Official Website of the North Sulawesi Tourism Promotion Board (NSTPB)

Geography & Climate

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	Geography The province of North Sulawesi with an area of 1,533,698 ha is located at 0º30"- 4º 3" North Latitude and 121º127" East Longitude. To the north the region borders on the Republic of the Philippines, Sulawesi Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Eastern part is on the Maluku Sea and the Southern side is the Tomini Gulf. The western part borders Gorontalo Province, which until the end of 2000 was a part of North Sulawesi and then became an own province. The terrain is extremely mountainous and hilly, stretching from the Lembean - Wulur Mahatus mountain chain in Minahasa to Mount Ambang - Mount Gambuta in Bolaang Mongondow. There are some active active and many extinct volcanoes, some towering 1,800 - 2,000 meters. Rich volcanic ash has blessed North Sulawesi with fertile lands; the highlands and lowlands producing rice, coconut, clove, nutmeg, vanilla and vegetables. The plains produce rice and corn in Dumoga, Ayong and Sangkub (Bolaang Mongondow). Plateaus in Tondano (Minahasa) also produce rice and corn, while Modoinding is known for its vegetables. Sangihe Talaud is recognized for its high quality nutmeg and Rumbia Trees (The Sago Palm is the source of a special flour for traditional cookies/snacks). Sulawesi is surrounded by deep waters, the Sulawesi Sea in North Sulawesi is approx. 6,200 m deep. North Sulawesi is endowed with many lakes like Lake Tondano and Lake Moat. The rivers like Ongkag Mongondow, Ongkag Dumoga, Sungai Sangkub, Randangan, Bulia and others are utilized mostly for irrigation of the rice fields. The Tondano River is used to generate electrical power for the Manado and Minahasa regions. Time Zones Located on the equator, the Indonesian archipelago experiences relatively little change in the length of daylight hours from one season to the next; the difference between the longest day and the shortest day of the year is only forty-eight minutes. The archipelago stretches across three time zones: Western Indonesian Time-seven hours in advance of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)- includes Sumatra, Java, and eastern Kalimantan; Central Indonesian Time -eight hours head of GMT- includes western Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi; and Eastern Indonesian Time -nine hours ahead of GMT- includes the Moluccas and Irian Jaya. The boundary between the western and central time zones -established in 1988- is a line running north between Java and Bali through the center of Kalimantan. The border between central and eastern time zones runs north from the eastern tip of Timor to the eastern tip of Sulawesi. Climate Like other regions in Indonesia, North Sulawesi has a typical equatorial climate with two seasons: rainy and dry. Starting in September, cool Northwesterly winds pick up moisture while crossing the South China Sea and arrive in the Sulawesi Sea about November. The wet season lasts from about November to March, but it is usually less pronounced than in many other parts of Southeast Asia and thus not really a serious concern in North Sulawesi. You are practically free to consider your own schedules, and those of others to perhaps avoid the holiday crowds. Mean temperatures at sea level are uniform, varying by only a few degrees throughout the region, and throughout the year 78°- 82°F (25°- 28°C). However, temperatures are decreasing 2°F (1°C) for every 656 feet (200m) of altitude, which provides a cool pleasant climate in upland communities. Strong cyclones and typhoons, which normally occur in higher latitudes, are absent in Indonesia, but afternoon thunderstorms are common.
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