The city's area is 175.77 square kilometres (67.87 sq mi), and it had a population of around 1.474 million (732,391 males and 742,002 females) in mid 2023[1] within Makassar City's fifteen administrative districts. Itsofficial metropolitan area, known asMamminasata, with the addition of thirty-three further districts of neighbouring regencies, covers an area of 2,666.63 square kilometres (1,029.59 sq mi) and had a population of around 2,795,639 according to the mid 2023 official estimates.[1]
The name Makassar was long spelledMacassar in English and many other European languages, although the Portuguese spelled itMacáçar during their presence there in the 17th century.
The Dutch spelled the name bothMakasser andMakassar during their rule over the city as part of theDutch East Indies. With the independence following World War II, the Indonesians kept the Dutch spelling ofMakassar with a double 's', despite the fact that the Indonesian language does not havegeminate consonants (although the Makassar and Bugis languages do).[9]
On 1 September 1971, the city was renamed after a variant of the pre-colonial name of the city'sFort Rotterdam,Ujung Pandang (Makassarese:Jumpandang[9]).
The action was taken at the time Makassar was expanding from its original 21 km2 to encompass neighbouring regions to de-emphasise theethnic connotations of the name, enlarged to its present area. Ujung Pandang remained locally unpopular and, on 13 October 1999, the name reverted toMakassar under PresidentB. J. Habibie, himself a native of South Sulawesi.
In the locallanguage, the city is known asMangkasara′,[9] writtenᨆᨀᨔᨑ in theLontara script traditionally used to write Makassarese as well asBuginese, which is also widely spoken in the city.[citation needed]
The adjective form of the city's name and theeponymous ethnic group has varied over time. In English,Macassarese,Makassarese, andMacassan have all been used,[9] although the latter is usually used in the historical context oftrepangers in northern Australia (theMacassan contact with Australia) and may include people not from Makassar. More recently, forms such asMakasarese and simplyMakasar (both with a single 's') have appeared.[9]
The trade in spices figured prominently in the history of Sulawesi, which involved frequent struggles between rival native and foreign powers for control of the lucrative trade during the pre-colonial and colonial period when spices from the region were in high demand in the West. Much of South Sulawesi's early history was written in old texts that can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries.[citation needed]
Makassar is mentioned in theNagarakretagama, a Javanese eulogy composed in 14th century during the reign ofMajapahit kingHayam Wuruk. In the text, Makassar is mentioned as an island under Majapahit dominance, alongsideButun,Salaya andBanggawi.[10]
The 9th King of Gowa Tumaparisi Kallonna (1512–1546) is described in the royal chronicle as the first Gowa ruler to ally with the nearby trade-oriented polity of Tallo, a partnership which endured throughout Makassar's apogee as an independent kingdom. The center of the dual kingdom was at Sombaopu, near the then mouth of the Jeneberang River about 10 km south of the present city center, where an international port and a fortress were gradually developed. First Malay traders (expelled from their Melaka metropolis by the Portuguese in 1511), then Portuguese from at least the 1540s, began to make this port their base for trading to theSpice Islands (Maluku), further east.[11]
The growth of Dutch maritime power over the spice trade after 1600 made Makassar more vital as an alternative port open to all traders, as well as a source of rice to trade with rice-deficient Maluku.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) sought a monopoly of Malukan nutmeg and cloves and came close to succeeding at the expense of English, Portuguese and Muslims from the 1620s. The Makassar kings maintained a policy of free trade, insisting on the right of any visitor to do business in the city, and rejecting the attempts of theDutch to establish a monopoly.[12]
Makassar depended mainly on the Muslim Malay and CatholicPortuguese sailors communities as its two crucial economic assets. However the English East India Company also established a post there in 1613, the Danish Company arrived in 1618, and Chinese, Spanish and Indian traders were all important. When the Dutch conquered Portuguese Melaka in 1641, Makassar became the most extensive Portuguese base in Southeast Asia.[citation needed]
The Portuguese population had been in the hundreds but rose to several thousand, served by churches of the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits as well as the regular clergy. By the 16th century, Makassar had becomeSulawesi's principal port and center of the powerfulGowa and Tallo sultanates which between them had a series of 11 fortresses and strongholds and a fortified sea wall that extended along the coast.[12]
