Western New Guinea

Speakers align themselves with a political orientation when choosing a name for the western half of the island of New Guinea.{{Cite book|title=The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia|first=Denise|last=Leith|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2003|page=xxv}} The official name of the region is "Papua" according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).{{cite web |last1=Kayo |first1=Edison Sutan |title=Kode singkatan geografis wilayah di Indonesia |url=https://www.kodesingkatan.com/kode-singkatan-geografis-di-indonesia/ |website=Kode Singkatan |language=id-ID |date=6 April 2015}} Independence activists refer to the region as "West Papua", while Indonesian officials have also used "West Papua" to name the western province of the region since 2007.{{cite web |title=West Irian Jaya officially renamed West Papua angering independence movement |url=https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/169444/west-irian-jaya-officially-renamed-west-papua-angering-independence-movement |website=Radio New Zealand |language=en-NZ |date=26 April 2007}} Historically, the region has had the official names of Netherlands New Guinea (1895–1962), West New Guinea or West Irian (1962–1973), Irian Jaya (1973–2002), and Papua (2002–present).{{Cite book|title=Passion for Peace: Exercising Power Creatively|publisher=UNSW Press|year=2003|first=Stuart|last=Rees|author-link=Stuart Rees|page=150}} The expected Indonesian translation of "Western New Guinea", {{lang|id|Nugini Barat}}, is currently only used in historical contexts such as {{lang|id|kampanye Nugini Barat}} "Western New Guinea campaign".

{{See also|History of Indonesia}}

File:KorowaiHombre01.jpg of Papua were an uncontacted people.]]

Human habitation is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago.{{cite journal|author=Gillespie, Richard|year=2002|title=Dating the First Australians|journal=Radiocarbon|volume=44|issue=2|pages=455–72|doi=10.1017/S0033822200031830|bibcode=2002Radcb..44..455G |doi-access=free}} Trade between New Guinea and neighboring Indonesian islands was documented as early as the seventh century, and archipelagic rule of New Guinea by the 13th. The Netherlands made claim to the region and commenced missionary work in nineteenth century. The region was incorporated into the Indonesian republic in the 1960s. Following the 1998 commencement of reforms across Indonesia, Papua and other Indonesian provinces received greater regional autonomy. In 2001, "Special Autonomy" status was granted to the region, although up to 2006, implementation had been partial.[http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA462594 US Dept of Defence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602084922/http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA462594 |date=2 June 2008 }}; [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1764&l=1 International Crisis Group] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050503221040/http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1764&l=1 |date=3 May 2005 }}; [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4364&l=1 International Crisis Group] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808074610/http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4364 |date=8 August 2009 }} The region was divided in 2003 into the provinces of Papua and West Papua. In 2022, the new provinces of Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, and Southwest Papua were created.

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{{flagicon image|Flag of the Netherlands.svg}} Dutch East Indies 1800–1942; 1944–1949

{{flagicon image|Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg}} Empire of Japan 1942–1944

{{flagicon image|Flag of the Netherlands.svg}} {{flagicon image|Morning Star flag.svg}} Dutch New Guinea 1949–1962

{{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg}} UNTEA 1962–1963

{{flagicon image|Flag of Indonesia.svg}} Indonesia 1963–present

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There are several theories regarding the origin of the word Papua. One theory is that the name comes from the word 'Papo Ua', named by the Tidore Sultanate, which in the Tidore language means "not joining" or "not being united", meaning that there was no king who rules the area.{{sfn|Saragih|2019|p=8}} Before the age of colonization, the Tidore Sultanate controlled some parts of the Bird's Head Peninsula in what is now the provinces of West Papua and Southwest Papua before expanding to also include coastal regions in the current province of Papua. This relationship plays an important historical role in binding the archipelagic civilizations of Indonesia to the Papuan world.{{Cite journal|url=https://open.lnu.se/index.php/hn/article/view/389/336|title=Trajectories of the early-modern kingdoms in eastern Indonesia: Comparative perspectives|first=Hans|last=Hägerdal|date=22 December 2016|journal=HumaNetten|issue=37|pages=66–87|via=open.lnu.se|doi=10.15626/hn.20163704}} Another theory is that the word Papua comes from the Malay word 'papuwah', which means 'frizzled hair'. It was first mentioned in the 1812 Malay Dictionary by William Marsden, although it was not found in earlier dictionaries.{{cite journal | last=Sollewijn Gelpke | first=J.H.F. | title=On the origin of the name Papua | journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia | publisher=Brill | volume=149 | issue=2 | year=1993 | issn=0006-2294 | doi=10.1163/22134379-90003129 | pages=318–332| doi-access=free }} In the records of 16th century Portuguese and Spanish sailors, the word 'Papua' is the designation for the inhabitants of the Raja Ampat Islands and the coastal parts of the Bird's Head Peninsula.{{Cite news |last=Kustiani |first=Rini |date=29 October 2020 |title=Asal Usul Nama Papua, Ada di Catatan Pelaut Portugis dan Spanyol |url=https://travel.tempo.co/read/1400439/asal-usul-nama-papua-ada-di-catatan-pelaut-portugis-dan-spanyol|access-date=25 February 2021 |website=Tempo |language=id}}

The former name of the province, Irian Jaya, was suggested during a tribal committee meeting in Tobati, Jayapura, formed by Atmoprasojo, head of the bestuur school in the 1940s. Frans Kaisiepo, the committee leader suggested the name from Mansren Koreri myths, Iri-an from the Biak language of Biak Island, meaning "hot land" referring to the local hot climate, but also from Iryan which means heated process as a metaphor for a land that is entering a new era. In Serui Iri-an ({{lit}} land-nation) means "pillar of nation", while in Merauke Iri-an ({{lit}} placed higher-nation) means "rising spirit" or "to rise".{{cite thesis |last=Wanggai |first=Tony V.M. |date=2008 |title=Rekonstruksi Sejarah Islam di Tanah Papua |publisher=UIN Syarif Hidayatullah|url=https://repository.uinjkt.ac.id/dspace/bitstream/123456789/7292/1/Toni%20Victor%20M.%20Wanggai_Rekonstruksi%20Sejarah%20Umat%20Islam%20di%20Tanah%20Papua.pdf|access-date=2022-01-30|language=id}}{{Cite book |author=Bilveer Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwbO-uRZQx0C |title=Papua: geopolitics and the quest for nationhood |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4128-1206-1 |page=26}} The name was promoted in 1945 by Marcus Kaisiepo, brother of the future governor Frans Kaisiepo.{{Cite book |last=Pickell |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUtz2hjvPvMC&pg=PA153 |title=Between the tides: a fascinating journey among the Kamoro of New Guinea |author2=Kal Müller |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7946-0072-3 |page=153}} The name Irian was politicized later by Marthin Indey and Silas Papare with the Indonesian acronym 'Ikut Republik Indonesia Anti Nederland' (Join the Republic of Indonesia oppose the Netherlands).{{Cite web |last=Ayuwuragil |first=Kustin |title=Frans Kaisiepo dan 'Ikut Republik Indonesia Anti Nederland' |url=https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20180816162950-20-322837/frans-kaisiepo-dan-ikut-republik-indonesia-anti-nederland|access-date=25 February 2021 |website=nasional |location=Jakarta |publisher=CNN Indonesia |language=id-ID}} The name was used throughout the Suharto administration, until it was changed to Papua during the administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid.{{Cite web |last=Winardi |first=Agustinus |date=2 May 2018 |title=Soeharto Ubah Nama Irian Barat Menjadi Irian Jaya Gara-Gara 'Diplomasi Kencing' |url=https://bangka.tribunnews.com/2018/05/02/soeharto-ubah-nama-irian-barat-menjadi-irian-jaya-gara-gara-diplomasi-kencing |access-date=25 February 2021 |website=Bangka Pos |language=id-ID}}{{Cite web |last1=Gunadha |first1=Reza |last2=Sadikin |first2=Rendy Adrikni |date=19 August 2019 |title=Kisah Gus Dur Ganti Nama Irian Jadi Papua, Ini Alasan di Baliknya |url=https://www.suara.com/news/2019/08/19/143710/kisah-gus-dur-ganti-nama-irian-jadi-papua-ini-alasan-di-baliknya |access-date=4 March 2021 |website=suara.com |language=id}}

The Dutch, who arrived later under Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten, called it Schouten island. They later used this name only to refer to islands off the north coast of Papua proper, the Schouten Islands or Biak Island. When the Dutch colonized this island as part of the Dutch East Indies, they called it Nieuw Guinea.

Speakers align themselves with a political orientation when choosing a name for the western half of the island of New Guinea.{{Cite book |last=Leith |first=Denise |title=The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=2003 |page=xxv}} The official name of the region is "Papua" according to International Organization for Standardization (ISO).{{cite web |last1=Kayo |first1=Edison Sutan |date=6 April 2015 |title=Kode singkatan geografis wilayah di Indonesia |url=https://www.kodesingkatan.com/kode-singkatan-geografis-di-indonesia/ |website=Kode Singkatan |language=id-ID}} Independence activists refer to the region as "West Papua," while Indonesian officials have also used "West Papua" to name the westernmost province of the region since 2007.{{cite web |last=King |first=Peter |date=26 April 2007 |title=West Irian Jaya officially renamed West Papua angering independence movement |url=https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/169444/west-irian-jaya-officially-renamed-west-papua-angering-independence-movement |website=Radio New Zealand |language=en-nz}} Historically, the region has had the official names of Netherlands New Guinea (1895–1962), West New Guinea or West Irian (1945–73), Irian Jaya (1973–2002), and Papua (2002–present).{{Cite book |last=Rees |first=Stuart |title=Passion for Peace: Exercising Power Creatively |publisher=UNSW Press |year=2003 |page=150|author-link=Stuart Rees}}

Papuan habitation of the region is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. Research indicates that the highlands were an early and independent center of agriculture, and show that agriculture developed gradually over several thousands of years; the banana has been cultivated in this region for at least 7,000 years.{{Cite journal |last1=Denham |first1=T. P. |last2=Haberle |first2=S. G. |last3=Lentfer |first3=C. |last4=Fullagar |first4=R. |last5=Field |first5=J. |last6=Therin |first6=M. |last7=Porch |first7=N. |last8=Winsborough |first8=B. |date=2003-07-11 |title=Origins of Agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of New Guinea |journal=Science |language=en |volume=301 |issue=5630 |pages=189–193 |doi=10.1126/science.1085255 |pmid=12817084 |s2cid=10644185 |issn=0036-8075|doi-access=free }} Austronesian peoples migrating through Maritime Southeast Asia settled in the area at least 3,000 years ago, and populated especially in Cenderawasih Bay. Diverse cultures and languages have developed in the island due to geographical isolation; there are over 300 languages and two hundred additional dialects in the region. (see Papuan languages, Austronesian languages, Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages)

Ghau Yu Kuan, a Chinese merchant, came to Papua around the latter half of 500 AD and referred to it as Tungki, the area where they obtained spices. Meanwhile, in the latter half of 600 AD, the Sumatra-based empire of Srivijaya referred to the island as Janggi. The empire engaged in trade relations with western New Guinea, initially taking items like sandalwood and birds-of-paradise in tribute to China, but later making slaves out of the Papuan people.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Bilveer |title=Papua: Geopolitics and the Quest for Nationhood |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2008 |page=15}} It was only at the beginning of 700 AD that traders from Persia and Gujarat began to arrive in what is now Papua and called it Dwi Panta or Samudrananta, which means 'at edge of the ocean'.

File:Nagarakertagama.jpg mentioned a region in the east called Wanin, present-day Onin Peninsula in the Fakfak Regency, West Papua ]]

The 14th-century Majapahit poem Nagarakretagama mentioned Wwanin or Onin and Sran as a recognized territory in the east, today identified as Onin peninsula in Fakfak Regency in the western part of the larger Bomberai Peninsula south of the Bird's Head Peninsula.{{cite web |title=Onin Peninsula |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-3726581&fid=2418&c=indonesia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074807/http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-3726581&fid=2418&c=indonesia|archive-date=4 March 2016 |work=Geographic Names}} At that time, Papua was said to be the eighth region of the Majapahit Empire.{{sfn|Saragih|2019|p=7}}

Wwanin was probably the oldest name in recorded history to refer to the western part of the island of New Guinea.{{cite book |title=From 'Stone Age' to 'Real Time' Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities, and Religiosities |editor=Martin Slama and Jenny Munro |publisher=Australian National University Press |location=Canberra |year=2015 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aL-UCgAAQBAJ&q=wwanin+onin+majapahit+papua&pg=PA110 |isbn=978-1-925022-43-8|df=dmy-all }} The pronunciation of the word gradually shifted over the centuries to Onin,^:69 according to Rumphius notes from the 17th century, Ternate people called the area Woni. Meanwhile, Sran refers to an ancient local kingdom of Sran Eman Muun, located in the southern part of Bomberai Peninsula called Koiwai (modern day Kaimana Regency), which was the predecessor of local Papuan kingdoms in the area.{{cite journal | last=Usmany | first=Desy Polla | title=SEJARAH RAT SRAN RAJA KOMISI KAIMANA (History of Rat Sran King of Kaimana) | journal=Jurnal Penelitian Arkeologi Papua Dan Papua Barat | volume=6 | issue=1 | date=2017-06-03 | issn=2580-9237 | doi=10.24832/papua.v6i1.45 | pages=85–92 | language=id | doi-access=free }}

A transcript from the Nagarakretagama says the following:

: Ikang sakasanusasanusa Makasar Butun Banggawai Kuni Ggaliyao mwang i [ng] Salaya Sumba Solot Muar muwah tigang i Wandan Ambwan Athawa maloko Ewanin ri Sran ini Timur ning angeka nusatutur.{{Cite book |last=Mashad |first=Dhurorudin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUYQEAAAQBAJ&q=Ikang+sakasanusasanusa+Makasar+Butun+Banggawai+Kuni+Ggaliyao+mwang+i+%5Bng%5D+Salaya+Sumba+Solot+Muar+muwah+tigang+i+Wandan+Ambwan+Athawa+maloko+Ewanin+ri+Sran+ini+Timur+ning+angeka+nusatutur.&pg=PA12 |title=Muslim Papua: Membangung Harmoni Berdasar Sejarah Agama di Bumi Cendrawasih |publisher=Pustaka Al-Kautsar |language=id}}

According to some linguists, the word Ewanin is another name for Onin as recorded in old communal poems or songs from Wersar, while Sran popularly misunderstood to refers to Seram Island in Maluku, is more likely another name for a local Papuan kingdom which in its native language is called Sran Eman Muun, based in Kaimana and its furthest influence extends to the Kei Islands, in southeastern Maluku.

