Central Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The 2010 census recorded a population of 2,635,009 for the province, and the 2020 Census recorded 2,985,734, of whom 1,534,706 were male and 1,451,028 were female. The official estimate as at mid 2022 was 3,066,143. Central Sulawesi has an area of 61,605.72 km
2 (23,786 sq mi), the largest area among all provinces on Sulawesi Island, and has the second-largest population on Sulawesi Island after the province of South Sulawesi. It is bordered by the provinces of Gorontalo to the north, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and South East Sulawesi to the south, by Maluku to the east, and by the Makassar Strait to the west. The province is inhabited by many ethnic groups, such as the Kaili, Tolitoli, etc. The official language of the province is Indonesian, which is used for official purposes and inter-ethnic communication, while there are several indigenous language spoken by the Indigenous peoples of Central Sulawesi. Islam is the dominant religion in the province, followed by Christianity which is mostly adhered to by the people in the eastern part of the province.