Portuguese rulers called the cityMacáçar. Makassar was very ably led in the first half of the 17th century when it effectively resisted Dutch pressure to close down its trade to Maluku and made allies rather than enemies of the neighboring Bugis states. Karaeng Matoaya (c.1573–1636) was the ruler of Tallo from 1593, as well as Chancellor or Chief Minister (Tuma'bicara-butta) of the partner kingdom of Gowa. He managed the succession to the Gowa throne in 1593 of the 7-year-old boy later known as Sultan Alaud-din, and guided him through the acceptance of Islam in 1603, numerous modernizations in military and civil governance, and cordial relations with the foreign traders. The conversion of the citizens to Islam was followed by the first officialFriday Prayer in the city, traditionally dated to 9 November 1607, which is celebrated today as the city's official anniversary.[13] John Jourdain[who?] called Makassar in his day "the kindest people in all the Indias to strangers".[14]
Matoaya's eldest son succeeded him on the throne of Tallo, but as Chancellor, he had evidently groomed his brilliant second son,Karaeng Pattingalloang (1600–54), who exercised that position from 1639 until his death. Pattingalloang must have been partly educated by Portuguese, since as an adult he spoke Portuguese "as fluently as people from Lisbon itself", and avidly read all the books that came his way in Portuguese, Spanish or Latin. A French Jesuit, FatherAlexandre de Rhodes, described Pattingalloang's passion for mathematics and astronomy, on which he pestered the priest endlessly, while even one of his Dutch adversaries conceded he was "a man of great knowledge, science and understanding".[15]
Coat of arms found in the gates of the walled city of Vlaardingen, granted byCornelis Speelman in 1667.[16]
After Pattingalloang's death in 1654, a new king of Gowa, Sultan Hasanuddin, rejected the alliance with Tallo by declaring he would be his own Chancellor. Conflicts within the kingdom quickly escalated, the Bugis rebelled under the leadership of Bone, and the Dutch VOC seized its long-awaited chance to conquer Makassar with the help of the Bugis (1667–69).
Their first conquest in 1667 was the northern Makassar fort of Ujung Pandang, while in 1669 they conquered and destroyed Sombaopu in one of the greatest battles of 17th century Indonesia. The VOC moved the city center northward, around the Ujung Pandang fort they rebuilt and renamedFort Rotterdam. From this base, they managed to destroy the strongholds of the Sultan of Gowa, who was then forced to live on the outskirts of Makassar. Following theDiponegoro War (1825–30),Prince Diponegoro was exiled to Fort Rotterdam until his death in 1855.[17]
After the arrival of the Dutch, there was an important Portuguese community, also called abandel, that received the name of Borrobos.[18]
Around 1660 the leader of this community, which today would be equivalent to a neighbourhood, was the Portuguese Francisco Vieira de Figueiredo.[19]
The character of this old trading center changed as a walled city known as Vlaardingen grew. Gradually, in defiance of the Dutch, the Arabs,Malays andBuddhist returned to trade outside the fortress walls and were joined later by the Chinese.
Market Street (Passarstraat) in the early 20th century
The town again became a collecting point for the produce of eastern Indonesia – thecopra,rattan,Pearls,trepang andsandalwood and the famous oil made from bado nuts used in Europe as men's hairdressing – hence theanti-macassars (embroidered cloths protecting the head-rests of upholstered chairs).[citation needed]
Although the Dutch controlled the coast, it was not until the early 20th century that they gained power over the southern interior through a series of treaties with local rulers. Meanwhile, Dutch missionaries converted many of theToraja people to Christianity. By 1938, the population of Makassar had reached around 84,000 – a town described by writerJoseph Conrad as "the prettiest and perhaps, cleanest looking of all the towns in the islands".[citation needed]
DuringWorld War II, the Makassar area was defended by approximately 1000 men of theRoyal Netherlands East Indies Army commanded by Colonel M. Vooren. He decided that he could not defend the coast, and was planning to fight aguerrilla war inland. The Japanese landed near Makassar on 9 February 1942. The defenders retreated but were soon overtaken and captured.[20]
Makassar is the capital of the province ofSouth Sulawesi, located in the southern part of Sulawesi Island, formerly known as Ujung Pandang, bordered to the north by Maros Regency andPangkajene and Islands Regency, to the east byMaros Regency, to the south byGowa Regency, and to the west byMakassar Strait. The area of Makassar City is recorded as 175.77 square kilometers.
