Southeast Sulawesi (Indonesian: Sulawesi Tenggara, often abbreviated to Sultra), is a province on the island of Sulawesi, forming the southeastern peninsula of that island, together with a number of substantial offshore islands such as Buton, Muna, Kabaena and Wawonii (formerly called Wowoni), together with many smaller islands. It is bordered by South Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi to the north, sharing a maritime border with Maluku and North Maluku to the east and East Nusa Tenggara to the south, as well a very narrow maritime border with East Timor to the south. The capital is the city of Kendari, on the east coast of the peninsula.

The province has no highway road connecting to the rest of the island, and the primary transportation link is a ferry across the Bone Gulf between Watampone (Bone) in South Sulawesi and the port of Kolaka in Southeast Sulawesi.

From the seventeenth century until the early twentieth century, the region was the site of the Buton Sultanate [zh] (Butung).

The two major mountain ranges in Southeast Sulawesi are the Tanggeasinua Range and the Mekongga Range. The major rivers are the Lalinda, the Lasolo, and the Sampara.

The population of the province was 2,232,586 at the 2010 decennial census (1,120,225 males, and 1,110,344 females), increasing to 2,624,875 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at mid 2023 was 2,743,574. Konawe Selatan, Konawe, Kolaka and Muna are the four most populous regencies.

A third of the population is centered on Buton and Muna islands off the south coast of Sulawesi, and another 15% live in and around Kendari.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1971	714,120	—
1980	942,302	+32.0%
1990	1,349,619	+43.2%
1995	1,586,917	+17.6%
2000	1,820,379	+14.7%
2010	2,232,586	+22.6%
2015	2,495,248	+11.8%
2020	2,624,875	+5.2%
2023	2,743,574	+4.5%
Source: Badan Pusat Statistik 2010 to 2023

Islam is the predominant religion (96.2%). According to the 2021 estimates, 2,560,000 people were Muslims, 50,780 were Hindus, 44,870 were Protestants, 16,180 were Roman Catholics, 1,610 were Buddhists, 113 were Confusians and 63 adhered to Folk religions.

The main ethnic groups in Southeast Sulawesi are "Tolaki", "Buton", "Muna" etc.

Southeast Sulawesi Province is divided into fifteen regencies (including the five new regencies established in 2013 and 2014) and two autonomous cities.

As at 1995, there were just four regencies within the province - Buton, Kolaka, Konawe and Muna. On 3 August, the city of Kendari was created from part of Konawe Regency, and on 21 June 2001 the city of Bau-Bau was created from part of Buton Regency.

On 25 February 2003, South Konawe Regency was created from part of Konawe Regency. On 18 December 2003, three new regencies were created - Bombana Regency and Wakatobi Regency from parts of Buton Regency, and North Kolaka Regency from part of Kolaka Regency. On 2 January 2007, two new regencies were created - North Konawe Regency from part of Konawe Regency, and North Buton Regency from part of Muna Regency.

In 2013 the Indonesian Government enacted the creation of 11 new Regencies and Municipalities, including the following in Southeast Sulawesi:

• Konawe Islands Regency, from part of Konawe Regency (enacted by Act No.8 of 2013, on 11 January 2013).
• East Kolaka Regency, from part of Konawe Regency (enacted by Act No.11 of 2013, on 11 May 2013).

Subsequently, on 24 June 2014, the Indonesian Parliament agreed to create three more new regencies, based on consideration of technical, administrative, area, strategic and geopolitic factors:

• South Buton Regency, from part of Buton Regency (enacted by Act No.16 of 2014, on 23 July 2014).
• Central Buton Regency, from part of Buton Regency (enacted by Act No.16 of 2014, on 23 July 2014).
• West Muna Regency, from part of Muna Regency (enacted by Act No.16 of 2014, on 23 July 2014).

These regencies and cities are tabulated below, with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023. The table also includes the location of the regency/city headquarters and their Human Development Index.

