CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Makassar Strait

strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ194477
Source-derived summary

Makassar Strait (Indonesian: Selat Makassar) is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it connects to the Java Sea. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat Peninsula. The strait is an important regional shipping route in Southeast Asia.

The Mahakam River and Karangan River of Borneo empty into the strait.

Ports along the strait include Balikpapan and Bontang in Borneo, and Makassar, Palu, and Parepare in Sulawesi. The city of Samarinda is 48 km (30 mi) from the strait, along the Mahakam.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defines the Makassar Strait as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago. The IHO defines its limits as follows:

The channel between the East coast of Borneo and the West coast of Celebes [Sulawesi], is bounded:

On the North. By a line joining Tanjong Mangkalihat, Borneo (1°02′N 118°57′E) and Stroomen Kaap (Cape Binar), Celebes (1°20′N 120°52′E).

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Makassar Strait” as strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 168-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Makassar, Strait and strait can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q194477. VIAF identifies the subject as 315530798. Authority coordinates are -0.833, 118.167. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Makassar Strait”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Makassar Strait primary sources, Makassar Strait archive and Makassar research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Makassar Strait”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Makassar Strait” 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.