It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 census giving a population of 451,916,[3] and the official estimates for mid 2023 showing 458,582 inhabitants (229,982 males and 228,600 females),[1] distributed over a land area of 157.26 km2.

[4] Manado is among Indonesia's top-five tourism priorities[5] and Bunaken National Park is one of the city's most famous tourist attractions.

Tunan Waterfall in Talawaan village and Mount Tumpa are some of the many attractions for visitors who like to take Manado city tour especially to natural places.

[6] The name Manado is derived from the Sangir language word manaro, meaning 'on the far coast' or 'in the distance', and originally referred to the further of two islands which can be seen from the mainland.

Before Europeans arrived in North Sulawesi, the area was under the rule of the Sultan of Ternate, who exacted tribute and introduced Islam to its inhabitants.

The Dutch East India Company or Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC) built a fortress in Manado named Fort Amsterdam in 1658.

As with regions in eastern Indonesia, Manado has undergone Christianisation by Dutch missionaries, including Riedel and John Gottlieb Schwarz.

When Permesta confronted the central government with demands for political, economic and regional reform, Jakarta responded by bombing the city in February 1958, and then invading in June 1958.

In 1962, the People's Representative Council declared Manado as the official capital city of North Sulawesi Province.

The Tombulu language is considered one of the Minahasa languages and is spoken widely in several urban villages within Manado, for example: Wenang (Wenang / Mahawenang - kolintang), Tumumpa (down), Mahakeret (yelling), Tikala Ares (Walak Ares Tombulu, where the word 'ares' means punishable), Ranotana (ground water), Winangun (built), Wawonasa (wawoinasa - sharpened above), Pinaesaan (unity place), Pakowa (Tree of Treasure), Teling (fur / bamboo to make equipment), Titiwungen (excavated), Tuminting (from the word Ting-Ting: a bell, the inserted syllable -um- changing the noun to a verb, so Tuminting: ringing bell), Pondol (Edge), Wanea (from the word Wanua: meaning the country), etc.

There are also Arabian peranakan communities, mainly in the Kampung Arab area which is near Pasar '45 and has become a destination for religious tourism.

In 2005, more than 15,000 international passengers entered Indonesia via Manado airport, connected with other cities like Jakarta, Surabaya and Makassar, etc.

Manado is home to some of the biggest and most influential churches in the province, with many of them located along the iconic Sam Ratulangi Street.

In addition to tinutuan, there is cakalang fufu, a smoked skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), roa fish (exocoetidae or torani) Parexocoetus brachypterus, kawok which is based on the meat of the forest rodent white rat Maxomys hellwandii; paniki, bat meat-based dishes; such as (Pteropus pumilus) and rinte wuuk (abbreviated to RW) which is a local name of dog meat, pork (a pig is cooked rotating over embers, usually served at parties), and babi putar (made from pork mixed with Manado spices, rolled and burned in bamboo).

Woku is a type of bumbu (spice mixture) found in Manado cuisine of North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Other typical food of Manado city which is also quite famous is nasi kuning which taste and looks different from yellow rice in other area because it is spiked with abon of cakalang rica fish and presented in a parcel using sugar palm leaves.

It exhibits significant influence of Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch, for example: While there is not much known about the origin of ideogramatical Minahasa writing system, currently the orthography used for indigenous Minahasan languages closely matches that used for Indonesian.