Various tribes near the area, and local kingdoms from Rumbati to Patipi Bay, claimed descent of ancient Javanese migrants or past interactions with Java.{{cite book|title=From 'Stone Age' to 'Real Time' Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities, and Religiosities | editor= Martin Slama and Jenny Munro|publisher=Australian National University Press | location=Canberra| year=2015 | pages=109–111 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aL-UCgAAQBAJ&q=wwanin+onin+onim&pg=PA110 |isbn=9781925022438}}{{Cite book|last=Usmany|first=Dessy Polla|date=2014|url=https://opac.perpusnas.go.id/DetailOpac.aspx?id=1001584|title=Kerajaan Fatagar dalam Sejarah Kerajaan-Kerajaan di Fakfak Papua Barat|location=Yogyakarta|publisher=Kepel Press|isbn=978-602-1228-79-1|pages=39–73}} For example, the Kondjol/Onim clan of Tehit people claimed to have ancient heirloom (traditionally called Qya-Trifan to explain their origin and usually kept secret){{cite journal | last=Flassy | first=Marlina | title=Membangun Jati Diri Suku Tehit Kabupaten Sorong Selatan Papua Barat | journal=CENDERAWASIH: Jurnal Antropologi Papua | publisher=Universitas Cenderawasih | volume=1 | issue=1 | date=2020-06-09 | issn=2774-552X | doi=10.31957/jap.v1i1.1377 | pages=1–7| doi-access=free }} consisting of a buddha statue and kris and claimed their ancestor Onain fled Java to New Guinea through Maluku with the ancestor of Anggiluli fleeing religious persecution. Meanwhile, Rumbati Kingdom of the Bauw clan was claimed to have been founded by a Javanese sailor called Bau from Gresik who married an Anggiluli woman and a Koiwai woman. His son Nawa-Nawa Bauw later became king of Rumbati, while his other son, Mnau founded the Ati-ati Kingdom.{{cite web | title=SEJARAH SINGKAT KERAJAAN RUMBATI DI TANAH PAPUA | website=Manfasramdi | date=2022-08-22 | url=https://www.pustakapapua.com/2022/08/sejarah-singkat-kerajaan-rumbati-di.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310145259/https://www.pustakapapua.com/2022/08/sejarah-singkat-kerajaan-rumbati-di.html | access-date=2024-03-10| archive-date=10 March 2024 }} Both of these kingdom with Fatagar Kingdom, whose ancestors were either descended from kings of Ugar Island or Baik Mountains (like ancestors of Sran kings) formed the three primary kingdoms of the Onin area.{{cite book |last=Mansoben |first=Johszua Robert |date=1995 |title=Sistem Politik Tradisional Di Irian Jaya |url= |location=Jakarta |publisher=LIPI - RUL 1995 |page=69|isbn=979-8258-06-1}}^:242

From at least the 15th century (or even earlier), Southeast Asian Muslim merchants and Papuans interacted for trade. From Sultanates located in the Moluccas, Muslim merchants developed exclusive trading ties with the natives of West Papua by the 17th century. Around the 16th century, knowledge of ironworking reached the region, introduced by Muslims from Maluku.{{Cite book |last1=Kamma |first1=Freerk Ch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pj4VAAAAIAAJ&q=romawa+forja |title=Romawa Forja, Child of the Fire: Iron Working and the Role of Iron in West New Guinea (West Irian) |last2=Kooijman |first2=Simon |date=1973 |publisher=Brill Publishers |pages=27–28 |language=en}}

In 1511, Antonio d'Arbau, a Portuguese sailor, called the Papua region as "Os Papuas" or llha de Papo. Don Jorge de Menetes, a sailor from Spain also stopped by in Papua a few years later (1526–1527), he refers to the region as 'Papua', which was mentioned in the diary of Antonio Pigafetta, the clerk for the Magellan voyage. The name Papua was known to Pigafetta when he stopped on the island of Tidore.{{Cite book |last=Kratoska |first=Paul H. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45532513 |title=South East Asia, Colonial History: Imperialism before 1800 |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-21540-4 |pages=56 |language=en |oclc=45532513}}

On 16 May 1545, Yñigo Ortiz de Retez, a Spanish maritime explorer in command of the San Juan de Letran, left port in Tidore, a Spanish stronghold in the Maluku Islands and going by way of the Talaud Islands and the Schoutens, reached the northern coast of New Guinea, which was coasted till the end of August when, owing to the 5°S latitude, contrary winds and currents, forcing a return to Tidore arriving on 5 October 1545. Many islands were encountered and first charted, along the northern coast of New Guinea, and in the Padaidos, Le Maires, Ninigos, Kaniets and Hermits, to some of which Spanish names were given.{{cite book |last1=Coello |first1=Francisco |title=La Cuestión de las Carolinas. Discursos pronunciados en la Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid por su presidente Don Francisco Coello con un mapa, notas y apuntes bibliográficos sobre los antiguos descubrimientos de los españoles en los archipielagos de la Micronesia y sus cercanias |date=1885 |publisher=Imprenta Fontanet |location=Madrid |pages=119–122}}{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Andrew |url=https://archive.org/details/discoveryofpacif0000shar |title=The discovery of the Pacific Islands |date=1960 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/discoveryofpacif0000shar/page/30 30–32]|url-access=registration}}{{cite book |last1=Brand |first1=Donald D. |title=The Pacific Basin |date=1967 |publisher=American Geographical Society|editor1-last=Friis|editor1-first=Herman R. |location=Burlington |page=123}} On 20 June 1545 at the mouth of the Mamberamo River (charted as San Agustin) he took possession of the land for the Spanish Crown, in the process giving the island the name by which it is known today. He called it Nueva Guinea owing to the resemblance of the local inhabitants to the peoples of the Guinea coast in West Africa.{{cite book |last=Quanchi |first=Max |title=Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |year=2005 |isbn=0810853957 |page=215}}

In his book Nieuw Guinea, Dutch author WC. Klein explained the beginning of the influence of the Bacan Sultanate in Papua. There he wrote: In 1569 Papoese hoof den bezoeken Batjan. Ee aanterijken worden vermeld (In 1569, Papuan tribal leaders visited Bacan, which resulted in the creation of new kingdoms).{{Cite web |title=W.C.Klein – Nieuw Guinea – 3 volumes – 1953 |url=https://www.catawiki.com/l/13384959-w-c-klein-nieuw-guinea-3-volumes-1953|access-date=25 February 2021 |website=Catawiki |language=en}} According to the oral history of the Biak people, there used to be a relationship and marriage between their tribal chiefs and the sultans of Tidore in connection with Gurabesi, a naval leader of Waigeo from Biak. The Biak people is the largest Melanesian tribe, spread on the northern coast of Papua, making the Biak language widely used and considered the language of Papuan unity. Due to the relationship of the coastal areas of Papua with the Sultans of Maluku, there are several local kingdoms on this island, which shows the entry of feudalism.

Near the end of the sixteenth century, the Sultanate of Ternate under Sultan Baabullah (1570–1583) had influence over parts of Papua.{{cite book

|last =Witton |first =Patrick |title =Indonesia |publisher =Lonely Planet |year =2003 |location =Melbourne |isbn = 978-1-74059-154-6 |page =821 |edition =7th }} Since the 16th century, apart from the Raja Ampat Islands which was contested between the Bacan Sultanate, Tidore Sultanate, and Ternate Sultanate, other coastal areas of Papua from the island of Biak to Mimika became vassals of the Tidore Sultanate.{{cite book |last=Saragih |first=Maylina |title=Heroisme PGT Dalam Operasi Serigala |publisher=Subdisjarah Dispenau |year=2019 |isbn=}} The Tidore Sultanate adheres to the trade pact and custom of Uli-Siwa (federation of nine), there were nine trade partners led by Tidore in opposition to the Ternate-led Uli Lima (federation of five). In administering its regions in Papua, Tidore divide them to three regions, Korano Ngaruha ( {{lit}} Four Kings ) or Raja Ampat Islands, Papoua Gam Sio ( {{lit}} Papua The Nine Negeri ) and Mafor Soa Raha ( {{lit}} Mafor The Four Soa ). The role of these kingdoms began to decline due to the entry of traders from Europe to the archipelago marking the beginning of colonialism in the Indonesian Archipelago. During Tidore's rule, the main exports of the island during this period were resins, spices, slaves and the highly priced feathers of the bird-of-paradise.{{Cite book |last=Crocombe |first=Ronald Gordon |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/213886360 |title=Asia in the Pacific Islands : replacing the West |date=2007 |publisher=IPS Publications, University of the South Pacific |isbn=978-982-02-0388-4 |location=Suva, Fiji |pages=281 |oclc=213886360 |author-link=Ron Crocombe}} Sultan Nuku, one of the most famous Tidore sultans who rebelled against Dutch colonization, called himself "Sultan of Tidore and Papua",{{Cite book |last=Widjojo |first=Muridan Satrio |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/568601811 |title=The revolt of Prince Nuku : cross-cultural alliance-making in Maluku, c.1780-1810 |date=2009 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-474-2533-5 |location=Leiden |oclc=568601811}} during his revolt in the 1780s. He commanded loyalty from both Moluccan and Papuan chiefs, especially those of Raja Ampat Islands. Following Tidore's defeat, much of the territory it claimed in western part of New Guinea came under Dutch rule as part of the Dutch East Indies.

{{See also|Dutch New Guinea|West New Guinea dispute}}

File:Fort du Bus in 1828.jpg in 1828]]

File:NetherlandsNewGuinea-1916.jpg

The first map showing the whole island as an island was published in 1600 and shown 1606, Luís Vaz de Torres explored the southern coast of New Guinea from Milne Bay to the Gulf of Papua including Orangerie Bay, which he named Bahía de San Lorenzo. His expedition also discovered Basilaki Island, naming it Tierra de San Buenaventura, which he claimed for Spain in July 1606.{{Cite book |last=Collingridge |first=George |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27572018 |title=The discovery of Australia : a critical, documentary and historic investigation concerning the priority of discovery in Australasia by Europeans before the arrival of Lieut. James Cook, in the "Endeavour", in the year 1770 |date=1983 |publisher=Golden Press |isbn=0-85558-956-6 |location=Gladesville, N.S.W. |pages=229–237 |oclc=27572018}} On 18 October, his expedition reached the western part of the island in present-day Indonesia, and also claimed the territory for the King of Spain.

In 1606, a Duyfken expedition led by the commander Wiliam Jansen from Holland landed in Papua. This expedition consisted of 3 ships, where they sailed from the north coast of Java and stopped at the Kei Islands, at the southwestern coast of Papua. With the increasing Dutch grip in the region, the Spanish left New Guinea in 1663.Leonard Andaya (1993), p. 155-6. In 1660, the Dutch recognized the Sultan of Tidore's sovereignty over New Guinea. New Guinea thus became notionally Dutch as the Dutch held power over Tidore.Leonard Andaya (1993), p. 171.

In 1793, Britain established a settlement near Manokwari. However, it failed. By 1824 Britain and the Netherlands agreed that the western half of the island would become part of the Dutch East Indies. Dutch New Guinea in the early 19th century was administered from the Moluccas. Although the coast had been mapped in 1825 by Lieutenant Commander D.H. Kolff, there had been no serious effort to establish a permanent presence in Dutch New Guinea. The British, however, had shown considerable interest in the area, and were threatening to settle it. To prevent this, the Governor of the Moluccas, Pieter Merkus, urged the Dutch government to establish posts along the coast.{{sfn|Singh|2017|p=10}} An administrative and trading post established in 1828 on Triton Bay on the southwest coast of New Guinea. On 24 August 1828, the birthday of King William I of the Netherlands, the Dutch flag was hoisted and the Dutch claimed all of Western New Guinea, which they called Nieuw Guinea{{sfn|Mees|1994|p=11}}{{sfn|Singh|2017|p=10}} Several native chieftains proclaimed their loyalty to the Netherlands. The post was named Fort Du Bus for the then-Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, Leonard du Bus de Gisignies.{{sfn|Murray|1886|pp=274–276}}{{sfn|Mees|1994|p=50, footnote 12}} 30 years later, Germans established the first missionary settlement on Mansinam Island, near Manokwari. While in 1828 the Dutch claimed the south coast west of the 141st meridian and the north coast west of Humboldt Bay in 1848, they did not try to develop the region again until 1896; they established settlements in Manokwari and Fak-Fak in response to perceived Australian ownership claims from the eastern half of New Guinea. Great Britain and Germany had recognized the Dutch claims in treaties of 1885 and 1895. At the same time, Britain claimed south-east New Guinea, later as the Territory of Papua, and Germany claimed the northeast, later known as the Territory of New Guinea. The German, Dutch and British colonial administrators each attempted to suppress the still-widespread practices of inter-village warfare and headhunting within their respective territories.White, Osmar. Parliament of a Thousand Tribes, Heinemann, London, 1965 In 1901, the Netherlands formally purchased West New Guinea from the Sultanate of Tidore, incorporating it into the Netherlands East Indies.Ron Crocombe, Asia in the Pacific Islands, p. 281Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, p.176

File:NetherlandsNewGuinea-1916.jpg

File:USA-P-Approach-p63.jpg during Operation Reckless, 1944]]

Dutch activity in the region remained in the first half of the twentieth century, notwithstanding the 1923 establishment of the Nieuw Guinea Beweging (New Guinea Movement) in the Netherlands by ultra right-wing supporters calling for Dutchmen to create a tropical Netherlands in Papua. This pre-war movement without full government support was largely unsuccessful in its drive, but did coincide with the development of a plan for Eurasian settlement of the Dutch Indies to establish Dutch farms in northern West New Guinea. This effort also failed as most returned to Java disillusioned, and by 1938 just 50 settlers remained near Hollandia and 258 in Manokwari. Overall, during their reign, the Dutch mostly regarded West New Guinea as a "wasteland, fit only for political exiles and unwanted officials".{{Cite book |last=Sharp |first=Nonie |title=The rule of the sword: the story of West Irian |date=1977 |publisher=Kibble Books in association with Arena |isbn=978-0-908150-00-7 |location=Malmsbury, Vic |ref=Sharp}}{{Rp|page=13}} The Dutch established the Boven Digul camp in Tanahmerah, as a prison for Indonesian nationalists.{{Cite journal |last=Cribb |first=Robert |date=2017 |title=Convict Exile and Penal Settlement in Colonial Indonesia |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/678798 |journal=Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History |volume=18 |issue=3 |doi=10.1353/cch.2017.0043 |s2cid=159797424 |issn=1532-5768|url-access=subscription }} Among those interned here were writer Marco Kartodikromo,Adrian Vickers, p.80. Mohammad Hatta, who would become the first vice president of Indonesia, and Sutan Sjahrir, the first Indonesian Prime Minister.John D. Legge, p.136. The Dutch authorities never had effective control over the whole territory. By 1937, they only administered one third of the estimated population, and were mostly limited to coastal areas.{{Rp|page=13}}

