Minahasa Regency is a regency in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its capital is Tondano. It covers an area of 1,141.64 km2 and had a population of 310,384 at the 2010 Census; this rose to 347,290 at the 2020 Census. Several cities and regencies representing areas that were initially part of the Minahasa Regency have since been removed from this regency and established as the cities of Bitung (1975, initially as an administrative city) and Tomohon (2003), and the regencies of South Minahasa (2003), North Minahasa (2003), and Southeast Minahasa (2007, through the South Minahasa Regency). History In 1983, Minahasa Regency government declared 5 November 1428 as the anniversary of the regency. This date is purely symbolic, because the day and month were taken from the day and month of Sam Ratulangi's birth date, Ratulangi being one of the most prominent historical figures from Minahasa. The year 1428 symbolizes the estimated year of the meeting of the Minahasan tribes who came together in their resistance to the neighboring Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom. Because it is only an approximation, the numbers of the year 1428 were taken from two important events, which are Peristiwa Merah Putih (or the Red and White Incident) that occurred in Manado on 14 February 1946, and the Second Youth Congress which produced the Youth Pledge that was held in 1928. The number 14 comes from the day the Red and White Incident occurred, while the number 28 is taken from the year when the Second Youth Congress was held. The Minahasa region itself was designated as an administrative region as a kabupaten (or regency) in 1965 based on Indonesian Law No. 18/1965. In this law, the administrative regions of the Province of North Sulawesi that were formerly called Daerah Tingkat II (or Level II Region) were now called Kabupaten. Hence, Daerah Tingkat II Minahasa became Kabupaten Minahasa. The existence of the region that includes the current Minahasa Regency as an administrative region can be seen long before the issuance of the 1965 law and before the formation of the Republic of Indonesia. Agreement with VOC In addition to banding together to fight pressure from outside in the 15th century, the tribes in Minahasa also came together in the 17th century to do a similar thing. Several Minahasa tribes joined in a friendship agreement with the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC or the Dutch East Indies Company). The intention was the