Makassar 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, Bandung, and Medan. The city is located on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait. Makassar is not only the gateway of Eastern Indonesia, but also the epicenter of West and East Indonesia, as well as between Australia and Asia. Most of its inhabitants are Makassar people or 'Makassarese'.
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 Indonesian independence, Makassar became the capital of the State of East Indonesia, during which an uprising occurred.
The city's area is 175.77 square kilometres, and it had a population of around 1.424 million in 2020 within Makassar City's fifteen administrative districts.