Palu

For other uses, see Palu (disambiguation).

Palu
City
Palu Location of Palu in Sulawesi
Palu Location of Palu in Indonesia
Coordinates:
Country	Indonesia
Province	Central Sulawesi
Founded	27 September 1978
Government
• Mayor	Rusdi Mastura
Area
• Total	395.06 km2 (152.53 sq mi)
Elevation	118 m (387 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	335,297
• Density	850/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	WITA (UTC+8)
• Summer (DST)	UTC (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	451
Website	www.palukota.go.id

Palu is a chartered city (kota) on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, 1,650 kilometres (1,030 miles) northeast of Jakarta, at , at the mouth of Palu River. It is the capital of the province of Central Sulawesi of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain ridges, the climate is unusually dry. At the 2010 Census Palu had a population of around 336,300, not including those living in neighbouring regencies.

Administration

The city was divided at 2010 into four districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their 2010 Census population.

Name	Population Census 2010
Palu Barat (West Palu)	98,739
Palu Selatan (South Palu)	122,752
Palu Timur (East Palu)	75,967
Palu Utara (North Palu)	39,074

History

Palu : the Dutch controleur's residence in the 1930s

The town was part of the Dutch Empire until Indonesia won independence in 1945–49. The Dutch controleur's house survives as a testament of that era.

CIA air raids

In April 1958 during the Permesta rebellion in North Sulawesi, the USA supported and supplied the rebels. Pilots from a CIA Taiwan-based front organisation, Civil Air Transport, flying CIA B-26 Invader aircraft, repeatedly bombed and machine-gunned targets in and around Palu; destroying vehicles, buildings, a bridge and a ship.

2005 earthquake

On 24 January 2005 at 04:10 (UTC+8), an earthquake with magnitude 6.2 Richter scale occurred in the city. According to the local meteorological office, the epicenter of the earthquake was around 1.249° S, 119.922° E, some 16 kilometres (10 miles) southeast of Palu at the depth of 30 kilometres (19 miles) of Bora Village's hot spring, Biromaru sub-district, Donggala Regency. Panic ensued as most people sought refuge in the highlands for fear of a repeat disaster like the tsunami as occurred in Aceh. The earthquake killed one person, injured four others, and destroyed 177 buildings.

2005 market bombing

On 31 December 2005 at about 07:35 (UTC +8) a bomb blast at a market at a stall selling pork killed eight people and injured 45 others. An improvised explosive device, described as a nail bomb or similar, detonated around 07:00 in a butcher's market mostly frequented by Christian Minahasa shopping for New Year's Eve celebrations, killing eight people and wounding another 53.

Transport

Palu is served by Mutiara Airport, which is located outside the city center.

Sister cities

• Semarang, Indonesia
• Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Indonesia Open Paragliding Championship

Landscape around Palu in the 1980s

Indonesia Open Paragliding Championship is one of the world championship series which it was the first Indonesia Open held in the region on 19–25 June 2011. 78 paragliders taking part in the championship from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea and Switzerland competed at Wayu village (the Matantimali hills, 800 masl) about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Palu.

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• (Indonesian) Official site

• (Indonesian) Step! Magz, Palu Youth Movement Magazine
• (Indonesian) Sulteng.org - Tempat Ngumpulnya orang Palu