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Morowali Regency

Overview

01Overview

Morowali Regency is a regency of Central Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 5,472 km2. The districts currently within the regency had a combined population of 102,228 at the 2010 Census; the regency population at the 2020 Census was 161,727; and with rapid growth in the regency's population in recent years the official estimate as of mid 2025 was 203,860 (comprising 107,363 males and 93,559 females). The administrative centre is at the town of Bungku (in Bungku Tengah District), which comprises six kelurahan and a number of desa. The Regency includes the far-flung Menui Islands (Kepulauan Menui), lying to the southeast of the rest of the province.

History

01History

Before Dutch rule, the region comprising what is today Morowali was the territory of the Kingdom of Bungku. After Dutch annexation, it was administered as the landschap of Boengkoe. On 4 October 1999, Morowali Regency was created out of a portion of Poso Regency. At that time it was composed of the southeastern fourteen districts from the Poso Regency.

On 12 April 2013 this Morowali Regency was in turn divided into two Regencies; the seven northernmost districts were split off to form a new North Morowali Regency (Morowali Utara) covering nearly two-thirds of the area of the then Morowali Regency, while the seven southernmost districts were retained as the residual Morowali Regency, although two additional districts were created by the division of existing ones.

02Economy

Morowali Regency contains rich deposits of high-quality nickel, a vital material needed to manufacture lithium batteries. Starting in the 2010s and into the 2020s, the thriving nickel industry in Morowali has resulted in a large increase in the region's GDP (300% increase between 2013 and 2019), but the expansion of the extraction industry has also caused environmental degradation. From 2014 to 2020, over US$6.5 billion in foreign direct investment has flowed into the construction of nickel smelters and other downstream processing activities in Morowali Regency. Morowali is the site of an industrial park, the Morowali Industrial Park, specifically earmarked for refining activities. In Morowali, GDP more than tripled in just six years from Rp 6.9 trillion (US$480 million) in 2013 to Rp 24.3 trillion (US$1.7 billion) in 2019, almost all of it driven by investment in downstream nickel processing. As of 2021, the largest foreign investors were American, Chinese, and Japanese companies, while the government of Indonesia is attempting to build a domestic battery industry.

The growth of this facility has resulted in the rapid expansion in the population, particularly in Bahodopi District where the mine is situated. The increased workforce migrating into the area has been largely male, resulting in a substantively high gender ratio in the regency.