Palopo or Kota Palopo is a city located in South Sulawesi,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and the second-largest city in the province. Until it acquired its autonomy, Palopo was the capital of Luwu Regency. The area of the city is 247.52 km², and it had a population of 148,033 at the 2010 Census and 184,681 at the 2020 Census, comprising 92,444 males and 92,237 females. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 187,331.

History

Palopo was founded c. 1620, probably under the second Muslim ruler of

Luwu The Kingdom of Luwu (also Luwuq or Wareq) was a polity located in northern part of South Sulawesi. province of Indonesia, on Sulawesi island. It is considered one of the earliest known Bugis kingdom in Sulawesi, founded between 10th and 14th cen ...

Kingdom, Sultan Abdullah Muhiddin, who is buried at Malangke, the former palace centre of Luwu. His momental grave, which was carved with Majapahit-style floral decorations, was destroyed by Kahar Muzakkar rebels in the 1950s: nothing today remains except the location. The advantage of Palopo over the former palace centre was the potential for trade with the

Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous people, indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, regency of ...

-speaking Seko-Rongkong valleys. The town sits at the foot of a steep, winding pass which leads into the highland regions. In the late 19th century this trade consisted primarily of coffee and slaves. Gold panned from upland rivers may also have been an attraction.

Dammar Dammar, also called dammar gum, or damar gum, is a resin obtained from the tree family Dipterocarpaceae in India and Southeast Asia, principally those of the genera '' Shorea'' or '' Hopea'' (synonym ''Balanocarpus''). The resin of some species ...

was an important export in the later period. Little is known of Palopo before the Dutch annexation of South Sulawesi in 1905. The only Western visitor to have left an account of the town was

James Brooke Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was b ...

(later

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

h of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

), who described it in the 1830s as 'a miserable town, consisting of about 300 houses, scattered and dilapidated'. It is the location of the Palopo Old Mosque, South Sulawesi's oldest mosque. Built from blocks of white coral, with a three-tiered roof representing the ancient Austronesian cosmos, the Mesjid Jami' is said to have been built during the reign of Sultan Abdullah. It has a 19th-century dedicatory inscription behind one of its doors, presumably reflecting a restoration. The royal graveyard lies to the north at Lokkoe and contains pyramidical stone mausolea in which lie the remains of Luwu's 17th to 20th-century rulers.

Administrative districts

Palopo City is divided into nine Districts (''Kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together wiuth the official estimates as at mid 2021.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2022. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres and the number of urban villages (''kelurahan'') in each district.

Climate

Palopo has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

References

{{South Sulawesi Populated places in South Sulawesi Cities in Indonesia