North Sulawesi

North Sulawesi Sulawesi Utara
Province
Clockwise, from top left : Mount Tampusu, Lake Tondano, Bunaken National Park, Mount Lokon
Flag Seal
Motto: Si Tou Timou Tumou Tou (Minahasan) (Human purpose in life is to nurture and educate others)
Location of North Sulawesi in Indonesia
Coordinates:
Country	Indonesia
Capital	Manado
Government
• Governor	Olly Dondokambey
• Vice Governor	Steven Kandouw
Area
• Total	13,851.64 km2 (5,348.15 sq mi)
Population (2014)
• Total	2,382,941
• Density	170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Minahasan, Mongondow, Sangirese, Talaud, Gorontaloan, Bugis, Javanese
• Religion	Protestantism (63.6%), Islam (30.9%), Roman Catholicism (4.4%), Hinduism (0.58%), Buddhism (0.14%), Confucianism (0.02%)
• Languages	Indonesian (official), Manado Malay (lingua franca)
Time zone	WITA (UTC+8)
Vehicle registration	DB, DL (Sangihe & Talaud Islands)
HDI	0.696 (High)
HDI rank	8th (2014)
Website	www.sulutprov.go.id

North Sulawesi (Indonesian: Sulawesi Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern peninsula of the island of Sulawesi, on the Minahasa Peninsula. The province's capital and largest city is Manado, and its population was 2,270,596 according to the 2010 census; the latest official estimate (for January 2014) is 2,382,941.

Demographics

North Sulawesi recorded 2,270,596 people in the decennial 2010 Census, with 1,157,551 males and 1,108,378 females, growing at 1.41% over the previous census. The slowest growing regency was that of the Sangihe Islands. In 2010, about 68% were Christian (predominantly Protestant with a sizable Catholic minority), one of the few exceptions in the predominantly Muslim Indonesia, due to the prominent Dutch missionary activity during the colonial era. Also, because the Muslim-majority region of Gorontalo (then comprising a city and two regencies) was split off to form a new province in 2000. There are also Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist minorities. The largest ethnic groups are the Minahasan in the north of the province and the Mongondow to the south. The province's chief city is Manado with population of 430,790 people in 2014.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1971	1,718,543	—
1980	2,115,384	+23.1%
1990	2,478,119	+17.1%
1995	2,649,093	+6.9%
2000	2,000,872	−24.5%
2010	2,270,596	+13.5%
2014	2,382,941	+4.9%
Source: Badan Pusat Statistik 2011. The decline in 2000 is due to the separation of Gorontalo Province.

Administrative divisions

North Sulawesi is divided into eleven regencies (Indonesian: kabupaten) and four independent cities (Indonesian: kotamadya), listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and according to the latest official estimate (for January 2014).

Name	Area (km2)	Population Census 2010	Population Estimate 2014	Capital
Sangihe Islands Regency (Kepulauan Sangihe)	461.11	126,100	132,339	Tahuna
Sitaro Islands Regency (Kepulauan Siau Tagulandang Biaro)	275.96	63,801	66,958	Ondong Siau
Talaud Islands Regency (Kepulauan Talaud)	1,240.40	83,434	87,562	Melonguane
Northern (islands) sector	1,977.47	273,335	286,859
Bitung (city)	302.89	187,652	196,936
Manado (city)	157.27	410,481	430,790
Tomohon (city)	114.20	91,553	96,083
Minahasa Regency	1,114.87	310,384	325,741	Tondano
North Minahasa Regency (Minahasa Utara)	918.49	188,904	198,251	Airmadidi
South Minahasa Regency (Minahasa Selatan)	1,409.97	195,553	205,229	Amurang
Southeast Minahasa Regency (Minahasa Tenggara)	710.83	100,443	105,413	Ratahan
Eastern (Minahasa) sector	4,728.52	1,484,970	1,558,443
Kotamobagu (city)	68.06	107,459	112,776
Bolaang Mongondow Regency	2,871.65	213,484	224,047	Kotamobagu
East Bolaang Mongondow Regency (Bolaang Mongondow Timur)	910.18	63,654	66,803	Tutuyan
North Bolaang Mongondow Regency (Bolaang Mongondow Utara)	1,680.00	70,693	74,191	Boroko
South Bolaang Mongondow Regency (Bolaang Mongondow Selatan)	1,615.86	57,001	59,821	Molibagu
Western (Bolaang Mongondow) sector	7,145.75	512,291	537,638

Proposed new province of Bolaang Mongondow Raya

On 25 October 2013, the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) began reviewing draft laws on the establishment of 57 prospective regencies and 8 new provinces; one of the proposed provinces is Bolaang Mongondow Raya in North Sulawesi. If the bill is approved, this will comprise Kotamobagu City and the four regencies following it in the table above.

Nature Tourist Parks and Animal Sanctuaries

There are 5 Nature Tourist Parks and Animal Sanctuaries in North Sulawesi and all are under government jurisdiction:

• Batuputih (Whitestone) Nature Tourist Park is 64 kilometers from Manado and covers 615 hectares. It has a white sandy beach and tourists can also see the Celebes crested macaque (monyet hitam), Spectral tarsier (tangkasi), knobbed hornbill (burung rangkong) and kingfisher (burung rajaudang).
• Batuangus Nature Tourist Park is 65 kilometers from Manado or 3 hours drive, but just 45 minutes from Whitestone Nature Tourist Park with 635 hectares area. From the peak of Batuangus Mount we can see Bitung city.
• Karakelang Island Animal Sanctuary in Talaud Islands is 15 hours sailing from Manado by speedboat or ferry and covers 24,669 hectares. The endemic birds are the red-and-blue lory (sampiri), Talaud kingfisher (rajaudang talaud), Talaud bush-hen (kareo talaud) and Talaud rail (mandar talaud).
• Manembo-nembo Animal Sanctuary is 100 kilometers from Manado or 90 minute drive with 5,426 hectares. The location is habitat for knobbed hornbill, kingfisher, white cockatoo, Celebes crested macaque, Sulawesi dwarf cuscus and Javan rusa.
• Nantu Animal Sanctuary covers 31,125 hectares and can be reach in a 4-hour drive plus 3 hours by boat. There is a salt lick in a dried pond by Buru babirusa and anoa. The others can be seen at other areas are Celebes warty pig, spectral tarsier, Heck's macaque, Sulawesi palm civet, knobbed hornbill and other birds.

External links

• (Indonesian) Official website
• North Sulawesi travel guide from Wikivoyage