individuals who are ambitious to build larger political units. It is not known why the two appear together, maybe one is the result of the other. On the agricultural Kingdom of 1400an, a number of new ones have appeared in the Western Cenrana Valley, as well as in the coastal areas of the South and on the East coast near modern Parepare.

The first Europeans to visit the island (which is believed to be the island nation because of its evident) is the Portuguese sailors in 1525, sent from the Maluku islands in search of gold, which has a reputation for producing. Netherlands arrived in 1605 and was quickly followed by the United Kingdom, and established the factory in Makassar. Since 1660, the Netherlands fought against the Kingdom of Gowa Makassar especially in parts of the West Coast's ruling. In 1669, Admiral Speelman forced the ruler, Sultan Hasanuddin, to sign the Treaty of Bongaya, which handed control of trade to Netherlands East Indies Company. Netherlands assisted in their conquest by the Bugis warlord Arung Palakka, ruler of the Bugis Kingdom of Bone. Netherlands building forts in Ujung Pandang, while Arung Palakka became the ruler of the area and the Bone becomes dominant. Political and cultural development seems to have slowed as a result of the status quo. In 1905 the entire Sulawesi became part of the colony of the Netherlands East Indies from the Netherlands State until the occupation of Japan in World War II. During the national revolution in Indonesia, "Turk" Westerling Captain Netherlands killed at least 4,000 people during the campaign of South Sulawesi. After the handover of sovereignty in December 1949, Sulawesi became part of the Republic of Indonesia (RIS). And in 1950 became the unitary Republic of Indonesia joined in.

At the time of the independence of Indonesia, Sulawesi's status as an autonomous form of Government with the provinces under the leadership of a Governor. Sulawesi when it was capital of Makassar, with Governor Dr. G.S.S.J. Ratulangi. The shape of the province's system of Government is a pioneer for the development of the next until it can be beyond the time when the country is in Sulawesi in Eastern Indonesia (NIT) and then the NIT became a State of the State Federation of the Republic of States Of Indonesia (RIS). When the RIS dissolved and return to the unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, Sulawesi reaffirmed her status became a province. The status of the Province of Sulawesi is then continued until in the year 1960.

Beginning in 1960 the Sulawesi fruit consists of two Areas, namely: level I

The area of level I-Southeast and South Sulawesi

Level I North Sulawesi Region.

In 1964 formed the area of Central Sulawesi level I, which is separated from the level I North Sulawesi-the Middle, while Regional level I North Sulawesi-Central Area was transformed into a level I North Sulawesi. Similarly the area level I Southeast Sulawesi formed separately from the level I of South Sulawesi-Southeast, while Regional level I South Sulawesi-Southeast Regional level I changed to South Sulawesi.

Starting in 1999 the term area of level I is omitted, so that the four areas above the pronunciation changed respectively into the province. Enter the era of Reform in line with the emergence of the extraction region with regard to the autonomous region, formed the province of Gorontalo in 2000, and later West Sulawesi province in 2004.

The Government of Sulawesi is divided into six provinces based on the order of its creation i.e. the province of South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Gorontalo, and West Sulawesi. Central Sulawesi is the largest province with a land area of 68.033 square kilometers and an area of the sea reaches 189.480 square kilometers which includes the eastern part of the peninsula and parts of the northern part of the peninsula as well as the Togian Islands in the Bay Tomini and island in the Banggai Archipelago in the Bay of Tolo. Most of the land in the province is mountainous (42.80% were above an altitude of 500 meters above sea level) and Katopasa is the highest mountain with an altitude of 2,835 meters above sea level.