Bau-Bau or Bau-bau (Indonesian: Kota Bau-bau) is the main city on Buton island, Indonesia. Bau-Bau reached the city status on 21 June 2001, based on the Indonesian law number 13, year 2001. A port called Murhum serves the city sea transportation with a ferry terminal (jetty) operated by the Indonesian state-owned sealiner, Pelni.

During the fifteenth century (1401—1499), Bau-Bau was the center of the Buton (or Wolio) kingdom. There were no historical records known from this kingdom, except from a description in the Nagarakretagama text, an Old Javanese eulogy written by Mpu Prapanca during the Majapahit Kingdom. Mpu Prapanca described a village called Buton or Butuni with its garden and irrigation system, and there was a king who ruled in the area.

The kingdom of Buton firstly established by Mia Patamiana, a four musketeer acted as a chieftain. The four musketeer were known as Sipanjonga, Simalui, Sitamanajo and Sijawangkati, based on a historical record Semenanjung Tanah Melayu (or the Malay peninsula record) written in the thirteenth century. They arrived on the island and founded a village called Wolio and appointed small district leaders known as Limbo. Later, they united into the kingdom of Buton and appointed Wa Kaa Kaa as the first queen in 1332; she was the wife of one of descendants of the Majapahit ruler.

In 1542, the kingdom of Buton transformed itself into sultanate when Islam entered the area. The first sultan of Buton was Lakilaponto, entitled as the Sultan Murhum Kaimuddin Khalifatul Khamis. The last sultan (the 38th) was Muhammad Falihi Kaimuddin in 1960.

Geographically, Bau-bau lies between lattitute 5.21°S–5.33°S and longitude 122.30°E–122.47°E, or lies on the southern part of south east Sulawesi region. Bau-Bau is bordered to the north by the Buton Strait, to the east by the Kapontori District, to the south by the Pasarwajo District and to the west by the Kadatua District. The area of the city is about 220 km², with the sea area around 30–km²

The topographical condition of Bau-Bau mainly consists of mountain and hills. Long coasts and long hills stretch above the surrounding terrain with the variation of altitude between 0–100 meters above mean sea level. Bau-bau has land slope between 8–30%.

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