Before about 1930, European maps showed the highlands as uninhabited forests. When first flown over by aircraft, numerous settlements with agricultural terraces and stockades were observed. The most startling discovery took place on 4 August 1938, when Richard Archbold discovered the Grand Valley of the Baliem River, which had 50,000 yet-undiscovered Stone Age farmers living in villages. The people, known as the Dani, were the last society of its size to make first contact with the rest of the world.Diamond, Jared. The Third Chimpanzee. Harper Collins, 1993

The region became important in World War II with the Pacific War upon the Netherlands' declaration of war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In 1942, the northern coast of West New Guinea and the nearby islands were occupied by Japan. By late 1942, most of the Netherlands Indies were occupied by Japan.{{cite web |last=Klemen |first=L |date=1999–2000 |title=The Fall of Dutch New Guinea, April 1942 |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/new_guinea.html |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Behind Japanese lines in New Guinea, Dutch guerrilla fighters resisted under Mauritz Christiaan Kokkelink.{{cite web |last=Womack |first=Tom |year=1999 |title=The capture of Manokwari, April 1942 |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/manokwari.html |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942}}

In 1944, forces led by American general Douglas MacArthur launched a four-phase campaign from neighbouring Papua New Guinea to liberate Dutch New Guinea from the Japanese. Phase 1 was the capture of Hollandia (now Jayapura). Involving 80,000 Allied troops, it was the largest amphibious operation of the war in the southwest Pacific. Phase 2 was the capture of Sarmi and was met with strong Japanese resistance. The capture of Biak to control the airfield and nearby Numfor was Phase 3. Hard battles were fought on Biak which was exacerbated by Allied intelligence underestimating the strength of Japanese forces. The fourth and final phase was the push to Japanese airbases on Morotai and towards the Philippines. The Allies also fought for control of Merauke as they feared it could be used as a base for Japanese air attacks against Australia.

With local approval, the United States constructed a headquarters for Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Hollandia (now Jayapura) and over twenty US bases and hospitals intended as a staging point for operations in the Philippines. West New Guinean farms supplied food for the half million US troops. Papuan men went into battle to carry the wounded, acted as guides and translators, and provided a great deal of labour, from construction and carpentry to machine shop workers and mechanics.

Allied forces drove out the Japanese after Operations Reckless and Persecution, with amphibious landings near Hollandia (Jayapura), from 21 April 1944. The area served as General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters until the conquest of the Philippines in March 1945. Over twenty U.S. bases were established and half a million US personnel moved through the area.{{cite web |title=Jayapura |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/301932/Jayapura|access-date=27 May 2010 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online}} West New Guinean farms supplied food for the half million US troops. Papuan men went into battle to carry the wounded, acted as guides and translators, and provided a range of services, from construction work and carpentry to serving as machine shop workers and mechanics. Following the end of the war, the Dutch retained possession of West New Guinea from 1945.

{{Main|West New Guinea dispute}}

In 1944, Jan van Eechoud set up a school for bureaucrats in Hollandia (now Jayapura). One early headmaster of the school was Soegoro Atmoprasojo, an Indonesian nationalist graduate of Taman Siswa and former Boven-Digoel prisoners, in one of these meetings the name "Irian" was suggested. Many of these school early graduates would go on to found Indonesian independence movement in Western New Guinea, while some went on to support Dutch authorities and pursue Papuan independence.{{cite web | title=Partai-partai Di Irian Barat; Tarung Nasionalisme Belanda-Indonesia | website=Tanah Papua No.1 News Portal | date=2021-04-29 | url=https://jubi.co.id/partai-partai-di-irian-barat-tarung-nasionalisme-belanda-indonesia-papua/ | access-date=2021-11-01}} In December 1945, Atmoprasojo alongside his students were planning for a rebellion, however Dutch authorities would be alerted by a defecting member of Papuan Battalion on 14 December 1945, utilising forces from Rabaul, Dutch authorities would also capture 250 people possibly involved in this attack.{{sfn|Lumintang et al.|1997|pp=32}}{{sfn|Lumintang et al.|1997|pp=38}}{{sfn|Lumintang et al.|1997|pp=74|loc=error on this page, the event happened on 25 December 1945 as attested earlier}} The news of Indonesian independence proclamation arrived in New Guinea primarily through shipping laborers associated with Sea Transport Union of Indonesia (Sarpelindo), who were working for ships under the flag of Australian and the Dutch. This led to the formation of the Komite Indonesia Merdeka or KIM branch in Abepura, Hollandia in October 1946, originally an organization for Indonesian exiles in Sydney. It was led by Dr. J.A. Gerungan, a woman doctor who led an Abepura hospital, by December 1946, it came to be led by Martin Indey. KIM was one of the first Indonesian nationalist groups in New Guinea, whose members were mostly former associates of Soegoro. Simultaneously another separate Indonesian nationalist movement in New Guinea formed when Dr. Sam Ratulangi, was exiled at Serui, along with his six staff by the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration on 5 July 1946. In exile he met with Silas Papare who was also exiled from a failed Pagoncang Alam led rebellion to free Atmoprasojo, on 29 November 1946, an organization called Indonesian Irian Independence Party (PKII) was formed.{{cite journal | last=Lumintang | first=Onie M. | title=THE RESISTANCE OF PEOPLE IN PAPUA (1945-1962) | journal=Historia: Jurnal Pendidik Dan Peneliti Sejarah | volume=10 | issue=2 | date=2018-07-27 | issn=2615-7993 | doi=10.17509/historia.v10i2.12221 | pages=47–60 | doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 | url=https://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/historia/article/view/12221 | access-date=2021-11-01}} A year later, on 17 August 1947, former students of Soegoro and others would held a red and white flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the Indonesian independence day.

KIM and PKII members began to start movements in other areas of New Guinea, most of these were unsuccessful, and the perpetrators were either imprisoned or killed. In Manokwari, a movement called Red and White Movement (GMP) was founded, which was led by Petrus Walebong and Samuel D. Kawab. This movement later spread to Babo, Kokas, Fakfak, and Sorong.{{cite book | author=Irian Jaya (Indonesia) | title=Irian Jaya, the Land of Challenges and Promises | publisher=Alpha Zenith | year=1987 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=judyAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2021-11-01 | page=9}} In Biak, a local branch of KIM was joined with Perserikatan Indonesia Merdeka (PIM) which was formed earlier in September 1945 under the leadership of {{ill|Lukas Rumkorem|id}}. Lukas would be captured and exiled to Hollandia, with the charge he instigated violence among local population accused of trying to kill Frans Kaisiepo and Marcus Kaisiepo. Still the movement did not disappear in Biak, Stevanus Yoseph together with Petero Jandi, Terianus Simbiak, Honokh Rambrar, Petrus Kaiwai and Hermanus Rumere on 19 March 1948, instigate another revolt. Dutch authorities had to send reinforcements from Jayapura. The Dutch imposed a harder penalty, with capital punishment for Petro Jandi, and a life sentence to Stevanus Yoseph.{{cite journal | last1=Materay | first1=Bernarda | last2=Wabisay | first2= Yan Dirk| title=PERTUMBUHAN NASIONALISME INDONESIA DI KALANGAN ORANG PAPUA 1963--1969 GROWTH OF INDONESIA NATIONALISM AMONG THE PAPUANS 1963--1969 | journal=Masyarakat Indonesia | volume=45 | issue=1 | date=2020-07-01 | issn=2502-5694 | doi=10.14203/jmi.v45i1.883 | pages=1–18 | doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 | url=http://jmi.ipsk.lipi.go.id/index.php/jmiipsk/article/view/883 | access-date=2022-06-25}} Meanwhile, another organization was formed on the 17 August 1947, called the Association of Young Men of Indonesia (PPI) under the leadership of Abraham Koromath.

Around the Bomberai Peninsula area of Fakfak, specifically in Kokas, an Indonesian nationalist movement was led by Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan. On 1 March 1946, he ordered that all the Dutch's flags in Kokas to be changed into Indonesian flags. He was later imprisoned in Doom Island, Sorong, where he managed to recruit some followers as well as the support from local Sangaji Malan {{cite book | last=Dajoh | first=Marius Ramis | title=Patriot Irian Damai | year=1957 | publisher=Grafica Jakarta | url=https://lib.ui.ac.id/file?file=digital/20381101-Patriot%20irian%20damai,%201956.pdf | language=id | access-date=2022-04-16}} Dutch authorities later aided by incoming troops from Sorong arrested the King Rumagesan and he was given capital punishment. Meanwhile, in Kaimana, King Muhammad Achmad Aituarauw founded an organization called Independence With Kaimana, West Irian (MBKIB), which similarly boycotted Dutch flags every 31 August. In response of this activity, Aituarauw was arrested by the Dutch and exiled to Ayamaru for 10 years in 1948. Other movements opposing the Dutch under local Papuan kings includes, New Guinea Islamic Union (KING) led by Ibrahim Bauw, King of Rumbati, Gerakan Pemuda Organisasi Muda led by Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan and Abbas Iha, and Persatuan Islam Kaimana (PIK) of Kaimana led by Usman Saad and King of Namatota, Umbair.{{cite journal | last=Paisal | first=Paisal | title=Noerhasjim Gandhi dan Peran Tokoh Agama dalam Perjuangan Integrasi Papua | journal=PUSAKA | volume=6 | issue=1 | date=2018-05-01 | issn=2655-2833 | doi=10.31969/pusaka.v6i1.41 | pages=93–104 | url=https://blamakassar.e-journal.id/pusaka/article/view/41 | language=id | access-date=2021-11-01| doi-access=free }}

File:GonsalvesPapuas1958.jpg, 1958]]

Following the Indonesian National Revolution, the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia, on 27 December 1949. However, the Dutch refused to include Netherlands New Guinea in the new Indonesian Republic and took steps to prepare it for independence as a separate country. Following the failure of the Dutch and Indonesians to resolve their differences over West New Guinea during the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference in late 1949, it was decided that the present status quo of the territory would be maintained and then negotiated bilaterally one year after the date of the transfer of sovereignty.Audrey and George Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, p.34 However, both sides were still unable to resolve their differences in 1950, which led the Indonesian President Sukarno to accuse the Dutch of reneging on their promises to negotiate the handover of the territory. On 17 August 1950, Sukarno dissolved the United States of Indonesia and proclaimed the unitary Republic of Indonesia.Bob Catley and Vinsensio Dugis, The Kangaroo and the Garuda, p.20 Indonesia also began to initiate incursions to New Guinea in 1952,John Legge, Sukarno: A Political Biography, pp.277–78. though most of these efforts would be unsuccessful.Ken Conboy, 'Kopassus: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces', p. 62. Most of these failed infiltrators would be sent to Boven-Digoel which would form clandestine intelligence groups working from the primarily southern part of New Guinea in preparation for war.{{Cite web|last1=Patiara|first1=John|last2=Renwarin|first2=Herman|last3=Soedharto|first3=Bondan|last4=Palangan|first4=M.|date=1983|title=Sejarah Perlawanan Terhadap Imperialis dan Kolonialisme di Daerah Irian Jaya|url=http://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/14100/1/Sejarah%20perlawanan%20terhadap%20imperialisme%20dan%20kolonialisme%20di%20daerah%20irian%20jaya.PDF|website=Kemdikbud|pages=65–67| access-date=2021-11-03}}

In December 1950{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/5/ares5.htm|title=United Nations General Assembly Resolution 448(V)}} the United Nations requested the Special Committee on Decolonization to accept transmission of information regarding the territory in accord with Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations. After repeated Indonesian claims to possession of Dutch New Guinea, the Netherlands invited Indonesia to present its claim before an International Court of Law. Indonesia declined the offer. In attempt to prevent Indonesia taking control of the region, the Dutch significantly raised development spending off its low base,McDonald (1980), p. 65 and encouraged Papuan nationalism. The Dutch began building schools and colleges to train professional skills with the aim of preparing them for self-rule by 1970. A naval academy was opened in 1956, and Papuan troops and naval cadets began service by 1957. A small western elite developed with a growing political awareness attuned to the idea of independence and close links to neighbouring eastern New Guinea (which was then administered by Australia.)McDonald (1980), p. 64. Local Council elections were held and Papuan representatives elected from 1955. Throughout the 1950s, government expenditures more than tripled, and Papuan enrolments in schools increased by over 50%. However, the Dutch did little to improve the areas which were not under their control, which by 1954, contained to half the overall population.{{Rp|page=13}}

Following the defeat of the third Afro-Asian resolution in November 1957, the Indonesian government embarked on a national campaign targeting Dutch interests in Indonesia; A total of 700 Dutch-owned companies with a valuation total of around $1.5 billion was nationalised.{{cite book | title=25 tahun Trikora | via=Google Play Books | year=1988 | publisher=Yayasan Badan Kontak Keluarga Besar Perintis Irian Barat | url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=650vAAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PR2&hl=en | language=rw | access-date=2021-11-01}} By January 1958, ten thousand Dutch nationals had left Indonesia, many returning to the Netherlands. By June 1960, around thirteen thousand Dutch nationals mostly Eurasians from New Guinea left for Australia, with around a thousand moving to the Netherlands. Following a sustained period of harassment against Dutch diplomatic representatives in Jakarta, the Indonesian government formally severed relations with the Netherlands in August 1960.John D. Legge, Sukarno: A Political Biography, pp.402–03

File:NL-HaNA 2.24.05.02 0 143-0435 1.jpg, 1959]]

In response to Indonesian aggression, the Netherlands government stepped up its efforts to prepare the Papuan people for self-determination in 1959. These efforts culminated in the establishment of a hospital in Hollandia (modern–day Jayapura, currently Jayapura Regional General Hospital or RSUD Jayapura), a shipyard in Manokwari, agricultural research sites, plantations, and a military force known as the Papuan Volunteer Corps. By 1960, a legislative New Guinea Council had been established with a mixture of legislative, advisory and policy functions. Half of its members were to be elected, and elections for this council were held the following year.Wies Platje, "Dutch SIGINT and the Conflict with Indonesia, p.298Michael Green, "Uneasy Partners", p.160 Most importantly, the Dutch also sought to create a sense of West Papuan national identity, and these efforts led to the creation of a national flag (the Morning Star flag), a national anthem, and a coat of arms. The Dutch had planned to transfer independence to West New Guinea in 1970.Ron Crocombe, Asia in the Pacific Islands 286

After news that the Hague was considering a United States plan to turn over the territory to United Nations administration, Papuan Councillors met for six hours in the New Guinea Council building on 19 October 1961 to elect a National Committee which drafted a Manifesto for Independence & Self-government, a National flag (Morning Star), State Seal, selected a national anthem ("Oh My Land Papua"), and called for the people to be known as Papuans. The New Guinea Council voted unanimous support of these proposals on 30 October 1961, and on 31 October 1961 presented the Morning Star flag and Manifesto to Governor Platteel, who recognized the flag and anthem on 18 November 1961, and these ordinances came into effect on 1 December 1961.

