Buol Regency () is a

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

(second-level administrative division) of

Central Sulawesi Central Sulawesi (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Sulawesi Tengah'') is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The provin ...

Province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It was created on 4 October 1999, having previously been the eastern half of a larger Buol Tolitoli Regency. It covers an area of 4,043.57 km², and had a population of 132,330 at the 2010 Census;Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 145,254 (comprising 74,624 males and 70,630 females) at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 150,524 (comprising 77,231 males and 73,293 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Buol Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.7205) The administrative centre is the town of Buol, in Biau District.

Administration

The Buol Regency was divided at 2020 into eleven

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020 Census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as at mid 2023.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Buol Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.7205) The table includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of

administrative village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

s in each district (108 rural ''desa'' and 7 urban ''kelurahan'' in total), and its postal code. Notes: (a) comprising all 7 ''kelurahan'' (urban villages) - Leok I, Leok II, Bugis, Buol, Kali, Kulango and Kumaligon. (b) including seven offshore islands.

Demography

The Buol-speaking people live in the districts which now comprise the Buol regency (in

Province) which borders the Gorontalo province. Formerly mountain dwellers, the Buol now live in scattered villages on the central part of the northern peninsula, to the north-west of the

Gorontalo province Gorontalo (Gorontalo language, Gorontaloan: ''Hulontalo'') is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi. Located on the Minahasa Peninsula, Gorontalo was formerly part of the province of North Sulawesi until its ...

. The history of the Buol region is one of the rise and fall of small kingdoms and their occasional confederation into larger entities for defense and conquest. Sometimes, the Buol people are treated as a subgroup of the Gorontalo people group due to cultural and linguistic similarities. The Buol language is part of a larger linguistic grouping called the Gorontalic family which also includes the Bintauna, Kaidipang, Bolango, Gorontalo, Lolak and Suwawa languages.

References

{{Central Sulawesi Regencies of Central Sulawesi