History
In 1983, Minahasa Regency government declared 5 November 1428 as the anniversary of the regency. This date is purely symbolic, because the day and month were taken from the day and month of Sam Ratulangi's birth date, Ratulangi being one of the most prominent historical figures from Minahasa. The year 1428 symbolizes the estimated year of the meeting of the Minahasan tribes who came together in their resistance to the neighboring Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom. Because it is only an approximation, the numbers of the year 1428 were taken from two important events, which are ''Peristiwa Merah Putih'' (or ''the Red and White Incident'') that occurred in Manado on 14 February 1946, and the ''Second Youth Congress'' which produced the ''Agreement with VOC
In addition to banding together to fight pressure from outside in the 15th century, the tribes in Minahasa also came together in the 17th century to do a similar thing. Several Minahasa tribes joined in a friendship agreement with the ''Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie'' (VOC or the ''Dutch East Indies Company''). The intention was the same, that is to combat attacks from the Bolaang area. This agreement became official on 10 January 1679 during the visit of Robertus Padtbrugge who was the VOC governor based in Maluku at that time. There are 23 chiefs of political and social communities called ''walak'' who participated in the agreement. The chiefs came from Aris, Bantik, Kakaskasen, Klabat, Klabat, Klabat Atas, Langowan, Pasan (who also represented Pinosokan and Ratahan), Remboken, Rumoong, Sarongsong, Tombariri, Tombasian, Tomohon, Tompaso, Tondano, Tonkimbut Atas, Tonkimbut, Tonkimbut Below, Tonsawang, and Tonsea.Dutch occupation
The area encompassing the current Minahasa Regency has been designated as an official administrative region since the Dutch occupation after the VOC was dissolved when Indonesia was called the ''Dutch East Indies''. At the time, the ''Residentie Manado'' (or ''Residency of Manado'') covered all regencies and cities in entire region of Minahasa today, namely the regencies of Minahasa, North Minahasa, South Minahasa, Southeast Minahasa, and the cities of Bitung,Japanese occupation
During the years of the Japanese occupation, the organization of administrative regions did not change much. In 1942, the number of districts increased by one where the Toulour District was divided into the districts of Langowan and Tondano. In the same year, the Manado District was divided into the districts of Manado and Tomohon. In 1943, the separation of the city of Manado from the other areas of Minahasa can be seen happening for the first time where the Minahasa region sans Manado were united and given the name ''Minahasa-ken''.Republic of Indonesia
After Indonesian independence, the Minahasa region was included in the Province of Sulawesi and the residency based in Manado. Then for a short time, the region was included in the territory of the State of East Indonesia as one of its 13 administrative regions. In 1953, Manado was designated as a municipality with the status of second level region (or ''Daerah Tingkat II'') with the province designated as the first level region. Manado again became separated from the other Minahasa areas. Due to this separation, the capital of the Minahasa region was later changed from Manado to Tondano in 1959. In 1960, the Province of Sulawesi was divided into the provinces of North Sulawesi and South Sulawesi based on Indonesian Regulation No. 5/1960. The names of these two provinces were changed according to Indonesian Law No. 47/1960, where the Province of North Sulawesi became the Province of North-Central Sulawesi. The region of Minahasa as a second level region was included in this province. Then in 1964, the Province of North-Central Sulawesi was further divided into the provinces of North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi based on Indonesian Law No. 13/1964. Minahasa as a second level region was included in the province of North Sulawesi. The use of the name of the ''kabupaten'' was given based on Indonesian Law No. 18/1965, in which the ''Daerah Tingkat II Minahasa'' became ''Kabupaten Minahasa''. Then based on Indonesian Law No. 5/1974, the name was changed again to ''Daerah Tingkat II Kabupaten Minahasa''. The list of districts under the regency at that time were Airmadidi, Belang, Bitung, Dimembe, Eris, Kakas, Kauditan, Kawangkoan, Kombi, Likupang, Modoinding, Motoling, Pineleng, Ratahan, Remboken, Sonder, Tareran, Tenga, Tombariri, Tombasian, Tombatu, Tomohon, Tompaso, Tompaso Baru, Tondano, Tumpaan, and Wori. In the following years, the regency underwent several changes with the formation of new administrative regions from within the territory of the regency itself. Based on Indonesian Regulation No. 4/1975, the Bitung Administrative Municipality was inaugurated as a separate administrative region from the Minahasa Regency. On 25 February 2003, the Minahasa Regency was divided into the Minahasa Regency, the South Minahasa Regency, and the Municipality of Tomohon based on Indonesian Law No. 10/2003. Then on 18 December 2003, the residual Minahasa Regency was further divided into the Minahasa Regency and the North Minahasa Regency based on Indonesian Law No. 33/2005.Administrative Districts
The regency is divided into twenty-five districts (''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and population totals from the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik Sulawesi Utara, 2021. It includes the six new districts of Kakas Barat, Kawangkoan Barat, Kawangkoan Utara, Mandolang, Tombariri Timur, and Tompaso Barat, which were established after 2010. The table also includes the location of the administrative centre and the number of administrative villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its postal codes. Notes: (a) the 2010 population of the new Tompaso Barat District is included in the 2010 figure for Tompaso District, from which it was split off in 2012.See also
* Battle of ManadoReferences
{{Authority control Regencies of North Sulawesi