Hand print paintings, estimated to be around 35,000 to 40,000 years old, have been found in the Pettakere cave, located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the town of Maros and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Makassar. Pebble and flake stone tools have been collected from the river terraces in the valley of Walanae, among Soppeng and Sengkang, including the bones from giant pig and elephant species that are now extinct. The archaeological remains of the earliest inhabitants were discovered in caves near limestone hills around Maros, about 30 km northeast of Makassar, the capital of the South Sulawesi province. Sulawesi was first inhabited by humans about 30,000 years ago. The king of Gowa, Sultan Hasanuddin was forced to sign a treaty which greatly reduced the power of Bungaya Gowa. VOC later allied with the Bugis prince, Arung Palakka, and they defeated the kingdom of Gowa.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) began operating in the region in the 17th century. There were a number of small kingdoms, including two prominent ones, the Kingdom of Gowa near Makassar and the Bugis kingdom located in Bone. The pinisi, a traditional Indonesian two-masted sailing ship, is still used widely by the Buginese and Makassarese, mostly for inter-insular transportation, cargo, and fishing purposes within the Indonesian archipelago.ĭuring the golden era of the spice trade, from the 15th to 19th centuries, South Sulawesi served as the gateway to the Maluku Islands. The economy of the province is based on agriculture, fishing, and mining of gold, magnesium, iron and other metals.
The main ethnic groups in South Sulawesi are the Buginese, Makassarese, Toraja, and Mandar. At the 2020 Census this had risen to 9,073,509. The 2010 census estimated the population as 8,032,551 which makes South Sulawesi the most populous province on the island (46% of the population of Sulawesi is in South Sulawesi), and the sixth most populous province in Indonesia. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi to the north, the Gulf of Bone and Southeast Sulawesi to the east, Makassar Strait to the west, and Flores Sea to the south.
The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. South Sulawesi ( Indonesian: Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. Buginese, Makassarese, Luwu, Toraja (regional)