Makassar
city in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia
Makassar, formerly Ujung Pandang (1971–1999), is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung. The city is located on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait.
Throughout its history, Makassar has been an important trading port, hosting the center of the Gowa Sultanate and a Portuguese naval base before its conquest by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. It remained an important port in the Dutch East Indies, serving Eastern Indonesian regions with Makassarese fishers going as far south as the Australian coast. For a brief period after the proclamation of Indonesian independence in 1946, Makassar was designated the capital of the State of East Indonesia, a Dutch puppet state; however, in 1950, only four years into its existence as an independent state, the Makassar Uprising took place, resulting in the country's integration into the Republic of Indonesia.
The city's area is 175.77 square kilometres (67.87 sq mi), and it had a population of approximately 1.485 million (737,239 males and 747,838 females) as of mid 2025 within Makassar City's fifteen administrative districts. Its official metropolitan area, known as Mamminasata, 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 2025 official estimates.
According to the National Development Planning Agency, Makassar is one of the four main cities of Indonesia, alongside Medan, Jakarta, and Surabaya.
According to Bank Indonesia, Makassar has the second-highest commercial property values in Indonesia, after Greater Jakarta.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Makassar” is city in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Makassar, city and South, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14634. VIAF identifies the subject as 123121838. The Library of Congress control number is n00145397. Authority coordinates are -5.133, 119.414. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1999, 1946 and 1950.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Makassar”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Makassar primary sources, Makassar archive and Makassar research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Makassar”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Makassar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.