gowa

Gowa may refer to more than one place or historic polity in Indonesia. Gowa Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The regency surrounds the city of Makassar and has its administrative center in Sungguminasa. It comprises multiple districts and rural areas; the economy is mixed, including agriculture, small industry, and services. The regency is part of the greater Makassar metropolitan area.

Historically, Gowa denotes the Kingdom of Gowa, a major precolonial polity in southern Sulawesi. The kingdom, which also formed part of the Gowa–Tallo confederation with the nearby port of Makassar, was ruled by the Karaeng (kings). It played a key role in regional trade and diplomacy in the early modern era. In the mid-17th century the Dutch East India Company (VOC) clashed with Gowa; the 1667 Treaty of Bungaya established Dutch influence in the region and led to significant changes in governance. The Dutch later built Fort Rotterdam in Makassar as a colonial foothold, and the Gowa realm gradually came under Dutch control within the Dutch East Indies.

Today the historic Gowa is remembered as an influential center in Sulawesi's history, and its legacy persists in regional culture and place names in and around present-day Gowa Regency.