Makassar City is a city located near the coast that stretches along the western and northern corridors and is also known as the "Waterfront City" which contains several rivers such as the Tallo River, Jeneberang River, and Pampang River) all of which flow into the city. Makassar City is a stretch of lowland at an altitude of between 0-25 meters above sea level.[23]
Makassar has atropical monsoon climate (Köppen:Am). The average temperature for the year in Makassar is 27.5 °C (81.5 °F), with little variation due to its near-equatorial latitude: the average high is around 32.5 °C (90.5 °F) and the average low around 22.5 °C (72.5 °F) all year long.
In contrast to the virtually consistent temperature, rainfall shows wide variation between months due to the movement of theIntertropical Convergence Zone. Makassar averages around 3,086 mm (121.50 in) of rain on 163 days during the year, but during the month with least rainfall – August – only 15 mm (0.59 in) on one day of rain can be expected. In contrast, during itswet season, Makassar can expect more than 500 mm (20 in) per month between December and February. During the wettest month of January, 734 mm (28.90 in) can be expected to fall on twenty-seven rainy days.
The executive head of the city is the mayor, who is elected by direct vote for a period of five years. The mayor is assisted by a vice mayor, who is also an elected official. There is a legislative assembly for the city, members of which are also elected for a period of five years.
Makassar City is divided into 15 administrative districts (kecamatan) and subdivided into 153 urban villages (kelurahan). The districts are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census[28] and the 2020 Census,[29] together with the official estimates as at mid 2023.[1] The table also includes the number ofadministrative villages (all classed as urbankelurahan) in each district.
Kode Wilayah
Name of District (kecamatan)
Area in km2
Pop'n Census 2010
Pop'n Census 2020
Pop'n Estimate mid 2023
No. of kelurahan
73.71.01
Mariso
1.82
56,313
57,426
58,730
9
73.71.02
Mamajang
2.25
59,133
56,049
58,293
13
73.71.10
Tamalate
20.21
169,890
180,824
188,432
11
73.71.13
Rappocini
9.23
151,357
144,587
150,613
11
73.71.03
Makassar (district)
2.52
81,901
82,067
82,237
14
73.71.04
Ujung Pandang
2.63
27,206
24,526
24,851
10
73.71.05
Wajo
1.99
29,670
29,972
29,503
8
73.71.06
Bontoala
2.10
54,268
54,996
55,201
12
73.71.08
Ujung Tanah
4.40
46,771
35,789
36,745
9
73.71.15
Sangkarrang Islands
1.54
(a)
14,125
14,981
3
73.71.07
Tallo
5.83
133,815
144,977
148,055
15
73.71.09
Panakkukang
17.05
141,524
139,590
144,204
11
73.71.12
Manggala
24.14
117,303
146,724
160,466
9
73.71.11
Biringkanaya
48.22
167,843
209,048
215,820
11
73.71/14
Tamalanrea
31.84
101,669
103,770
106,262
8
Totals
175.77
1,338,663
1,423,877
1,474,393
153
Note (a) The 2010 population of the Sangkarrang Islands District (Kecamatan Kepulauan Sangkarrang) is included in the figure for the Ujung Tanah district, from which it was cut out.
Makassar is a multi-ethnic city, populated mostly by the nativeMakassarese andBuginese. The remainder areTorajans,Mandarese,Butonese,Chinese (predominantly from theCantonese dialect group) andJavanese. The current population as of mid-2023 is approximately 1,474,393, with a Metropolitan total of 2,795,639.[1]
Bank Rakyat Indonesia's Makassar Branch Office, one of the largest banks operated in the city.