File:MS Rumagesan, Silas Papare, NL Suwages, Sugoro, dan AH Nasution berbincang-bincang, Konferensi Cibogo.jpg, Silas Papare, N.L.Suwages, {{ill|Soegoro Atmoprasodjo|id}}, and A.H. Nasution in Putra-putra Irian Barat ('Sons of Irian Barat') Conference in Cibogo Bogor, 14–15 April 1961]]

Following the raising of the Papuan National Flag on 1 December 1961, tensions further escalated. Multiple rebellions erupted inside New Guinea against Dutch authorities, such as in Enarotali,{{Cite web|last1=Patiara|first1=John|last2=Renwarin|first2=Herman|last3=Soedharto|first3=Bondan|last4=Palangan|first4=M.|date=1983|title=Sejarah Perlawanan Terhadap Imperialis dan Kolonialisme di Daerah Irian Jaya|url=http://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/14100/1/Sejarah%20perlawanan%20terhadap%20imperialisme%20dan%20kolonialisme%20di%20daerah%20irian%20jaya.PDF|website=Kemdikbud|pages=46–47| access-date=2021-11-03}} Agats,{{Cite web|last1=Patiara|first1=John|last2=Renwarin|first2=Herman|last3=Soedharto|first3=Bondan|last4=Palangan|first4=M.|date=1983|title=Sejarah Perlawanan Terhadap Imperialis dan Kolonialisme di Daerah Irian Jaya|url=http://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/14100/1/Sejarah%20perlawanan%20terhadap%20imperialisme%20dan%20kolonialisme%20di%20daerah%20irian%20jaya.PDF|website=Kemdikbud|page=49| access-date=2021-11-03}} Kokas, Merauke, Sorong and Baliem Valley. On 18 December 1961 Sukarno issued the Tri Komando Rakjat (People's Triple Command), calling the Indonesian people to defeat the formation of an independent state of West Papua, raise the Indonesian flag in the territory, and be ready for mobilisation at any time.Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung, Twenty years of Indonesian Foreign Policy 1945–1965, p. 303.[http://kepustakaan-presiden.pnri.go.id/uploaded_files/pdf/speech/normal/soekarno2.pdf Sukarno's "Trikora"-Speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011153750/http://kepustakaan-presiden.pnri.go.id/uploaded_files/pdf/speech/normal/soekarno2.pdf|date=11 October 2017}}. The commands are at the end of the speech. In 1962 Indonesia launched a significant campaign of airborne and seaborne infiltrations against the disputed territory, beginning with a seaborne infiltration launched by Indonesian forces on 15 January 1962. The Indonesian attack was defeated by Dutch forces including the Dutch destroyers Evertsen and Kortenaer, the so-called Vlakke Hoek incident.Penders, "The West New Guinea Debacle", p. 344 Amongst the casualties was the Indonesian Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff; Commodore Yos Sudarso.

{{See also|West New Guinea dispute|Operation Trikora|Papua conflict}}

File:Stamp of Indonesia - 1963 - Colnect 260561 - Construction of West Irian Monument.jpeg-era West Irian Liberation Monument in Lapangan Banteng, Jakarta.]]

File:Stamp West Irian 1963 12s.jpg 0.12 Indonesian stamp of 1963.]]

File:Serah terima jabatan Gubernur Irian Barat 1965.jpg, 1965]]

Sukarno made the takeover of Western New Guinea a focus of his continuing struggle against Dutch imperialism and part of a broader Third World conflict with the West. Both of Sukarno's key pillars of support, the Communist Party of Indonesia and Indonesian army supported his expansionism.Friend (2003), pp. 76-77 In December 1961, President Sukarno created a Supreme Operations Command for the "liberation of Irian". In January 1962, Suharto, recently promoted to major General, was appointed to lead Operation Mandala, a joint army-navy-air force command. This formed the military side of the Indonesian campaign to win the territory. Indonesian forces had previously infiltrated the territory using small boats from nearby islands. Operations Pasukan Gerilya 100 (November 1960) and Pasukan Gerilya 200 (September 1961), were followed around the time of Suharto's appointment by Pasukan Gerilya 300 with 115 troops leaving Jakarta on four Jaguar class torpedo boats (15 January). They were intercepted in the Aru Sea and the lead boat was sunk. 51 survivors were picked up after flotilla commander Commodore Yos Sudarso went down with his boat.Conboy, Ken. 2003. Kopassus. Equinox Publishing, Jakarta Indonesia. {{ISBN|979-95898-8-6}};{{Cite book

| last = McDonald

| first = Hamish

| title = Suharto's Indonesia

| publisher = Fontana Books

| year = 1980

| location = Blackburn, Victoria

| pages = 36 | isbn = 0-00-635721-0}} Parachute drops were made onto the swampy south coast away from the main concentration of Dutch forces. The commandos were thwarted by tall trees on which they were snared and by the swampy terrain, and much equipment was lost or damaged. Having been prepared for eventual independence by the Dutch, Papuan fighters attacked the paratroopers or handed them over to Dutch authorities. Of the 1,429 paratroopers, 216 were KIA or MIA, and 296 were captured.McDonald (1980), p. 36

Although Indonesian seaborne and paratroop incursions into the territory met with little success,{{cite news|last = McDonald|first = Hamish|author-link = Hamish McDonald|title = No End to Ambition|newspaper = Sydney Morning Herald|date = 28 January 2008|url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/no-end-to-ambition/2008/01/27/1201368944638.html|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103191949/http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/no-end-to-ambition/2008/01/27/1201368944638.html|archive-date = 3 November 2012|df = dmy-all}} the Dutch knew that a military campaign to retain the region would require protracted jungle warfare, and, unwilling to see a repeat of their futile efforts in the armed struggle for Indonesian independence in the 1940s, agreed to American mediation. Supporting the secret talks was the new American president, John F Kennedy, who said that compromise "will inevitably be unsatisfactory in some degree to both sides", and wrote to the then Dutch Prime Minister Jan de Quay, encouraging the Netherlands to relinquish control of Western New Guinea to Indonesia and warning of Indonesia's potential alliance with communist powers if Sukarno was not appeased. Kennedy took the advice of American ambassador to Indonesia, Howard Jones, and that of his own National Security Council, which was counter to the views of the Dutch and the CIA. Kennedy sent his brother Robert to Jakarta to solicit entry into negotiations without pre-conditions. Sukarno had hinted at releasing Allen Pope, who was sentenced to death for bombing Ambon four years previously, however, he now offered to release Pope in exchange for America's support against the Dutch.{{cite web |url=http://www.west-papua.nl/Publiciteit/Western_New_Guinea.pdf |title=Western New Guinea |access-date=2015-07-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210522/http://www.west-papua.nl/Publiciteit/Western_New_Guinea.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all |website=west-papua.nl }}{{Better source needed|reason=Appears to be WP:MIRROR|date=August 2020}}

In July 1962, Suharto's Mandala Command was preparing to resolve the military campaign with a major combined air and sea assault on the trade and communications centre of Biak Island, which was the location of a Dutch military base and the only jet airstrip.Friend (2003), p. 77 However, this risky operation did not eventuate as continuing US efforts to have the Netherlands secretly negotiate the transfer of the territory to Indonesian administration succeeded in creating the "New York Agreement", which was signed on 15 August 1962. The Australian government, which had previously supported Papuan independence, also reversed its policy to support incorporation with Indonesia.[http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/frus/summaries/950306_FRUS_XXIII_1961-63.html US Foreign Relations, 1961–63, Vol XXIII, Southeast Asia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813035326/http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/frus/summaries/950306_FRUS_XXIII_1961-63.html |date=13 August 2015 }}.{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=John F. |date=April 2, 1962 |title=John F. Kennedy letter to Prime Minister of the Netherlands dated April 2, 1962 |url=http://cwis.org/fwdp/Oceania/jfkpapua.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920094426/http://cwis.org/fwdp/Oceania/jfkpapua.txt |archive-date=2010-09-20 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Center for World Indigenous Studies}}

The vaguely worded agreement, ratified in the UN on 21 September 1962, required authority to be transferred to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on 1 October 1962, and that once UNTEA had informed the public of the terms of the Agreement, administration of the territory would transfer to Indonesia after 1 May 1963, until such time as Indonesia allowed the Papuans to determine whether they wanted independence or be part of Indonesia. The New York Agreement specified that all men and women in Papua that were not foreign nationals had the right to vote in the Act. On 1 May 1963, UNTEA transferred total administration of West New Guinea to the Republic of Indonesia. The capital Hollandia was renamed Kota Baru for the transfer to Indonesian administration and on 5 September 1963, West Irian was declared a "quarantine territory" with Foreign Minister Subandrio administering visitor permits.

The agreement stated that by 1969 the United Nations should oversee a referendum of the Papuan people, in which they would be given two options: to remain part of Indonesia or to become an independent nation. For a period of time, Dutch New Guinea were under the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority, before being transferred to Indonesia in 1963. A referendum was held in 1969, which was referred locally as Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat (Determination of the People's Opinion) or Act of Free Choice by independence activists.{{cite news |last1=Monbiot |first1=George |title=Slavemasters |url=https://www.monbiot.com/2018/11/23/slavemasters/ |access-date=24 November 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=23 November 2018 |format=Opinion}} The referendum was recognized by the international community and the region became the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.{{citation |author=Li-ann Thio |chapter=International law and secession in the Asia and Pacific regions |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUh8W1-TnNcC&pg=PA313 |page=313 |title=Secession: International Law Perspectives |editor=Marcelo G. Kohen |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=9780521849289}}

Under the terms of the New York Agreement, all Western New Guinean men and women were to be given a plebiscite; this was to be called the Act of Free Choice. However, when the act was due to take place under the new president Suharto, the Indonesian government used a musyawarah or traditional consensus to decide the region's status. The 1,026 elders were hand-picked by the Indonesian government out of an estimated population of 800,000 as the Western New Guinea representatives for the vote. The men were given gifts of clothing and cigarettes, any who protested were hauled away and beaten.{{Rp|page=22}} The General announced that the representatives had voted "unanimously" for integration.

{{Blockquote|text=I witnessed the event [the 'Act of Free Choice' in 1969] and saw the hypocrisy of world politics and felt the numbing sadness of a people being taken over by another race.

I lost count of the number of Papuans who, under cover of darkness, thrust letters under my arm or furtively into my hand. I lost count of the number of desperate, appealing letters left in my room or hidden in big shells given to me by Papuans so afraid that Indonesia might find out they had communicated with a journalist.

Some of the letters were soaked in blood, one carried 5000 names, and all spoke of living in fear of the Indonesian Army.|author=Hugh Lunn|title="Showing we're ready to appease"|source=The Australian, 13 October 1976}}

This has been characterised as an act of "legitimised forced incorporation" into the Republic of Indonesia.{{Rp|page=1}} However, in the democratic culture of the Papuan people themselves at the time, there was a system known as noken, within a community in the central highlands of Papua, in which the vote is represented by the tribal chief.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Soon after, as of United Nations Resolution 2504 (XXIV) the region became the 26th province of Indonesia.Friend (2003), p. 72 (expand reference) The 1969 Act of Free Choice is considered contentious, with even United Nations observers recognizing the elders were placed under duress and forced to vote yes.Singh, Bilveer Papua: Geopolitics and the Quest for Nationhood, Transaction Publishing, 2008 p. 86

While several international observers including journalists and diplomats criticized the referendum as being rigged, the U.S. and Australia support Indonesia's efforts to secure acceptance in the United Nations for the pro-integration vote. That same year, 84 member states voted in favor for the United Nations to accept the result, with 30 others abstaining.Ron Crocombe, 284 Due to the Netherlands' efforts to promote a West Papuan national identity, a significant number of Papuans refused to accept the territory's integration into Indonesia. These formed the separatist Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Movement) and have waged an insurgency against the Indonesian authorities, which continues to this day.Ron Crocombe, Asia in the Pacific Islands, pp. 286–91Bilveer Singh, West Irian and the Suharto Presidency. p.86

File:TPN 1 Juli 1971.jpg in the jungles of Papua, 1971]]

File:Trans-Papua Highway Deiyai-Mimika.jpg connecting Deiyai and Mimika in Central Papua]]

In 1980, the Trans Irian Jaya Highway, currently Trans-Papua Highway, began construction. The highway would link unconnected cities and regions across the region, which were previously only accessible by sea or, for inland areas, by air. However, some experts suggested prioritizing development of local indigenous people over infrastructure development{{cite web |last1=Firdausi |first1=Fadrik Aziz |year=2018 |title=Trans Irian Jaya, Proyek Orde Baru Untuk Menyambungkan Papua |url=https://tirto.id/trans-irian-jaya-proyek-orde-baru-untuk-menyambungkan-papua-da7q |website=Tirto.id |access-date=15 October 2020}} in order to be parallel with non-Papuan migrants, who were progressively inhabiting Western New Guinea's cities at the time.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

From the first days of integration to Indonesia, some of the people in the region refused to be part of Indonesia and have pushed for independence ever since. Opposition to Indonesian rule stems from Indonesian government policies applied to the province. The two main factors are "a forced campaign of Indonesianisation and a complete disregard for the material and social welfare of West Papuans".{{Rp|page=2}} There are regular mass protests throughout West Papua in support of independence but the Indonesian military and police often use lethal force to disperse them. The Free Papua Movement (OPM) was set up to provide a formal resistance towards Indonesian rule. Local and international protest followed the impact of human rights abuses and transmigration by other Indonesians into the region.{{cite book |last=Ricklefs |first=M. C. |title=A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300, Second Edition |publisher=MacMillan |year=1991 |page=309|isbn=978-0-8047-2194-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukurAAAAIAAJ}} Since the 1960s, consistent reports have filtered out of the territory of government suppression and terrorism, including murder, political assassination, imprisonment, torture, and aerial bombing.{{cite book |author1=Budiardjo, C. |author2=Liong L.S. |title=West Papua: The obliteration of a people, 3rd edn. |publisher=Tapol, Thornton Heath |year=1988 |isbn=0-9506751-5-6 |url=http://papuaerfgoed.org/files/budiardjo_1983_obliteration.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Indonesian government disbanded the New Guinea Council and forbade the use of the West Papua flag or the singing of the national anthem. There has been resistance to Indonesian integration, both through civil disobedience (such as Morning Star flag raising ceremonies) and via the formation of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM, or Free Papua Movement) in 1965. Estimates vary significantly on the total death toll of West Papuans by the Indonesian military.