Kode Wilayah	Name of City or Regency	Area (km)	Population			Capital	HDI 2022
			Census 2010	Census 2020	Estimate mid 2023
74.71	Kendari City	270.14	289,966	345,107	351,085	Kendari	0.845 (Very High)
74.06	Bombana Regency	3,293.97	139,235	150,706	163,402	Rumbia	0.668 (Medium)
74.01	Kolaka Regency	2,960.73	208,817	237,587	247,680	Kolaka	0.739 (High)
74.02	Konawe Regency	6,087.68	213,038	257,011	262,439	Unaaha	0.720 (High)
74.08	North Kolaka Regency (Kolaka Utara)	2,932.25	121,340	137,659	140,488	Lasusua	0.704 (High)
74.11	East Kolaka Regency (Kolaka Timur)	3,991.78	106,415	120,699	126,754	Tirawuta	0.687 (Medium)
74.09	North Konawe Regency (Konawe Utara)	5,101.76	51,533	67,871	77,371	Wanggudu	0.711 (High)
74.05	South Konawe Regency (Konawe Selatan)	4,237.74	264,587	308,524	322,946	Andoolo	0.694 (Medium)
	Peninsula Regencies	28,876.05	1,394,931	1,625,164	1,692,165
74.10	North Buton Regency (Buton Utara)	1,923.03	54,736	66,653	72,757	Buranga	0.690 (Medium)
74.72	Bau-Bau City	294.98	136,991	159,248	161,280	Baubau	0.766 (High)
74.04	Buton Regency	1,647.87	94,388	115,207	120,873	Pasarwajo	0.672 (Medium)
74.15	South Buton Regency (Buton Seletan)	546.58	74,974	95,261	101,635	Batauga	0.654 (Medium)
74.14	Central Buton Regency (Buton Tengah)	837.16	86,350	114,773	121,369	Labungkari	0.653 (Medium)
74.03	Muna Regency	2,057.69	196,645	215,527	228,639	Raha	0.696 (Medium)
74.13	West Muna Regency (Muna Barat)	906.28	71,632	84,590	85,706	Laworo	0.662 (Medium)
74.12	Konawe Islands Regency (Konawe Kepulauan)	867.58	28,944	37,050	41,520	Langara	0.667 (Medium)
74.07	Wakatobi Regency	473.62	92,995	111,402	117,630	Wanci (on Wangi-wangi Island)	0.708 (High)
	Island Regencies	9,554.79	837,655	999,711	1,051,409

Notes

(a) Bombana Regency is mainly peninsula (the areas around Poleang and Rumbia on Sulawesi Island) but partly insular (including most of Kabaena Island).
(b) The Central Buton Regency comprises the southern part of Muna Island and a small southern part of Kabaena Island, but does not include any part of Buton Island.
(c) Under discussion by the Indonesian government in 2013 was a proposal to create an additional municipality of Raha, on Muna Island, but any such proposal is in abeyance and this potential extra municipality is not separated in the table above.
(d) The Konawe Islands Regency comprises Wawonii Island and small offshore islets around it.

The province now forms one of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council. The Southeast Sulawesi Electoral District consists of all of the 15 regencies in the province, together with the cities of Kendari and Bau-Bau, and elects 6 members to the People's Representative Council.

• Betoambari Airport, Baubau
• Haluoleo Airport, South Konawe
• Matahora Airport, Wakatobi
• Sangia Nibandera Airport, Kolaka
• Sugimanuru Airport, West Muna
• Tomia Airport, Wakatobi

• Antam Pomalaa, Kolaka
• Bungkutoko, Kendari
• Ferry (ASDP), Kolaka
• Ferry Batulo, Baubau
• Ferry Lagasa, Muna
• Ferry Pure, Muna
• Ferry Tampo, Muna
• Ferry Tondasi, West Muna
• Ferry Wamengkoli, Central Buton
• Liana Banggai, Central Buton
• Maligano, Muna
• Murhum, Baubau
• Nusantara, Kendari
• Nusantara Raha, Muna
• Pangulu Belo, Wakatobi
• Samudra, Kolaka
• Simpu, South Buton
• Transito Talaga Raya, Central Buton

• Wakatobi National Park

• Official website
• Best Campus in Southeast Sulawesi