The city is one of Indonesia's primary ports, with regular international and domestic shipping connections. It is nationally famous as an essential port of call for thepinisi ships, wooden sailing ships which are among the last in use for regular long-distance trade.
During the colonial era, the city was widely known as the namesake ofMakassar oil, which it exported in substantial quantity. Makassarebony is a warm black hue, streaked with tan or brown tones, and highly prized for use in making fine cabinetry andveneers.
Nowadays, as the largest city inSulawesi and Eastern Indonesia, the city's economy depends highly on the service sector, which makes up approximately 70% of activity. Restaurant and hotel services are the most significant contributor (29.14%), followed by transportation and communication (14.86%), trading (14.86), and finance (10.58%). Industrial activity is the next most important after the service sector, with 21.34% of overall activity.[31] The Makassar Industrial Estate (Kawasan Industri Makassar), located within the city's boundaries, measures at 270.84 hectares.[32]
Makassar is also a significant fishing center inSulawesi. One of its major industries is the trepang (sea cucumber) industry. Trepang fishing brought the Makassan people into contact withIndigenous Australian peoples of northern Australia, long before European settlement (from 1788).
C. C. MacKnight in his 1976 work entitledVoyage to Marege: Macassan Trepangers in Northern Australia has shown that they began frequenting the north of Australia around 1700 in search of trepang (sea-slug, sea cucumber, Beche-de-mer), an edibleHolothurian. They left their waters during the Northwest Monsoon in December or January for what is nowArnhem Land, Marriage or Marega and the Kimberley region or Kayu Djawa. They returned home with the south-easttrade winds in April.[33]
A fleet of between 24 and 26 Macassanperahus was seen in 1803 by French explorers under Nicolas Baudin on the Holothuria Banks in theTimor Sea. In February 1803, Matthew Flinders in theInvestigator met six perahus with 20–25 men each on board and was told by the fleet's chiefPobasso, that there were 60 perahus then on the north Australian coast. They were fishing for trepang and appeared to have only a small compass as a navigation aid. In June 1818 Macassan trepang fishing was noted by Phillip Parker King in the vicinity ofPort Essington in the Arafura Sea.
In 1865, R.J. Sholl, then Government Resident for the British settlement at Camden Sound (near Augustus Island in the Kimberley region) observed seven 'Macassan' perahus with a total of around 300 men on board. He believed that they made kidnapping raids and ranged as far south asRoebuck Bay (later Broome) where 'quite a fleet' was seen around 1866. Sholl believed that they did not venture south into other areas such asNickol Bay (where the Europeanpearling industry commenced around 1865) due to the absence of trepang in those waters.
The Macassan voyages appear to have ceased sometime in the late nineteenth century, and their place was taken by other sailors operating from elsewhere in the Indonesian archipelago.[34]
A radio documentary on the trade between Makassar and North-East Arnhem Land, entitled"Trepang Trade", was made by the historian and film-maker Tom Murray for ABC Radio National in 2000. This work included descriptions of the trade made by Yolngu Aboriginal people who had visited Makassar with the trading boats, including a man called Djalatjerri (variously spelt as Djalatjirri or Djaladjari) who was interviewed by the anthropologistsRonald Berndt andCatherine Berndt. Other Yolngu recollections of the trade featured in this work are byCharlie Matjuwi Burarrwanga, a Gumatj man from Elcho Island, andMowarra Ganambarr OAM, a Dätiwuy man from Rorruwuy in NE Arnhem Land.
Makassar has a public transportation system calledpete-pete. A pete-pete (known elsewhere in Indonesia as anangkot) is ashare taxi that has been modified to carry passengers. The route of Makassar's pete-petes is denoted by the letter on the windshield. Makassar is also known for itsbecak (pedicabs), which are smaller than the "becak" on the island ofJava. In addition to becak and pete-pete, the city has a government-run bus system, taxis andride-hailing services such asGojek.
Abus rapid transit (BRT), which is known as "Trans Mamminasata" was started in 2014. It has some routes through Makassar and connects to nearby cities including Maros, Takallar, and Gowa. Run by the Indonesian Transportation Department, each bus can accommodate 20 standing passengers in addition to 20 seats.