Many West Papuans and international organisations describe the situation in West Papua as "genocide".{{cite report |url=http://freewestpapua.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AHRC_TheNeglected_Genocide-lowR.pdf |title=The Neglected Genocide: Human rights abuses against Papuans in the Central Highlands, 1977–1978|publisher=Asian Human Rights Commission – and – Human Rights and Peace for Papua|date=September 2013|isbn=978-962-8314-621|access-date=2015-07-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427053247/http://freewestpapua.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AHRC_TheNeglected_Genocide-lowR.pdf |archive-date=27 April 2015 |df=dmy-all }}

A Sydney University academic has estimated more than 100,000 Papuans, one sixteenth of the population, have died as a result of government-sponsored violence against West Papuans,{{Cite web |url=http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=651 |title=Report claims secret genocide in Indonesia – University of Sydney |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=15 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615064843/http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=651 |url-status=dead }} while others had previously specified much higher death tolls.{{Cite web|url=http://www.news.vu/en/news/RegionalNews/050728-West-Papua-Support.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013113134/http://news.vu/en/news/RegionalNews/050728-West-Papua-Support.shtml|url-status=dead|title=West Papua Support|archivedate=13 October 2007}}

An increasingly common figure being used is 500,000 people Rebellions occurred in remote mountainous areas in 1969, 1977, and the mid-1980s, occasionally spilling over into Papua New Guinea.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Indonesian government accelerated its transmigration program, under which tens of thousands of Javanese and Sumatran migrants were resettled to Papua. Prior to Indonesian rule, the non-indigenous population was estimated at 16,600; while the Papuan population were a mix of Roman Catholics, Protestants and animists following tribal religions.{{Cite web |url=http://www.papuaweb.org/dlib/nngg/1961-apx.PDF |title=Report on Netherlands New Guinea for the Year 1961, Appendix |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130024820/http://papuaweb.org/dlib/nngg/1961-apx.PDF |archive-date=30 November 2010 |url-status=dead }} The transmigration program officially ended in the late 1990s. An independence congress in 2000 calling for independence resulted in a military crackdown of independence supporters.{{citation needed|reason=confusion, Kongres Rakyat Papua held on May–June 2000 formed by PDP, was supported by Wahid administration. Tim 100 formed in the congress formulated the special autonomy law which was then adopted by the Megawati government.|date=September 2024}}

File:Flag of West Papua.svg is allowed in West Papua only if accompanied by, and not raised higher than, the flag of Indonesia.]]

File:Free West Papua Protest Melbourne August 2012.jpg

In 2011, Indonesia submitted an application for membership to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) for the two Papua provinces (as well as 3 other melanesian dominated provinces) and was granted observer status.{{cite news|title=West Papua: Melanesian Spearhead Group has a tough decision to make|author=Sally Andrews|date=3 April 2015|work=Lowly Interpreter|url=http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2015/04/03/west-papua-Melanesian-Spearhead-Group-tough-decision.aspx|access-date=3 October 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005203743/http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2015/04/03/west-papua-Melanesian-Spearhead-Group-tough-decision.aspx|archive-date=5 October 2016|df=dmy-all}} The West Papua National Council for Liberation independence movement made an unsuccessful application for membership to the MSG in 2013 after which the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) was established in December 2014 to unite the three main political independence movements under a single umbrella organisation. In June 2015, the ULMWP was granted MSG observer status as representative of West Papuans outside the country while Indonesia was upgraded to associate member.{{cite news|last1=Armbruster|first1=Stefan|title=Melanesia takes lead on future West Papuan peace|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/06/26/melanesia-takes-lead-future-west-papuan-peace|access-date=2 October 2017|work=SBS News|date=26 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002222419/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/06/26/melanesia-takes-lead-future-west-papuan-peace|archive-date=2 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|last1=Fox|first1=Liam|title=Indonesia admitted to Melanesian Spearhead Group, West Papuan group given observer status|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-25/indonesia-admitted-to-melanesian-intergovernmental-group/6573968|access-date=2 October 2017|work=ABC News Pacific Beat|date=25 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114215734/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-25/indonesia-admitted-to-melanesian-intergovernmental-group/6573968|archive-date=14 January 2017|df=dmy-all}}

In 2016, at the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, leaders of several Pacific Island countries called for UN action on alleged human rights abuses committed against Papua's indigenous Melanesians, with some leaders calling for self-determination for West Papua.{{cite news|title=Pacific leaders raise West Papua at the UN|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201817600/pacific-leaders-raise-west-papua-at-the-un|access-date=4 October 2017|work=Radio New Zealand |date=26 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005050750/http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201817600/pacific-leaders-raise-west-papua-at-the-un|archive-date=5 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|title=Indonesia accuses Pacific nations of 'misusing' the United Nations assembly after Papua criticisms|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-26/indonesia-pacific-islands-spar-at-un-over-human-rights-autonomy/7878292|access-date=4 October 2017|work=ABC News Pacific Beat|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=26 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014020054/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-26/indonesia-pacific-islands-spar-at-un-over-human-rights-autonomy/7878292|archive-date=14 October 2017|df=dmy-all}} Indonesia accused the countries of interfering with Indonesia's national sovereignty. In 2017, at the 72nd Session, the leaders called again for an investigation into killings and various alleged human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces.{{cite news|title=Fiery debate over West Papua at UN General Assembly|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201860156/fiery-debate-over-west-papua-at-un-general-assembly|access-date=1 October 2017|work=Radio New Zealand |date=27 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001165326/http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201860156/fiery-debate-over-west-papua-at-un-general-assembly|archive-date=1 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}

Following his election in 2014, Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, embarked on reforms intended to alleviate grievances of Native Papuans, such as stopping the transmigration program{{Cite news |last=Asril |first=Sabrina |date=4 June 2015 |title=Jokowi Hentikan Transmigrasi ke Papua |work=Kompas |url=https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/06/04/18471741/Jokowi.Hentikan.Transmigrasi.ke.Papua|access-date=5 December 2018}} and starting massive infrastructure spending in Papua, including building Trans-Papua roads network.{{Cite news |last=Diela |first=Tabita |date=11 May 2015 |title=Jokowi Vows to Finish 4,000-km Trans-Papua Highway |work=Jakarta Globe |url=https://jakartaglobe.id/economy/jokowi-vows-to-finish-4000-km-trans-papua-highway/}} The Joko Widodo administration has prioritized infrastructure and human resource development as a great framework for solving the conflict in Papua.{{Cite web |last=Karim Raslan |date=2018-01-03 |title=The ties that bind Papua and Indonesia |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2126715/ties-bind-papua-and-indonesia |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Mukaromah |first=Vina Fadhrotul |editor-last=Wedhaswary |editor-first=Inggried Dwi |publisher=Kompas Cyber Media |title=Jokowi dan 3 Janjinya Saat Berkunjung ke Pegunungan Arfak, Papua Barat... |url=https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2019/10/28/085011465/jokowi-dan-3-janjinya-saat-berkunjung-ke-pegunungan-arfak-papua-barat|access-date=26 February 2021 |website=Kompas.com |date=28 October 2019 |language=id}} The administration has implemented a one-price fuel policy in Papua, with Jokowi assessing that it is a form of "justice" for all Papuans.{{Cite web |last=Hastuti |first=Rahajeng Kusumo |title=Rp 60.000 Jadi Rp 6.450, BBM 1 Harga Kado Jokowi Buat Papua |url=https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20190916195249-4-99858/rp-60000-jadi-rp-6450-bbm-1-harga-kado-jokowi-buat-papua |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=CNBC Indonesia |language=id-ID}} The administration has also provided free primary and secondary education.

Security forces have been accused of abuses in the region including extrajudicial killings, torture,{{Cite news |last=Pearson |first=Elaine |date=2016-11-04 |title=Australia should go to Papua and see the human rights situation for itself |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/05/australia-should-go-to-papua-and-see-the-human-rights-situation-for-itself |access-date=2023-03-23 |issn=0261-3077}} arrests of activists, and displacements of entire villages.{{Cite web |last=Yewen |first=Natalia Laurensia Carmelia |date=2021-07-04 |title=For Indonesia's restive Papua region, will Biden bring change? |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3139577/indonesias-restive-papua-region-will-bidens-human-rights-focus |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} On the other hand, separatists have been accused and claimed much of the same violence, such as extrajudicial killings of both Papuan and non-Papuan civilians,{{cite web |last=Lantipo |first=Yuliana |date=2022-03-03 |title=Papuan Rebels Kill 8 Phone Company Workers in Puncak Regency |url=https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/rebel-attack-03032022141124.html |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=Benar News}} torture,{{cite web |last=Hariyanto |first=Puguh |date=2021-09-18 |title=Beredar Video Kesaksian Nakes Tentang Kekejaman KKB, 3 Suster Dilucuti Pakaian Dalamnya, Disiksa dan Dilempar ke Jurang |url=https://daerah.sindonews.com/read/544092/174/beredar-video-kesaksian-nakes-tentang-kekejaman-kkb-3-suster-dilucuti-pakaian-dalamnya-disiksa-dan-dilempar-ke-jurang-1631930943 |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=SINDOnews.com |language=id}} rapes,{{cite web | last=Sohuturon | first=Martahan | title=OPM Diduga Perkosa Guru, Pemkab Mimika Kirim Heli Evakuasi | website=nasional | location=Jakarta | publisher=CNN Indonesia | date=2018-04-17 | url=https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20180417144043-20-291421/opm-diduga-perkosa-guru-pemkab-mimika-kirim-heli-evakuasi | language=id | access-date=2022-07-27}} and attacking local villages.{{cite web |last=Ridha |first=Rasyid |date=18 April 2021 |title=Selamat dari Serangan KKB, Suku Dambet Gelar Ritual Bakar Batu |url=https://www.jpnn.com/news/selamat-dari-serangan-kkb-suku-dambet-gelar-ritual-bakar-batu |access-date=2021-04-20 |website=www.jpnn.com |language=id}}{{cite web |last=Kurniati |first=Phyntag |date=2021-12-05 |title=KKB Pimpinan Lamek Taplo Diduga Bakar SMA 1 Oksibil, Kapolres: Sengaja Memancing Aparat agar Bisa Ditembaki |url=https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/12/06/065007378/kkb-pimpinan-lamek-taplo-diduga-bakar-sma-1-oksibil-kapolres-sengaja?page=all |access-date=2021-12-15 |website=Kompas.com |language=id}}{{cite web | last=Safitri | first=Putri | title=235 Anak Tak Sekolah Gara-gara Ulah KKB Bakar SMA Negeri 1 Oksibil, Guru dan Siswa Trauma Berat | website=Tribunpalu.com | date=2021-12-07 | url=https://palu.tribunnews.com/2021/12/07/235-anak-tak-sekolah-gara-gara-ulah-kkb-bakar-sma-negeri-1-oksibil-guru-dan-siswa-trauma-berat | language=id | access-date=2021-12-15}} Protests against Indonesian rule in Papua happen frequently, the most recent being the 2019 Papua protests, one of the largest and most violent, which include burning of mostly non-Papuan civilians and Papuans that did not want to join the rally.{{cite news |last1=Mambor |first1=Victor |last2=Bachyul |first2=Syofiardi |date=26 November 2019 |title=Wamena investigation: What the government is not telling us |work=The Jakarta Post |editor-last=Mariani |editor-first=Evi |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/longform/2019/11/26/wamena-investigation-what-the-government-is-not-telling-us.html |access-date=10 February 2020}}{{cite web | last=Rahmadi | first=Dedi | title=Polisi: Korban Tewas Kerusuhan Wamena 22 Orang dan 1 Kritis | website=merdeka.com | date=2019-09-24 | url=https://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/polisi-korban-tewas-kerusuhan-wamena-22-orang-dan-1-kritis.html | access-date=2022-07-24}}{{Cite news |date=2019-08-23 |title=Papua protests: Racist taunts open deep wounds |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49434277}}{{Cite news |author= |date=30 August 2019 |title=Indonesia urges calm in Papua after two weeks of protests |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-indonesia-papua-idUKKCN1VK1BS |access-date=26 February 2021}}

The 2019 Papua protests began on 19 August 2019, and mainly took place across the region in response to the arrests of 43 Papuan students in Surabaya for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-papua-idUSKCN1VN0DQ|title=Indonesian police ban violent protests, separatism in Papua|date=2019-09-02|work=Reuters}}

During the Megawati Sukarnoputri administration in 2001, aside from changing the province name from "Irian Jaya" to "Papua", Papua gained a "Special Autonomy" status, an attempted political compromise between Papuans and the central government that has weak support within the Jakarta government. However this "Special Autonomy" has never been fully implemented, and the region was divided into six provinces in 2022. Regardless, some Papuans refuse any promises of autonomy from Indonesia as they are instead demanding independence, and a free referendum for all Papuans to determine whether they choose independence or not.

