Celebes, Indonesian Sulawesi, one of the four Greater Sunda Islands, Indonesia. A curiously shaped island with four distinct peninsulas that form three major gulfs—Tomini (the largest) on the northeast, Tolo on the east, and Bone on the south—Celebes has a coastline of 3,404 miles (5,478 km). Area including adjacent islands, 72,789 square miles (188,522 square km). Pop. including adjacent islands (2000) 14,946,488; (2010) 17,371,782.
The island is highly mountainous, with some active volcanoes, but there are large plains on the southern peninsula and in the south-central part of the island on which rice is grown. The highest peak is Mount Rantekombola, or Mario, at 11,335 feet (3,455 metres). Major deep lakes (danau) are Towuti, Poso, and Matana, the latter having been sounded to 1,936 feet (590 metres). The rivers are short and unimportant.
Celebes lies between the two shelves of the Australian and Asian continents. The broad central block is a complex of igneous rocks, in the southeastern corner of which is a broad band of volcanic detritus, known as tuff, more than 65 million years old; it is fringed occasionally by coral limestone. The southern ridge of Celebes has an axis of schist and quartzite, while the volcanic Minahasa area differs structurally from any other part of the island. The climate is hot but tempered by sea winds; annual rainfall varies from 160 inches (4,060 mm) in Rantepao (southwest-central section) to 21 inches (530 mm) in Palu (a rift valley near the western coast).
Generally, the fauna is more Asian than Australian. Species unique to Celebes include the babirusa, or pig deer; the black-crested baboon; and the anoa, or dwarf buffalo. A distinct difference exists between the freshwater fish of Borneo and Celebes. Much of Celebes is still heavily forested, showing many floral resemblances to the Philippines but more Asian in the west and more Australian in the east.
Seven major ethnic groups inhabit Celebes: the Toala, Toraja, Buginese, Makassarese, Minahasan, Mori, and Gorontalese. The Toala, who live throughout the island, are nomadic, shy jungle dwellers with their own language. The Toraja, inhabiting central, southeastern, and eastern Celebes, are of Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry; they have their own language and are primarily agriculturists. Most of them are Christians, although they still retain many traditional practices. The Buginese and Makassarese are Muslims who live in southern Celebes and are extremely industrious, especially in the manufacture of plaited goods and in weaving, gold and silver work, and shipbuilding. The Minahasan inhabit the area around Manado and are the most Westernized of the island peoples: they live in European style, each village having its Christian church and school. The Mori are a highland people inhabiting much of the eastern part of the island. The Gorontalese, in the west and south-central part of the northeastern peninsula, are Muslims.
Celebes and neighbouring islands are divided into six provinces (propinsi or provinsi). The most economically advanced regions are the southern peninsula and the tip of the northeastern peninsula. In the south, wet rice is cultivated, and corn (maize), cassava, yams, and beans are raised. Some tobacco is cultivated, and salt is produced on the coast. Grain is raised on the alluvial plain around Tempe and Sidenreng lakes. There is a hydroelectric-power station located on the Sawito River east of Parepare. In the northeast, copra, forest products, and some sulfur are produced; there is also much fishing.
The eastern peninsula is largely undeveloped, with sparse population and predominantly subsistence agriculture. The southwestern peninsula and the central part of the island are centres for settlement programs, by means of which the national government has sponsored plans to resettle large numbers of people from Bali and Java to reduce population pressure on those islands. These areas of Celebes have thus become both more diverse and more highly developed. Roads link the principal towns of the southwestern peninsula, but elsewhere—with the exception of the Manado-Kema, the Kendari-Kolaka, and the Toraja highlands roads—they are limited to the coast. The major airports are at Makassar, Manado, Gorontalo, Kendari, Poso, and Palu.
The earliest traces of human habitation on Celebes are stone implements of the Toalian culture. Muslim sultanates of coastal Malay were established in the southern Celebes in the century before the arrival of the Europeans. The Portuguese arrived about 1512 in pursuit of a spice-trade monopoly, and the Dutch built a settlement at Macassar (Makassar) in 1607. Dutch control gradually spread until the states of Bone and Gowa lost their independence in 1905 and 1911, respectively.
Occupied by Japan during World War II, the island joined the Republic of Indonesia in 1950. Political disturbances and rebellions have flared on occasion. One response of the central government has been to form two more provinces on the island: Gorontalo (2001) in the northeast and West Sulawesi (2004) in the west.