Papua

I

Introduction

Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), the most easterly province of Indonesia, on the western half of the island of New Guinea. Incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, Papua was formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea, West Irian, and Irian Jaya. Papua is bounded on the north by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the Seram Sea, on the south by the Arafura Sea, and on the east by Papua New Guinea. Papua has an area of 421,981 sq km (162,928 sq mi), equivalent to 22 per cent of the total land area of Indonesia. The capital is the port of Jayapura.

II

Physical Geography

The province lies just south of the equator and is predominantly mountainous. The north-south backbone of the Maoke Mountains divides Papua in two; its tallest peak, Puncak Jaya, at 5,030 m (16,503 ft) is the highest point in Indonesia. About 75 per cent of Papua is covered in forest, much of it impenetrable virgin rainforest. The climate is generally tropical, and hot and humid on the coast. Temperatures are cooler in the mountains, some of which have permanent snowfields on their peaks. Rainfall is extremely heavy, particularly during the monsoon; precipitation levels can reach 5,500 mm (217 in) a year. Papua has some of Indonesia's largest rivers, including the Baliem, Memberamo, and Tariku. In the south-west the rivers have created a huge area of mangrove swamps and tidal forests.

III

Plants and Animals

Papua has been described as a naturalist's paradise. The range of habitats includes alpine, heath, swamp, and marsh, and rain, tidal, deciduous, and pine forest, which support an immense variety of grasses, ferns, vines, mosses, lichens, trees, and flowers. The province's fauna is equally varied. Freshwater and land vertebrates are nearly all of the Australian type, and include many species of marsupial. There are varies species of snake, tortoise, phalanger, bandicoot, anteater, possum, bat, and rat (including the world's largest tree-climbing water rat), as well as the giant monitor lizard, tree kangaroo, and marsupial cat. Papua is famed for its many varieties of butterfly and 650 unique bird species—including 80 species of the bird of paradise. Offshore there are sea turtles and dugong. The Lorentz National Park, first established by the Dutch in 1919 as the Lorentz Nature Monument and declared a national park in 1997, forms the largest protected area in South East Asia, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

IV

Population

Papua is Indonesia's most sparsely settled province, with a population of 2,338,700 (2003 estimate). More than three-quarters of the population is rural, living in scattered groups. Settlements of any size are clustered around the coast and along a few fertile river valleys; there are also some isolated frontier towns in the interior. Large parts of the interior are unpopulated. Travel between towns in mainly by air and sea. The main settlements include Jayapura (population, 2007 estimate, 134,900), Mankowari, Soron, Merauke, and Biak. About 80 per cent of the population comprises indigenous Papuan- and Melanesian-speaking peoples—the former located mainly in the interior uplands; the latter mainly along the coast. Most upland Papuans live in small clan groups, isolated from each other by the terrain. Papua also has communities of people from other parts of Indonesia, and descendants of Chinese and Dutch settlers. Some 300 languages are spoken in Papua, most of them mutually incomprehensible (see Austronesian Languages). Bahasa Indonesia is used as a lingua franca, together with a local pidgin language.