File:Forest, Akimuga, Mimika.jpg

The region is {{convert|1,200|km|abbr=off}} from east to west and {{convert|736|km|abbr=off}} from north to south. It has an area of {{convert|412214.61|km2|sqmi|0|lk=out|abbr=off}}, which equates to approximately 22% of Indonesia's land area. The northern part of the border with Papua New Guinea follows the 141st meridian east until it reaches the Fly River.{{cite web |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/who-bit-my-border/ |title=Who Bit My Border? |date=March 13, 2012 |work=The New York Times |author=Frank Jacobs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317080955/http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/who-bit-my-border/ |archive-date=17 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}

The island of New Guinea lies to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago.{{cite web |last=Wallace |first=Alfred Russel|author-link=Alfred Russel Wallace |year=1863 |title=On the Physical Geography of the Malay Archipelago |url=http://web2.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S078.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117084201/http://web2.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S078.htm|archive-date=17 January 2010|access-date=30 November 2009}} Geologically it is a part of the same tectonic plate as Australia. When world sea levels were low, the two shared shorelines (which now lie 100 to 140 metres below sea level),{{cite web |year=2001 |title=Big Bank Shoals of the Timor Sea: An environmental resource atlas |url=http://www.aims.gov.au/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=703cba58-6526-44e4-91eb-7ef84e4ba25d&groupId=30301|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927084419/http://www.aims.gov.au/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=703cba58-6526-44e4-91eb-7ef84e4ba25d&groupId=30301|archive-date=27 September 2011|access-date=28 August 2006 |publisher=Australian Institute of Marine Science}} and combined with lands now inundated into the tectonic continent of Sahul,{{cite conference |last=Ballard |first=Chris |year=1993 |title=Stimulating minds to fantasy? A critical etymology for Sahul |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian National University |pages=19–20 |isbn=0-7315-1540-4|book-title=Sahul in review: Pleistocene archaeology in Australia, New Guinea and island Melanesia}}{{cite book |last=Allen |first=J. |url=https://archive.org/details/sundasahulprehis0000unse |title=Sunda and Sahul: Prehistorical studies in Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia |publisher=Academic Press |year=1977 |isbn=0-12-051250-5|editor-last=Golson|editor-first=J. |location=London|editor-last2=Jones|editor-first2=R.|url-access=registration}} also known as Greater Australia.{{Cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=Jim |last2=Gosden |first2=Chris |last3=Jones |first3=Rhys |last4=White |first4=J. Peter |year=1988 |title=Pleistocene dates for the human occupation of New Ireland, northern Melanesia |journal=Nature |volume=331 |issue=6158 |pages=707–709 |bibcode=1988Natur.331..707A |doi=10.1038/331707a0 |pmid=3125483 |s2cid=6912997}} The two landmasses became separated when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the end of the Last Glacial Period.

The island of New Guinea was once part of the Australian landmass and lay on the continent of Sahul. The collision between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate resulted in the formation of the Maoke Mountains, which run through the centre of the region and are {{convert|600|km|mi|-0|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|100|km|mi|-0|abbr=on}} across.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} The range includes about ten peaks over {{convert|4,000|m|abbr=off}},Whitten (1992), p. 182 including Puncak Jaya ({{convert|4,884|m|disp=or|abbr=on}}), Puncak Mandala ({{convert|4,760|m|disp=or|abbr=on}}) and Puncak Trikora ({{convert|4,750|m|disp=or|abbr=on}}).[http://www.gunungbagging.com/province/papua/ List at GunungBagging.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131144843/http://www.gunungbagging.com/province/papua/ |date=31 January 2012 }} Retrieved 26 January 2012. This range ensures a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The tree line is around {{convert|4000|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}{{Cite journal |last=Hope |first=G. S. |date=July 1976 |title=The Vegetational History of Mt Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2258776 |journal=The Journal of Ecology |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=627–663 |doi=10.2307/2258776|jstor=2258776 |bibcode=1976JEcol..64..627H |url-access=subscription }} and the tallest peaks feature small glaciers and are snowbound year-round. Both north and west of the central ranges, the land remains mountainous – mostly {{convert|1,000|to|2,000|m|abbr=off}} high with a warm humid climate year-round. The highland areas feature alpine grasslands, jagged bare peaks, montane forests, rainforests, fast-flowing rivers, and gorges. Swamps and low-lying alluvial plains with fertile soil dominate the southeastern section around the town of Merauke.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} Swamps also extend {{convert|300|km|abbr=off}} around the Asmat region.

File:WestPapua topo.jpg

The Mamberamo River is the region's largest and runs through the length of Papua. The result is a large area of lakes and rivers known as the Lakes Plains region. The southern lowlands, habitats of which included mangrove, tidal and freshwater swamp forest, and lowland rainforest, are home to populations of fishermen and gatherers such as the Asmat people.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Papua, like most parts of Indonesia, has two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. From June to September the wind flows from Australia and does not contain much water vapor resulting in a dry season. On the other hand, from December to March, the wind currents contain a lot of water vapor originating from Asia and the Pacific Ocean so that the rainy season occurs. The average temperature in Papua ranges from 19 °C to 28 °C and humidity is between 80% and 89%. The average annual rainfall is between 1,500 mm and 7,500 mm.{{Cite book |url=https://papua.bps.go.id/publication/download.html?nrbvfeve=ZDBmN2Q3ZWIyZWVkZGJlZGViNWRmNDAx&xzmn=aHR0cHM6Ly9wYXB1YS5icHMuZ28uaWQvcHVibGljYXRpb24vMjAxMy8wOC8xNy9kMGY3ZDdlYjJlZWRkYmVkZWI1ZGY0MDEvcGFwdWEtZGFsYW0tYW5na2EtMjAxMy5odG1s&twoadfnoarfeauf=MjAyMS0wMi0yNiAxNzowMjo0Nw%3D%3D |title=Papuan in Figures 2013 |publisher=BPS – Statistics of Papua Province |year=2013 |location=Jayapura}} Snowfalls sometime occurs in the mountainous areas of New Guinea, especially the central highlands region.{{Cite web |last=Janur |first=Katharina |location=Lanny Jaya |date=14 July 2015 |title=Suhu Minus 2 Derajat Celcius, Hujan Salju Papua Renggut 11 Jiwa |url=https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/2272956/suhu-minus-2-derajat-celcius-hujan-salju-papua-renggut-11-jiwa|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=liputan6.com |language=id}}

File:Sentani Lake.jpg near Jayapura]] Various other smaller mountain ranges occur both north and west of the central ranges. Except in high elevations, most areas possess a hot, humid climate throughout the year, with some seasonal variation associated with the northeast monsoon season.

Another major habitat feature is the vast northern lowlands. Stretching for hundreds of kilometers, these include lowland rainforests, extensive wetlands, savanna grasslands, and some of the largest expanses of mangrove forest in the world. The northern lowlands are drained principally by the province's largest river, the Mamberamo River and its tributaries on the western side, and by the Sepik on the eastern side.{{Cite web |date=2015-08-21 |title=Yos Sudarso Island |url=https://geofactoftheday.blogspot.com/2015/08/yos-sudarso-island.html |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=GeoFact of the Day}} The result is a large area of lakes and rivers known as the Lakes Plains region.

{{More citations needed section|date=July 2024}}

Lying in the Asia-Australian transition zone near Wallacea, the region's flora and fauna include Asiatic, Australian, and endemic species.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} The region is 75% forest and has a high degree of biodiversity. The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plants, 124 genera of which are endemic.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} The mountainous areas and the north are covered with dense rainforest. Highland vegetation also includes alpine grasslands, heath, pine forests, bush and scrub. The vegetation of the south coast includes mangroves and sago palms and in the drier southeastern section, eucalypts, paperbarks, and acacias.

Marsupial species dominate the region; there are an estimated 70 marsupial species (including possums, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, and cuscus), and 180 other mammal species (including the endangered long-beaked echidna).{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} The region is the only part of Indonesia to have kangaroos, marsupial mice, bandicoots, and ring-tailed possums. The approximately 700 bird species include cassowaries (along the southern coastal areas), bowerbirds, kingfishers, crowned pigeons, parrots, and cockatoos. Approximately 450 of these species are endemic.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} Birds-of-paradise can be found in Kepala Burung and Yapen.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} The region is also home to around 800 species of spiders, 200 frogs, 30,000 beetles, and 70 bats, as well as one of the world's longest lizards (the Papuan monitor) and some of the world's largest butterflies.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} The waterways and wetlands of Papua provide habitat for salt and freshwater crocodiles, tree monitors, flying foxes, ospreys, and other animals, while the equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

In February 2005, a team of scientists exploring the Foja Mountains discovered numerous new species of birds, butterflies, amphibians, and plants, including a species of rhododendron that may have the largest bloom of the genus.Robin McDowell: [http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=978c0a2b-4d79-4d09-b5a6-074e7daaabb9 'Lost world' yields exotic new species] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060328013927/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=978c0a2b-4d79-4d09-b5a6-074e7daaabb9 |date=28 March 2006 }} – The Vancouver Sun – 8 February 2006

Environmental issues include deforestation, the spread of the introduced crab-eating macaque, which now threatens the existence of native species, and discarded copper and gold tailings from the Grasberg mine.{{cite web|url=http://www.infomine.com/minesite/minesite.asp?site=grasberg|title=Grasberg – IntelligenceMine|access-date=15 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620154403/http://www.infomine.com/minesite/minesite.asp?site=grasberg|archive-date=20 June 2014|df=dmy-all}}

File:Paradisaea apoda -Bali Bird Park-7.jpg, native to Papua, displaying its feathers]]Anthropologically, New Guinea is considered part of Melanesia."Melanesia, the ethnogeographic region that includes New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, contains some of the most remote and inaccessible populations on earth." Highly divergent molecular variants of human T-lymphotropic virus type I from isolated populations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, A Gessian, R Yanagihara, G Franchini, R M Garruto, C L Jenkins, A B Ajdukiewicz, R C Gallo, and D C Gajdusek, PNAS 1 September 1991 vol. 88 no. 17 7694–7698 Botanically, New Guinea is considered part of Malesia, a floristic region that extends from the Malay Peninsula across Indonesia to New Guinea and the East Melanesian Islands. The flora of New Guinea is a mixture of many tropical rainforest species with origins in Asia, together with typically Australasian flora. Typical Southern Hemisphere flora include the Conifers Podocarpus and the rainforest emergents Araucaria and Agathis, as well as Tree ferns and several species of Eucalyptus.

New Guinea is differentiated from its drier, flatter,{{cite news |last=Macey |first=Richard |date=21 January 2005 |title=Map from above shows Australia is a very flat place |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Map-from-above-shows-Australia-is-a-very-flat-place/2005/01/21/1106110947946.html|access-date=5 April 2010}} and less fertile{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Karina |date=13 September 1995 |title=A Chat with Tim Flannery on Population Control |url=http://www.abc.net.au/quantum/info/q95-19-5.htm|access-date=23 April 2010 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}} "Well, Australia has by far the world's least fertile soils".{{cite news |last=Grant |first=Cameron |date=August 2007 |title=Damaged Dirt |newspaper=The Advertiser |url=http://www.1degree.com.au/files/AdvertiserPartworks_Part3_Page8.pdf?download=1&filename=AdvertiserPartworks_Part3_Page8.pdf|access-date=23 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706100423/http://www.1degree.com.au/files/AdvertiserPartworks_Part3_Page8.pdf?download=1&filename=AdvertiserPartworks_Part3_Page8.pdf|archive-date=6 July 2011}} "Australia has the oldest, most highly weathered soils on the planet." southern counterpart, Australia, by its much higher rainfall and its active volcanic geology. Yet the two land masses share a similar animal fauna, with marsupials, including wallabies and possums, and the egg-laying monotreme, the echidna. Other than bats and some two dozen indigenous rodent genera,{{Cite journal |last=Lidicker | first=W. Z. Jr. |year=1968 |title=A Phylogeny of New Guinea Rodent Genera Based on Phallic Morphology |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=609–643 |doi=10.2307/1378724 |jstor=1378724}} there are no pre-human indigenous placental mammals. Pigs, several additional species of rats, and the ancestor of the New Guinea singing dog were introduced with human colonization.

The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plant, 124 genera of which are endemic.{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Iem |title=The Territories of Indonesia |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=978-1857432152 |location=London |pages=184}} Papua's known forest fauna includes; marsupials (including possums, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, cuscuses); other mammals (including the endangered long-beaked echidna); bird species such as birds-of-paradise, cassowaries, parrots, and cockatoos; the world's longest lizards (Papua monitor); and the world's largest butterflies.

The waterways and wetlands of Papua are also home to salt and freshwater crocodile, tree monitors, flying foxes, osprey, bats and other animals;P.L. Osborne, "Wetlands of Papua New Guinea", Dennis F. Whigham, Dagmar Dykyjová, and Slavomil Hejný, eds., Wetlands of the World I: Inventory, Ecology and Management (NY: Springer Science & Business Media, 2013), 318–20. {{ISBN|9789401582124}} while the equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored."Papua", in Iem Brown, ed., The Territories of Indonesia (London: Routledge, 2004), 183–85. {{ISBN|9781135355418}}

File:Dorcopsis à raies blanches (Dorcopsis hageni), Pairi daiza 2.jpg, native to northern region of New Guinea.]]

Protected areas within Papua include the World Heritage Lorentz National Park, and the Wasur National Park, a Ramsar wetland of international importance.[http://ramsar.wetlands.org/Database/Searchforsites/tabid/765/language/en-US/Default.aspx Ramsar Sites Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223201426/http://ramsar.wetlands.org/Database/Searchforsites/tabid/765/language/en-US/Default.aspx |date=23 February 2012 }}, retrieved 30 October 2009 Birdlife International has called Lorentz Park "probably the single most important reserve in New Guinea".[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/ebas/index.html?action=EbaHTMDetails.asp&sid=188&m=0 Birdlife International, 1999] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103051757/http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/ebas/index.html?action=EbaHTMDetails.asp&sid=188&m=0 |date=3 January 2009 }}, retrieved 14 May 2010 It contains five of World Wildlife Fund's "Global 200" ecoregions: Southern New Guinea Lowland Forests; New Guinea Montane Forests; New Guinea Central Range Subalpine Grasslands; New Guinea mangroves; and New Guinea Rivers and Streams.[http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/ecoregions/WWFBinaryitem4810.pdf WWF Ecoregions], retrieved 14 May 2010 Lorentz Park contains many unmapped and unexplored areas, and is certain to contain many species of plants and animals as yet unknown to Western science. Local communities' ethnobotanical and ethnozoological knowledge of the Lorentz biota is also very poorly documented. On the other hand, Wasur National Park has a very high value biodiversity has led to the park being dubbed the "Serengeti of Papua".[http://www.dephut.go.id/INFORMASI/TN%20INDO-ENGLISH/wasur_NP.htm Indonesian Ministry of Forestry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229045750/http://www.dephut.go.id/INFORMASI/TN%20INDO-ENGLISH/wasur_NP.htm |date=29 December 2010 }}, retrieved 30 October 2009 About 70% of the total area of the park consists of savanna (see Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands), while the remaining vegetation is swamp forest, monsoon forest, coastal forest, bamboo forest, grassy plains and large stretches of sago swamp forest. The dominant plants include Mangroves, Terminalia, and Melaleuca species. The park provides habitat for a large variety of up to 358 bird species of which some 80 species are endemic to the island of New Guinea. Fish diversity is also high in the region with some 111 species found in the eco-region and a large number of these are recorded from Wasur. The park's wetland provides habitat for various species of lobster and crab as well.

