Celebes Sea: Curious Geography Facts Revealed For Kids!

The Celebes Sea is located with a tectonically complex region of southeast Asia on an oceanic plate towards the north of Sulawesi (Indonesia), east of Borneo, and south of the Philippine Islands.

The Celebes Sea is an ocean with complex features. It has an average depth of 20,460 ft (6236.2 m) and is spread over an area of 110,000 sq mi (284,898.7 sq km).

Due to considerable overlaps in the Philippines and Indonesia EEZ's, the two countries were compelled to negotiate an agreement regarding the shared boundary line. The EEZs for both the countries run across the Celebes Sea and the Mindanao Sea which is present on the south side of the Philippine Sea which is a part of the Pacific Ocean.

The sea lanes between Tanjung Unsang located in Sabah and Zamboanga Point in Mindanao are used by the commercial ships originating from the South China Sea. One of the most diverse biological environments on the planet is found in the Coral Triangle.

This is a region shared by three countries, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The shallow water regions of the ocean basins and islands are home to a wide range of biodiversity.

The Celebes Sea opens into the Java Sea via the Makassar Strait in its southwest region. Strong ocean currents that are observed in this area along with deep-sea trenches and active volcanic islands have resulted in the creation of incredible oceanic features in the Celebes Sea.

Here we will read about the Celebes Sea’s geography location, the history of how the sea came to be in existence, and its settlements and the islands found around it. We will also have a look at its marine life.

Continue reading if you are curious to know more about the Celebes Sea area. After understanding the volcanic cones in northern Celebes and Sang Islands, also check beach fun facts and facts about Sydney.

Celebes Sea Geography Location

Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Celebes Sea is bordered by the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines Mindanao Island, and the Sulu Sea in the north, Sulawesi's Minahasa Peninsula in the south, Sangihe Islands chain in the east, and northern Kalimantan in the west.

The Celebes Sea through the Makassar strait opens southwest and into the Java Sea. At the Sibutu-Basilan Ridge, we can find the border that lies between the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea.

The Celebes Sea has deep-sea trenches, strong ocean currents, seamounts, and volcanic islands that are active. Due to these deep-sea trenches and strong oceanic currents, the oceanographic characteristics of the Celebes sea are very complicated in every direction be it east-west or north-south.

The sea hosts a wide variety of marine life which includes dolphins, manta rays, whales, tuna, eagle rays, and sea turtles. The Celebes Sea also has hundreds of reef-building corals in addition to marine life like sea turtles and manta rays.

Active volcanic islands and strong ocean currents combine with the deep-sea trenches to create some complex oceanographic features in the Celebes Sea.

Celebes Sea History

Celebes Sea history is extremely interesting for all the geography students. Read on to know more about the history of the Celebes Sea:

It took 42 million years to form the old ocean basin that the Celebes Sea is a part of.

Around 20 million years prior Earth’s crust movement led to the shifting of the basin in a way that it got close enough to the Indonesian volcanoes and the Philippine volcanoes that it received the debris emitted by the volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean.

The Celebes sea became flooded with coal, the continental debris, that was emitted from the Borneo Mountain around 10 million years ago and the basin became connected to Eurasia. In the early seventeenth century, some parts of the Celebes sea were captured by the dutch and the Sang group.

However, pirates and traders that were from Borneo and other nearby islands still prevailed in the Celebes sea. In the later part of the 19th century, the sea came under colonial control.

The Celebes sea had a very important role at the time as it was used as the central region of economic activities such as regional trade. They provided access to the Maritime traffic that came from the south side.

The Straits of Makassar provides a connection with both the Java Seas and Flores.

Presently in between the Republics of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia the Celebes Sea area of the Pacific Ocean has been divided. However, in the times bygone the Celebes sea used to serve as a hub for cultural and economic activities irrespective of geopolitical differences.

Celebes Sea Islands

As the Celebes Sea is a part of the Pacific Ocean, there are many islands present in the sea. Read the facts mentioned below regarding the Celebes Sea Islands to know more about the geography of these islands:

There are five surrounding islands in the Celebes sea; Borneo, Mindanao, Sangihe Islands, Sulu Archipelago, and Sulawesi. The title of the three largest islands in the whole world and the largest island in Asia goes to Borneo island.

