The province remained part of the Indies for the next three centuries until the Dutch were ousted by the Japanese during World War II.

In addition, three-quarters of children experience deprivation in two dimensions non-income poverty or more, with that inequality striking between urban and rural areas.

The Kulawi tribe of Central Sulawesi still practice the exchange of heirloom bronze objects e.g. the taiganja, whose basic form has been discovered throughout the eastern part of Indonesia.

Areas along the western coast of Central Sulawesi, from Kaili to Tolitoli, were conquered by the Sultanaete of Gowa around the middle of the 16th century under the leadership of King Tunipalangga.

[14] The area around the Gulf of Palu is an important center and trade route, coconut oil producer, and "entrance" to the interior of Central Sulawesi.

Under the pretext of securing his fleet from pirate attacks, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) built fortresses in Parigi and Lambunu.

In the 18th century, the Dutch forced the kings of Central Sulawesi to come to Manado and Gorontalo to take an oath of loyalty to the VOC.

In 1860, a government official named Johannes Cornelis Wilhelmus Diedericus Adrianus van der Wyck, managed to visit Lake Poso in 1865 – becoming the first European and Dutch to do so.

[18] The proposal to occupy the Poso region was rejected – referring to the anti-expansion policies issued by the colonial government at that time.

[28] On 28 September 2018, a shallow, large earthquake struck in the neck of the Minahasa Peninsula, with its epicentre located in the mountainous Donggala Regency.

The magnitude 7.5 quake was located 77 km (48 mi) away from the provincial capital Palu and was felt as far away as Samarinda on East Kalimantan and also in Tawau, Malaysia.

Central Sulawesi is thus now divided into twelve regencies and one city (kota), which are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2000, 2010[35] and 2020[36] Censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023.

Other towns include Ampana, Banggai, Bungku, Buol, Donggala, Kolonodale, Luwuk, Parigi, Poso, and Toli-toli.

The Central Sulawesi Electoral District consists of all of the 12 regencies in the province, together with the city of Palu, and elects 7 members to the People's Representative Council.

[42] Islam was spread in Central Sulawesi by Datuk Karama and Datuk Mangaji, scholars of West Sumatra; which was then forwarded by Al Alimul Allamah Al-Habib As Sayyed Idrus bin Salim Al Djufri, a teacher at the Alkhairaat school and also proposed as a national hero.

Christianity was first spread in the Poso district and the southern part of Donggala by Dutch missionaries such as Albertus Christiaan Kruyt.

In the eastern part of Sulawesi, there are also strong influences from Gorontalo and Manado, seen from the Luwuk regional dialect and from the distribution of the Gorontaloan people in Bualemo Regency, where it is quite dominant.

The traditional Central Sulawesi house is made of poles and wooden walls that have thatched roofs and only have one large space.

Silk dressers or sarongs stretching along the chest to shoulders, colorful crowns of heads and machetes slipped around the waist complement traditional clothing.

[47] Special dero dances are displayed during the harvest season, guest welcoming ceremonies, thanksgiving and certain holidays.

This soup is often consumed with steamed rice or sweet potatoes, using the usual utensils that consist of spoon, fork, and occasionally knife; and also additionally using straw, used to sip out the marrow inside of the bones.

The cooked sago is then doused with a yellow sauce made from fish broth, vegetables, mango slices, and shrimp meat.

Then galena associated with zinc, spread in Tolitoli Regency, especially in the Dondo and Galang Subdistrict with a reserve potential of around 100 million tons, at levels below 35 percent with an area of over 1,500 hectares.

Galena spread also exists in Buol District, Bunobogu and Paleleh Subdistricts with reserves of around 56 million tons at levels above 45 percent.

The next potential of molybdenum found in the mountains west of Malala Village, Dondo Subdistrict, Tolitoli Regency, is in porphyry sediment veins of quartz diorite, with thicknesses varying from 4 to 20 centimeters, at depths above 200 meters.

Furthermore, in Morowali Regency, black sand can also be found along the coast of Topogaro, West Bungu Subdistrict with levels between 51 and 69 percent.

This mineral was also discovered at the Kamonji River, Malei Village, Balaesang District, Tanjung Manimbaya, Donggala Regency.

There are 7 major airports in Central Sulawesi, located in Ampana, Buol, Luwuk, Morowali, Palu, Poso and Tolitoli respectively, as well as small airstrips.

Megalithic statues that are hundreds or thousands of years old are scattered in the Lore Lindu National Park areas such as Napu Valley, Besoa and Bada.

[citation needed] The island has white sand beaches and marine parks with a variety of coral reefs and fish species.