Several parts of the region remain unexplored due to steep terrain, leaving a high possibility that there are still many undiscovered floras and faunas that is yet to be discovered. In February 2006, a team of scientists exploring the Foja Mountains, Sarmi, discovered new species of birds, butterflies, amphibians, and plants, including possibly the largest-flowered species of rhododendron.{{cite web |author=Kirby, Terry |date=7 February 2006 |title=Scientists hail discovery of hundreds of new species in remote New Guinea |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/scientists-hail-discovery-of-hundreds-of-new-species-in-remote-new-guinea-465841.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409215711/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/scientists-hail-discovery-of-hundreds-of-new-species-in-remote-new-guinea-465841.html|archive-date=9 April 2008|access-date=16 March 2009 |work=The Independent}} In December 2007, a second scientific expedition was taken to the mountain range. The expedition led to the discovery of two new species: the first being a 1.4 kg giant rat (Mallomys sp.) approximately five times the size of a regular brown rat, the second a pygmy possum (Cercartetus sp.) described by scientists as "one of the world's smallest marsupials."{{Cite news |date=18 December 2007 |title=Giant Rat Discovered in 'Lost World' |work=AOL News |url=http://news.aol.com/story/nc/_a/giant-rat-discovered-in-lost-world/20071217090909990001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219115242/http://news.aol.com/story/nc/_a/giant-rat-discovered-in-lost-world/20071217090909990001 |archive-date=19 December 2007}} An expedition late in 2008, backed by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, National Geographic Society and Smithsonian Institution, was made in order to assess the area's biodiversity. New types of animals recorded include a frog with a long erectile nose, a large woolly rat, an imperial-pigeon with rust, grey and white plumage, a 25 cm gecko with claws rather than pads on its toes, and a small, 30 cm high, black forest wallaby (a member of the genus Dorcopsis).{{cite news |author=Smith, Bridie. |date=18 May 2010 |title=New species found in 'lost world' of Papuan mountains. |newspaper=The Age}}

Ecological threats include logging-induced deforestation, forest conversion for plantation agriculture (including oil palm), smallholder agricultural conversion, the introduction and potential spread of alien species such as the crab-eating macaque which preys on and competes with indigenous species, the illegal species trade, and water pollution from oil and mining operations.{{Cite news |last=Vidal |first=John |date=2013-05-25 |title='Indonesia is seeing a new corporate colonialism' |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/25/indonesia-new-corporate-colonialism |access-date=2023-03-23 |issn=0029-7712}}{{Cite web |date=12 November 2020 |title=Luka di hutan Papua: Ancaman serius pembukaan lahan demi kelapa sawit |url=https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/media-54913225|access-date=26 February 2021 |website=BBC News Indonesia |language=id}}

File:Cicinnurus regius-20031005.jpg

The Bird's Head Peninsula, also known as the Doberai Peninsula, is covered by the Vogelkop montanerainforests ecoregion. It includes more than 22,000 km² of montane forests at elevations of {{convert|1,000|m|abbr=on|}} and higher.[http://www.iias.nl/nl/37/IIAS_NL37_11.pdf Flip van Helden: A bird's eye view of the Bird's Head Peninsula, in Irian Jaya Studies Programme for Interdisciplinary Research (IIAS) Newsletter nr.37, June 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611231907/http://www.iias.nl/nl/37/IIAS_NL37_11.pdf |date=11 June 2011 }}, retrieved 11 May 2010 Over 50% of these forests are located within protected areas. There are over 300 bird species on the peninsula, of which at least 20 are unique to the ecoregion, and some live only in very restricted areas. These include the grey-banded munia, Vogelkop bowerbird, and the king bird-of-paradise.[http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/new_guinea_forests/conservation_new_guinea_forests/sites_new_guinea_forests/papua_new_guinea_bird_head_peninsula/ WWF: Bird wonders of New Guinea's western-most province] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716112810/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/new_guinea_forests/conservation_new_guinea_forests/sites_new_guinea_forests/papua_new_guinea_bird_head_peninsula/ |date=16 July 2011 }}, retrieved 11 May 2010

Road construction, illegal logging, commercial agricultural expansion, and ranching potentially threaten the integrity of the ecoregion. The southeastern coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula forms part of the Teluk Cenderawasih National Park.[http://www.dephut.go.id/INFORMASI/TN%20INDO-ENGLISH/telukcendra_NP.htm Ministry of Forestry: Teluk Cenderawasih NP] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229045829/http://www.dephut.go.id/INFORMASI/TN%20INDO-ENGLISH/telukcendra_NP.htm |date=29 December 2010 }}, retrieved 11 May 2010

From 1962 to 1973 the region was governed as a single province of Irian Barat (West Irian), renamed Irian Jaya (literally "Glorious Irian") in 1973 and Papua in 2002, with its capital in Jayapura.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Papua|title=Papua|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=3 November 2020}} In the post-Suharto era, the national government began a process of decentralisation of the provinces, including, in December 2001, a special autonomy status for Irian Jaya province and a reinvestment into the region of 80% of the taxation receipts generated by the region, in addition of special autonomy fund.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In 2003, a new province of West Papua was created with its administrative capital as Manokwari, comprising lands in the Bird's Head Peninsula and surrounding islands to its west, with the rest of Western New Guinea remaining in the truncated Papua. Both provinces were granted special autonomous status by Indonesian legislation.{{Cite web |title=UU No. 2 Tahun 2021 |url=https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/172403/uu-no-2-tahun-2021 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=Database Peraturan {{!}} JDIH BPK}} President Megawati Sukarnoputri had attempted to create a third province called Central Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Tengah); a government for it was delayed from August 2003 due to violent local protests. The creation of this separate province was blocked by Indonesian courts, who declared it to be unconstitutional and in contravention of the Papua's special autonomy agreement. The previous division into two provinces was allowed to stand as an established fact.King, Peter, West Papua Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy, or Chaos?. University of New South Wales Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-86840-676-7}}.

In November 2022, three additional provinces were created from parts of Papua Province – Central Papua, Highland Papua, and South Papua – while another additional province, Southwest Papua, was created from the northwestern part of West Papua Province; these received the same special autonomous status as the residual West Papua and Papua Provinces, the latter now consisting only of northern Papua and the groups of islands in Cenderawasih Bay.{{Cite web |last=Muarabagja |first=Mohammad Hatta |date=2022-07-04 |editor-last=Arjanto |editor-first=Dwi |title=Pemekaran Papua, Ini Rincian 3 Provinsi Baru |url=https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1608348/pemekaran-papua-ini-rincian-3-provinsi-baru |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=Tempo |language=id}}

{{Further|List of regencies and cities in Indonesia}}

[[File:Indonesian administrative divisions in Western New Guinea (2023).svg|thumb|

{{legend|#10aeb1|Central Papua}}

{{legend|#1186e5|Highland Papua}}

{{legend|#9672c9|Papua}}

{{legend|#519b50|South Papua}}

{{legend|#1ee7b8|Southwest Papua}}

{{legend|#a7c20f|West Papua}}]]

{{multiple image

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| caption1 = Logo of Papuan People's Assembly, a special organization in Papua Province composed of native Papuans to enforce the special autonomy.

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| caption2 = Logo of West Papuan People's Assembly, a special organization in West Papua Province composed of native West Papuans to enforce the special autonomy.

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Western New Guinea is currently administered as six Indonesian provinces:

{{Historical populations

|1971 |923440

|1980 |1173875

|1990 |1648708

|1995 |1942627

|2000 |2220934

|2010 |3593803

|2020 |5437775

|2021 |5512275

|2022 |5601888

}}

The population of the region was estimated to be 5,601,888 in mid 2022. The interior is predominantly populated by ethnic Papuans while coastal towns are inhabited by descendants of intermarriages between Papuans, Melanesians, and Austronesians, including other Indonesian ethnic groups. Migrants from the rest of Indonesia also tend to inhabit the coastal regions.{{cite news |title=Indonesia's transmigration program threatens Papuans |url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/state-run-transmigration-program-threatens-papuans-critics-say/72327 |work=Ucanews |date=5 November 2014}} The largest cities in the territory are Jayapura in the region's northeast, and Sorong in the northwest of the Bird's Head Peninsula. By 2022 Jayapura had a population of over 400,000 and Sorong nearly 300,000; other major towns are Timika and Nabire in Central Papua, Merauke in South Papua, and Manokwari in the northeast of the Bird's Head Peninsula, each of which had over 100,000 inhabitants in 2022.

The region is home to around 312 different tribes, including some uncontacted peoples.{{cite web|url=http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/papuan|title=Papuan Tribes|first=Survival|last=International|website=www.survival-international.org|access-date=15 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729173958/http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/papuan|archive-date=29 July 2009|df=dmy-all}} The Lani from the Toli valley and surrounding regions, combined with Dani (or Hubula) from the Baliem Valley, are one of the most populous tribes of the region. The Arfak in Arfak Mountains, and the Marind from Merauke. The semi-nomadic Asmat inhabit the mangrove and tidal river areas near Agats and are renowned for their woodcarving. Other tribes include the Amung-Damal, Bauzi, Biak (or Byak), Korowai, Mee, Mek, Sawi, and Yali. Estimates of the number of distinct languages spoken in the region range from 200 to 700. A number of these languages are permanently disappearing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.papuaerfgoed.org/en/Local_Papua_languages_disappear|title=Local Papua languages disappear {{!}} Stichting Papua Cultureel Erfgoed (PACE)|website=www.papuaerfgoed.org|access-date=2019-09-09|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318025715/https://www.papuaerfgoed.org/en/Local_Papua_languages_disappear}}

As in Papua New Guinea and some surrounding east Indonesian provinces, a large majority of the population is Christian. In the 2010 census, 65.48% identified themselves as Protestant, 17.67% as Catholic, 15.89% as Muslim, and less than 1% as either Hindu or Buddhist.{{Cite book |url=https://www.bps.go.id/publication/2012/05/23/55eca38b7fe0830834605b35/kewarganegaraan-suku-bangsa-agama-dan-bahasa-sehari-hari-penduduk-indonesia |title=Kewarganegaraan, Suku Bangsa, Agama, dan Bahasa Sehari-hari Penduduk Indonesia: Hasil Sensus Penduduk 2010 |publisher=Badan Pusan Statistik |isbn=978-979-064-417-5}}{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=Population by Region and Religion in Indonesia |url=https://sp2010.bps.go.id/index.php/site/tabel?tid=321&wid=0 |website=Badan Pusat Statistik |language=en}} There is also a substantial practice of animism among the major religions, but this is not recorded by the census.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

Papua is also home to many migrants from other parts of Indonesia, of which an overwhelming percentage of these migrants came as part of a government-sponsored transmigration program. The transmigration program in Papua was only formally halted by President Joko Widodo in June 2015.{{cite web |last1=Asril |first1=Sabrina |date=4 June 2015 |editor-last=Wiwoho |editor-first=Laksono Hari |title=Jokowi Hentikan Transmigrasi ke Papua |url=http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/06/04/18471741/Jokowi.Hentikan.Transmigrasi.ke.Papua |access-date=17 December 2020 |website=Kompas.com}}

{{Main|Indigenous people of New Guinea}}

File:Parade budaya di biak.jpg]]

In contrast to the rest of Indonesia, which are mostly dominated by Austronesian peoples, Papua as well as some part of Maluku are home to the Melanesians. The indigenous Papuans which are part of the Melanesians forms the majority of the population in the region. Many believe human habitation on the island dates to as early as 50,000 BC,{{Cite news |last=Lyn |first=Tan Ee |date=30 September 2010 |title=Anthropology Professor Glenn Summerhayes, University of Otago, New Zealand. September 2010 |website=Reuters |editor-last=Coghill |editor-first=Kim |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-png-humans-idUSTRE68T4X620100930 |url-status=live |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150050/http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/30/us-australia-png-humans-idUSTRE68T4X620100930 |archive-date=24 September 2015}} and first settlement possibly dating back to 60,000 years ago has been proposed. The island of New Guinea is presently populated by almost a thousand different tribal groups and a near-equivalent number of separate languages, which makes it the most linguistically diverse area in the world. Current evidence indicates that the Papuans (who constitute the majority of the island's peoples) are descended from the earliest human inhabitants of New Guinea. These original inhabitants first arrived in New Guinea at a time (either side of the Last Glacial Maximum, approx 21,000 years ago) when the island was connected to the Australian continent via a land bridge, forming the landmass of Sahul. These peoples had made the (shortened) sea-crossing from the islands of Wallacea and Sundaland (the present Malay Archipelago) by at least 40,000 years ago.