It is bordered by Java, Sulawesi, and Sumitra in the north, west, and east respectively. Geographically speaking it is also the center of Maritime Southeast Asia. The oldest rainforests of the world also call Borneo their home. The second-largest island of the Philippines in Mindanao island.

Mindanao island can be found in the region south of the Archipelago island. A group of islands named the Sangihe islands also surround the Celebes Sea. These islands are made up of two regencies that fall within the dominion of the northern part of Indonesia and.

These islands can be found in the middle of the Celebes Sea and the Molucca Sea, northeast of Sulawesi. This island’s total area is 813 square kilometers and has various volcanoes that are still active.

The soil on this island is fertile. In the southwestern Philippines, there is another group of islands known as the Sulu Archipelago islands. They lie inside the Mindanao islands.

It contains three provinces namely Sulu, Balian, and Tawi-Tawi. Combining the first few syllables of the provinces the word Basulta is formed which is often used to refer to this island.

It is a common misconception that the Archipelago is what is left of a bridge made of land that connected the Philippines and Indonesia. This chain of islands forms a major route that birds use for migrating.

The next island is called Celebes. There are four Greater Sunda islands and one of them is the Celebes. The Indonesian government governs this island. It currently holds the title of the seventh-largest island in the world. It lies east to Borneo, South to the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao, and west to the Maluku islands.

Celebes Sea Settlements

There are ten Celebes Sea Settlements. They are Cotabato City, General Santos, Manado, Pagadian, Tahuna, Tarakan, Tawau, Sandakan, Nunukan and Zamboanga City. If you want to know more about the different Celebes Sea settlements, then read the interesting facts shared below:

Officially known as the City of Cotabato, Cotabato city is located in the Philippines in the   Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. It is an independent component city of the third class. It is populated by 325,079 people according to a census that was conducted in the year 2020.

This gave the city the status of being the most populated city which came under the component city status. Gen San which is the abbreviated name of the city General Santos is a city that has been highly urbanized and has the status of being first class.

It can be located in the Soccsksargen region of the Philippines. Geographically it is located in the South Cotabato province but it is independently administered. Of the Soccsksargen region, it is the only religious hub for trade and commerce.

Falling in the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi and its capital is the second-largest city in Sulawesi is the Manado city. Its total area is 101.3 mi (163 km) and its total population is 451, 916 according to a census done in 2020.

1.2 million is the population of the metropolitan area according to the 2018 data. Manado City is located in a mountainous area and is near the Bay of Manado.

It is a famous tourist spot for tourists in Indonesia. Located in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines is the second class component city Pagadin, officially known as the city of Pagadian.

According to a census conducted in the year 2020, the total population of the city is 210,452 people. In terms of area, it is the second-largest and comes after the city of Zamboanga and is its center of religion.

The capital of the Sangihe islands Regence of the northern Sulawesi region is the town named Tahuna. According to a census conducted in the year 2020, it has a population of 35,307 people. The number includes the number of people found in the districts of Tahuna Timur, Tahuna Barat, and Tahuna.

Located in the north of Borneo is another island city called Tarakan. It is North Kalimantan’s, which is a province in Indonesia, the largest city.

Tarakan many years back during the colonial period held great strategic importance as a major producer of oil in the region. During the time of the Pacific, War Tarakan was Japan’s early target when the conflict arose. The capital of Tawao district in Malaysia is Tawao or Tawau.

After the cities Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu and Sabah this city is third largest. The administrative center of the Tawao district is located in the Semporna Peninsula on the southeast coast of the state. The border is shared with North Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Elopura is the former name of the city of Sandakan. It is Sandakan’s district of Sabah’s capital. After Kota Kinabalu, it is the second-largest in area. It used to be the capital of British North Borneo.

The estimated population of the town is 157,330. Nunukan is a regency that lies in Indonesia in the North Kalimantan province. It shares the borders internationally with the states of Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak in the north and west respectively.

It also shares inter-regency borders with two other regencies named Malinau and Tana Tidung. According to a 2020 census the regency had a population of 199,090 people. Zamboanga city is a highly urban 1st class city in the peninsular region of the Philippines. Its population is 977,234 according to the 2020 census.

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