Makassar (Indonesian: [maˈkassar] , Makasar: ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, romanized: Mangkasara’, pronounced [maŋˈkasaraʔ]), formerly Ujung Pandang (Makasar: ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, romanized: Ujungpandang, pronounced [uɟuŋˈpandaŋ]), 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 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 (67.87 sq mi), and it had a population of around 1.432 million in mid 2022 within Makassar City's fifteen administrative districts. Its official metropolitan area, known as Mamminasata, with the addition of thirty-three further districts of neighboring regencies, covers an area of 2,666.63 square kilometres (1,029.59 sq mi) and had a population of around 2,740,532 according to the mid 2022 official estimates.According to the National Development Planning Agency, Makassar is one of the four main central 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.
Pisang epe can be found at Losari Beach. It is a pressed grilled banana, served with melted brown sugar. Available with chocolate and/or cheese topping, and durian (seasonal) flavor. Buroncong, an early morning breakfast cake, can be found at Losari Beach. Baked on firewood. It's made of grated coconut, flour, etc. Sop Saudara, a traditional South Sulawesi soup, can be found almost anywhere. It contains meat, liver, lung, etc. However, you may choose the ingredients you want in your soup. Pisang Ijo is a banana wrapped in thick green rice flour layer, served with condensed coconut milk and syrup. The most famous one is made by Bravo Restaurant on Jl. Andalas, but it can also be found at Nyuk Nyan restaurant on Jl. Irian and Jl. Bali, sometimes hotels serve Pisang Ijo as well. Coto Makassar is a traditional makassar soup. Quite similar to Sop Saudara, but has different taste. Usually served with rice cake. It's very easy to be found around Makassar. Pangsit Mie (Mie Pangsit Palu) is noodle served with BBQ pork, chicken and wontons. Easy to be found around the Chinatown (Jl. Sulawesi, Jl Lombok, Jl. Sangir and surrounding area). They usually available only until lunch time. Mie Kanton is a Cantonese-style fried noodle. It's deep fried or usually grilled noodle, served with condensed soup containing vegetables, fried meatball, and pork meat. Can be found around Chinatown (as mentioned above). Pallubasa is a Makassar style meat soup. The soup is spicy and contains grated coconut. Nasi Kuning is yellow rice served with various dishes. One of the most favorite breakfast in Makassar. Some nasi kuning seller sell at night. Songkolo is stirred glutinous rice, served with fried grated coconut, salted fish and sambal (traditional chili sauce). It's quite difficult to find songkolo around Makassar nowadays. It's usually available at the traditional market or traditional food seller. Try Bacan Market (Pasar Bacan) in the morning if you want to have songkolo.
Makassar has the type of shopping malls you would find in any other major Indonesian city, nothing very inspiring. The largest include:
| url=http://www.hasanuddin-airport.co.id | lat=-5.061667 | l119.554167 | wikidata=Q1432006}} is the main airport serving Makassar. Reaching Makassar city center from Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport by taxi is the most feasible option and should cost around Rp100,000 to the city (as of 2022). You can use the taxi app Grab. It is well-connected to other major cities in Indonesia, and also served a handful of international flights from Malaysia and Singapore.
The Airport Bus (operated by Perum Damri) is operating on the lower ground floor, linking the airport to the city. Ticket costs Rp27,000 (as of March 2019). If there is no one on the counter, you can board the bus and pay after the bus departs. The bus should be departing at a 30-min internal. The journey takes about one hour.
*
Makassar was the traditional capital of the Bugis kingdom (Sultanate of Gowa). The Bugis were known throughout the region as proud, fierce warriors and pirates and highly skilled mariners, and before the Dutch defeated them, they had a formidable empire and sphere of influence in what the Europeans called the "Spice Islands". The Bugis also traded throughout the region, and you can find Bugis people today in many other parts of Indonesia and beyond.
Makassarese cuisine, based as you might expect on seafood, is highly prized throughout the region, so make sure to have some while you are here.
