Minahasa
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1,237,177 (Census 2010) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Indonesia | more than 1 million |
| North Sulawesi | 1 million |
| Philippines | 101,720 |
| Netherlands | 1,070 |
| Languages | |
| Minahasan languages, Manado Malay, Indonesian language | |
| Religion | |
| Protestantism (85%), Roman Catholicism (8%), Islam (7%) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mongondow people, Gorontaloan people, Visayans | |
The Minahasans (alternative spelling: Minahassa or Mina hasa) are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people would refer to themselves as Kawanua people, Touwenang people or more commonly as Manado people. They are actually a nation with oldest democracy and federal nation in the middle of the other Indonesian Tribes, even in Asia, because of their old tribal united government (declared in ). They are the most populous ethnic group in the Minahassa Peninsula. They have the big majority Christian among the country (Indonesia) with Muslim majority. The Minahasans speak Minahasan languages as sub-tribal language for every sub-tribe of Minahasa and Manado Malay (also known as Minahasa Malay), a language closely related to the Malay language as national language in the local area.
Minahasa Raya is the area covering Bitung City, Manado City, Tomohon City, Minahasa Regency, North Minahasa Regency, South Minahasa Regency and Southeast Minahasa Regency, which are altogether seven of the fifteen regional administrations in the province of North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Originally inhabited by Philippine languages-speaking peoples, the region was colonized in the 16th century by the Portuguese and Spanish, then in the 17th century by the Dutch.
In the Dutch East Indies the Minahasa people identified strongly with the Dutch language, culture and the Protestant faith — so strongly, in fact, that when Indonesia became independent in 1945 certain factions of political elites of the region even pleaded with the Dutch to let it become a province of the Netherlands. The centuries-old strong bond between the Minahasa and the Netherlands has recently been studied and explained using the Stranger King concept.
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Wikipedia