A 35-kilometermonorail in the areas of Makassar,Maros Regency,Sungguminasa (Gowa Regency), andTakalar Regency (theMamminasata region) was proposed in 2011, with operations commencing in 2014, at a predicted cost of Rp.4 trillion ($468 million). The memorandum of understanding was signed on 25 July 2011 by Makassar city,Maros Regency andGowa Regency.[35][36] In 2014, the project was officially abandoned, citing insufficient ridership and a lack of financial feasibility.[37]
The city of Makassar, its outlying districts, and the South Sulawesi Province are served bySultan Hasanuddin International Airport. The airport is located outside the Makassar city administration area, being situated in the nearbyMaros Regency.
The city is served bySoekarno-Hatta Sea Port. In January 2012 it was announced that due to limited capacity of the current dock at Soekarno-Hatta sea port, it would be expanded to 150x30 square meters to avoid the need for at least two ships to queue every day.[38]
The oldest newspaper in the Makassar region isFajar, part of Jawa Pos Group. Several other newspapers such asTribun Timur andUjungpandang Ekspres are also available.
The privately owned Fajar TV are the local TV stations based in Makassar. The publicTVRI South Sulawesi is also covered the city.
Makassar has several famous traditional foods, the most famous of which iscoto makassar. It is asoto (stew) made from a mixture of nuts, spices, and selected offal which may include beef brain, tongue and intestine.Konro, a rib dish, is also a popular traditional food in Makassar. Bothcoto makassar andkonro are usually consumed withburasa orketupat, a glutinous rice cake. Another famous dish from Makassar isayam goreng sulawesi (Celebes fried chicken); the chicken is marinated with a traditional soy sauce recipe for up to 24 hours before being fried to a golden color. The dish is usually served with chicken broth, rice and specialsambal (chilli sauce).
In addition, Makassar is the home ofpisang epe (pressed banana), as well aspisang ijo (green banana).Pisang epe is a banana which is pressed, grilled, and covered with palm sugar sauce and sometimes consumed withdurian. Many street vendors sellpisang epe, especially around the area of Losari Beach.Pisang ijo is a banana covered with green colored flour, coconut milk, and syrup.Pisang ijo is sometimes served iced and local fasting Muslims often consume it atiftar duringRamadan.
^Riana, I Ketut (2009).Kakawin dēśa warṇnana, uthawi, Nāgara kṛtāgama: masa keemasan Majapahit. Indonesia: Penerbit Buku Kompas. p. 102.ISBN978-9797094331.49. Ikang saka sanusa nusa maksar butun banggawi kunir galiyau mwangi salaya sumba solot muar, muwah tikang-i wandhanambwanathawa maloko wwanin, ri serani timur makadiningangeka nusa tutur.
^Anthony Reid,Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia, Singapore 1999, pp.113-19; Poelinggomang, 2002, pp.22-23
^abAndaya, Leonard. "Makasar's Moment of Glory."Indonesian Heritage: Early Modern History. Vol. 3, ed.Anthony Reid, Sian Jay and T. Durairajoo. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2001. 58–59.
^Carey, Peter. "Dipanagara and the Java War."Indonesian Heritage: Early Modern History. Vol. 3, ed.Anthony Reid, Sian Jay and T. Durairajoo. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2001, pp. 112–13.
^A. Rodrigues, Baptista (13 July 2013)."Francisco Vieira de Figueiredo".Ourém. Notícias de Ourém (3884): 10.Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved18 January 2018.
McCarthy, M., 2000, Indonesian divers in Australian waters. The Great Circle, vol. 20, No.2:120–137.
Turner, S. 2003:Indonesia’s Small Entrepreneurs: Trading on the Margins. London, RoutledgeCurzonISBN070071569X 288pp. Hardback.
Turner, S. 2007: Small-Scale Enterprise Livelihoods and Social Capital in Eastern Indonesia: Ethnic Embeddedness and Exclusion.Professional Geographer. 59 (4), 407–20.
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