The ancestral Austronesian peoples are believed to have arrived considerably later, approximately 3,500 years ago, as part of a gradual seafaring migration from Southeast Asia, possibly originating in Taiwan. Austronesian-speaking peoples colonized many of the offshore islands to the north and east of New Guinea, such as New Ireland and New Britain, with settlements also on the coastal fringes of the main island in places. Human habitation of New Guinea over tens of thousands of years has led to a great deal of diversity, which was further increased by the later arrival of the Austronesians and the more recent history of European and Asian settlement.{{Cite book |last1=Simanjuntak |first1=Truman |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/73745051 |title=Austronesian diaspora and the ethnogeneses of people in Indonesian archipelago : proceedings of the international symposium |last2=Pojoh |first2=Ingrid Harriet Eileen |last3=Hisyam |first3=Muhamad |date=2006 |publisher=LIPI Press |isbn=979-26-2436-8 |location=Jakarta, Indonesia |pages=61 |oclc=73745051}}

Papuan is also home to ethnic groups from other part of Indonesia, including the Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Batak, etc.{{Cite web |last=Célérier |first=Philippe Pataud |date=2010-06-01 |title=Autonomy isn't independence |url=https://mondediplo.com/2010/06/14indonesia |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Le Monde diplomatique |language=en}} Most of these migrants initially came as part of the transmigration program, which was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government and later continued by the Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country.{{Cite web |date=4 June 2010 |title=Govt builds transmigration museum in Lampung |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/02/govt-builds-transmigration-museum-lampung.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604015847/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/02/govt-builds-transmigration-museum-lampung.html |archive-date=4 June 2010 |access-date=3 March 2021 |website=The Jakarta Post}} The program was accused of fuelling marginalisation and discrimination of Papuans by migrants,{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Bilveer |date=September 12, 2019 |title=Why is West Papua in Constant Turmoil? |url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/09/why-is-west-papua-in-constant-turmoil/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307185645/https://thediplomat.com/2019/09/why-is-west-papua-in-constant-turmoil/ |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |website=The Diplomat |language=en-US |publication-place=S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies}} and causing fears of the "Javanisation" or "Islamisation" of Papua.{{Cite news |last=Wibawa |first=Tasha |date=2019-01-29 |title='Not allowed': Why nearly 2 million people are demanding an independence vote for West Papua |language=en-AU |work=ABC News (Australia) |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-30/west-papuans-fight-for-another-independence-referendum/10584336}} There is open conflict between migrants, the state, and indigenous groups due to differences in culture—particularly in administration, and cultural topics such as nudity, food and sex.{{Cite web |date=2018-04-23 |title=Writer links recent transmigrants to Papua conflict |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/355763/writer-links-recent-transmigrants-to-papua-conflict |website=Radio New Zealand |language=en-nz}}{{Cite journal |last=MacAndrews |first=Colin |date=1978 |title=Transmigration in Indonesia: Prospects and Problems |journal=Asian Survey |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=458–472 |doi=10.2307/2643460 |jstor=2643460 |issn=0004-4687}} It was reported, the transmigration program in Papua was stopped in 2015 due to the controversies it had caused,{{Cite web |date=5 June 2015 |title=Indonesian president to end transmigration to Papua |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/275490/indonesian-president-to-end-transmigration-to-papua |access-date=3 March 2021 |website=Radio New Zealand |language=en-nz}} however, the official transmigration program was markedly reduced in 1998 and practically halted by Wahid's administration in the 2000s. Instead, most migrants were due to spontaneous migrations from other parts of Indonesia attracted to the economic opportunities. They are often stereotyped in foreign interpretations to be Javanese Muslims, though as shown in the 2010 Indonesian census, they are primarily Moluccans, Sulawesians (Bugis, Makassarese, Toraja, Minahasans), Bataks, and Timorese, many of whom are Christians from Eastern Indonesia and worship in local churches.{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Bobby |year=2018 |title=Insecurity in Papua: Coercive State Failure in Indonesia's Periphery |series=Policy Studies 73 |location=Honolulu, US-HI |publisher=East-West Center |isbn=9780866382649 |oclc=923796817|page=40 }}

{{Main|Papuan languages}}

File:TNG map.svg (multi-coloured), Austronesian languages (gold), and other languages (grey)]]

Papua, the easternmost region of the Indonesian archipelago, exhibits a very complex linguistic network. The diversity of languages and the situation of multilingualism is very real. There are many language families scattered in this wide area, namely the Austronesian language family and numerous non-Austronesian languages known collectively as Papuan languages. Speakers of different Austronesian languages are found in coastal communities, such as Biak, Wandamen, Waropen and Ma'ya. On the other hand, Papuan languages are spoken in the interior and Central Highlands, starting from the Bird's Head Peninsula in the west to the eastern tip of the island of New Guinea, for example Meybrat, Dani, Ekari, Asmat, Muyu and Sentani language.Mansoben 1994: 31{{Cite journal |last=Gau |first=Sukardi |title=Menjejaki Bahasa Melayu Maluku di Papua: Kerangka Pengenalan |url=https://www.academia.edu/6435397 |journal=Jurnal Elektronik Jabatan Bahasa & Kebudayaan Melayu |language=id |volume=3 |pages=21–40}}

At this time, research efforts to find out how many indigenous languages in Papua are still being pursued. Important efforts regarding documentation and inventory of languages in Papua have also been carried out by two main agencies, namely SIL International and the Language and Book Development Agency in Jakarta. The results of the research that have been published by the two institutions show that there are differences in the number of regional languages in Papua. The Language and Book Development Agency as the official Indonesian government agency has announced or published that there are 207 different regional languages in Papua, while SIL International has stated that there are 271 regional languages in the region.Ethnologue, 2005 Some of the regional languages of Papua are spoken by a large number of speakers and a wide spread area, some are supported by a small number of speakers and are scattered in a limited environment. However, until now it is estimated that there are still a number of regional languages in Papua that have not been properly studied so that it is not known what the form of the language is. In addition to local languages that have been listed by the two main institutions above, there are also dozens more languages from other islands due to population migration that is not included in the list of local languages in Papua, for example languages from Sulawesi (Bugis, Makassar, Toraja, Minahasa), Javanese from Java, and local languages from Maluku. So-called Papuan languages comprise hundreds of different languages, most of which are not related.{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Bill |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area |publisher=Mouton De Gruyter |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}

As in the rest of Indonesia, Indonesian is the official language of the state and provincial government.{{Cite web |date=18 August 1945 |title=The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, as amended by the First Amendment of 1999, the Second Amendment of 2000, the Third Amendment of 2001 and the Fourth Amendment of 2002. |url=http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---ilo_aids/documents/legaldocument/wcms_174556.pdf |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-date=11 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011113409/http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---ilo_aids/documents/legaldocument/wcms_174556.pdf }} Indonesian is used in inter-ethnic communication, usually between native Papuans and non-Papuan migrants who came from other parts of Indonesia. Most formal education, and nearly all national mass media, governance, administration, judiciary, and other forms of communication in Papua, are conducted in Indonesian.{{Cite web |last=Rahawarin |first=Josep |publisher=Kompasiana.com |date=22 August 2012 |title=Bahasa Indonesia Di Mata Orang Papua |url=https://www.kompasiana.com/ocerahawarin/55173ac981331196669de465/bahasa-indonesia-di-mata-orang-papua|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=KOMPASIANA |language=id}} A Malay-based creole language called Papuan Malay is used as the lingua franca in the region. It emerged as a contact language among tribes in Indonesian New Guinea for trading and daily communication. Nowadays, it has a growing number of native speakers. More recently, the vernacular of Indonesian Papuans has been influenced by Standard Indonesian, the national standard dialect. Some linguists have suggested that Papuan Malay has its roots in North Moluccan Malay, as evidenced by the number of Ternate loanwords in its lexicon.{{Cite conference |last1=Allen |first1=Robert B. |last2=Hayami-Allen |first2=Rika |date=2002 |editor-last=Macken |editor-first=M. |contribution=Orientation in the Spice Islands |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/allen2002orientation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225213702/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/allen2002orientation.pdf |archive-date=2022-12-25 |title=Papers from the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society |location=Tempe, AZ |publisher=Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Arizona State University |page=21 |isbn=1-881044-29-7 |oclc=50506465}} Others have proposed that it is derived from Ambonese Malay.{{harvp|Kluge|2017|pp=11, 47}} A large number of local languages are spoken in the region, and the need for a common lingua franca has been underlined by the centuries-old traditions of inter-group interaction in the form of slave-hunting, adoption, and intermarriage. It is likely that Malay was first introduced by the Biak people, who had contacts with the Sultanate of Tidore, and later, in the 19th century, by traders from China and South Sulawesi. However, Malay was probably not widespread until the adoption of the language by the Dutch missionaries who arrived in the early 20th century and were then followed in this practice by the Dutch administrators.{{sfn|van Velzen|1995|p=313}} The spread of Malay into the more distant areas was further facilitated by the {{lang|nl|Opleiding tot Dorpsonderwizer}} ('Education for village teacher') program during the Dutch colonial era.{{Cite journal |last=Warami |first=Hugo |date=March 2014 |title=Bahasa Melayu di Tanah Papua: Rekam Jejak Bahasa Melayu Papua |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348171144 |journal=Noken Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa, Sastra & Sosial-Budaya |language=Indonesian |volume=2 |pages=1–9 |issn=2338-5553}} There are four varieties of Papuan Malay that can be identified, including Serui Malay. A variety of Papuan Malay is spoken in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea near the Indonesian border.{{Cite journal |last=Berg |first=René van den |date=2014-08-21 |title=Juara satu dan dua: membandingkan situasi kebahasaan Indonesia dan Papua Nugini |journal=Linguistik Indonesia |language=id |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=103–130 |doi=10.26499/li.v32i2.21 |s2cid=227011967 |issn=2580-2429|doi-access=free }}

{{bar box

|title=Religion in Western New Guinea (2022){{cite web|url=https://satudata.kemenag.go.id/dataset/detail/jumlah-penduduk-menurut-agama|title=Jumlah Penduduk Menurut Agama|publisher=Ministry of Religious Affairs|date=31 August 2022|access-date=29 October 2023|language=id|quote=Muslim 241 Million (87), Christianity 29.1 Million (10.5), Hindu 4.69 million (1.7), Buddhist 2.02 million (0.7), Folk, Confucianism, and others 192.311 (0.1), Total 277.749.673 Million}}

|titlebar=

|left1=Religion

|right1=per cent

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|Protestantism|Violet|66.10}}

{{bar percent|Islam|Green|19.72}}

{{bar percent|Roman Catholicism|Purple|13.99}}

{{bar percent|Hinduism|Orange|0.08}}

{{bar percent|Buddhism|Gold|0.06}}

{{bar percent|Others|Grey|0.05}}

{{bar percent|Confucianism|Magenta|0.001}}

}}

Christianity, including Protestantism and Roman Catholic are mostly adhered by native Papuans and migrants from Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi and Bataks of North Sumatra. Islam are mostly adhered by migrants from North Maluku, South Sulawesi (except Torajans), western Indonesia, and some native Papuans. Lastly Hinduism and Buddhism are mostly adhered by Balinese migrants and Chinese-Indonesians respectively. There is also substantial practice of animism, the traditional religion for many Papuans, with many blending animistic beliefs with other religions such as Christianity and Islam.

Islam has been present in Papua since the 15th century, because of interaction with Muslim traders and Moluccan Muslim Sultanates especially the earliest being Bacan. Though there were many earlier theories and folk legends on origin of Islam, sometimes mixed with indigenous folk religion of Fakfak, Kaimana, Bintuni, and Wondama. These include Islamic procession of Hajj pilgrimage that do not go to Meccah, but to Nabi Mountain, near Arguni Bay and Wondama Bay. According to Aceh origins, a Samudra Pasai figure called Tuan Syekh Iskandar Syah was sent to Mesia (Kokas) to preach in Nuu War (Papua), he converted a Papuan called Kriskris by teaching him about Alif Lam Ha (Allah) and Mim Ha Mim Dal (Muhammad), he became Imam and first king of Patipi, Fakfak. Syekh Iskandar brought with him some religious texts, which were copied onto Koba-Koba leaves and wood barks. Syekh Iskandar would return to Aceh bringing the original manuscripts, but before that he would visit Moluccas specifically in Sinisore village. This corresponds with the village's origin of Islam that instead came from Papua. A study by Fakfak government, mentioned another Acehnese figure called Abdul Ghafar who visited Old Fatagar in 1502 under the reign of Rumbati King Mansmamor. He would preach in Onin language (lingua franca of the area at the time) and was buried next to village mosque in Rumbati, Patipi Bay, Fakfak. Based on family account of Abdullah Arfan, the dynasty of Salawati Kingdom, in the 16th century the first Papuan Muslim was Kalewan who married Siti Hawa Farouk, a muballighah from Cirebon, and changed his name to Bayajid who became the ancestor of Arfan clan.{{cite journal |last=Viartasiwi |first=Nino |year=2013 |title=Holding on a Thin Rope: Muslim Papuan Communities as the Agent of Peace in Papua Conflict |journal=Procedia Environmental Sciences |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=17 |pages=860–869 |doi=10.1016/j.proenv.2013.02.104 |issn=|doi-access=free |bibcode=2013PrEnS..17..860V }} Meanwhile, based on oral history of Fakfak and Kaimana, a Sufi by the name of Syarif Muaz al-Qathan from Yaman constructed a mosque in Tunasgain, which was dated using the 8 merbau woods previously used as ceremonial Alif poles for the mosque around every 50 years, to be from 1587. He was also attributed of converting Samay, an Adi Ruler of the royal line of Sran. Islam only grew in the coastal part of Papua especially in the bird head areas, and did not spread to the interior part of the island until Dutch started sending migrants in 1902 and exiled Indonesian leaders in 1910 to Merauke. Muhammadiyah figures were exiled in Papua and in their exile help spread Islam in the region. Later on to help members with education issues, Muhammadiyah only formally sent its teacher in 1933. Islam in the interior highland only spread after 1962, after interaction with teachers and migrants as was the case of Jayawijaya and the case of Dani tribe of Megapura. While in Wamena, conversion of Walesi village in 1977 was attributed to Jamaludin Iribaram, a Papuan teacher from Fakfak. Other smaller indigenous Islamic communities can also be found in Asmat, Yapen, Waropen, Biak, Jayapura, and Manowari.

Missionaries Carl Ottow and Johann Geisler, under the initiative of Ottho Gerhard Heldring and permission from Tidore Sultanate,{{cite web |last=Maniagasi |first=Frans |date=2017-02-06 |editor-last=Subarkah |editor-first=Muhammad |title=Perahu Layar Sultan Tidore dan Penyebaran Injil di Papua |url=https://republika.co.id/berita/dunia-islam/khazanah/17/02/06/okwc6n385-perahu-layar-sultan-tidore-dan-penyebaran-injil-di-papua |access-date=2021-09-11 |website=Republika Online |language=id}} are the first Christian missionaries that reached Papua. They entered Papua at Mansinam Island, near Manokwari on 5 February 1855.{{Cite web |editor-last=Jatmiko |editor-first=Bambang Priyo |publisher=Kompas Cyber Media |date=25 December 2014 |title=Menyusuri Kedamaian Pulau Mansinam |url=https://regional.kompas.com/read/2014/12/25/17184381/Menyusuri.Kedamaian.Pulau.Mansinam|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Kompas.com |language=id}} Since 2001, the fifth of February has been a Papuan public holiday, recognizing this first landing.Editor(s): Jan Sihar Aritonang and Karel Steenbrink: "Christianity in Papua", in A History of Christianity in Indonesia – Studies in Christian Mission, Volume: 35, Brill, 2008. In 1863, sponsored by the Dutch colonial government, the Utrecht Mission Society (UZV) started a Christian-based education system as well as regular church services in Western New Guinea. Initially the Papuans' attendance was encouraged using bribes of betel nut and tobacco, but subsequently this was stopped. In addition, slaves were bought to be raised as step children and then freed. By 1880, only 20 Papuans had been baptized, including many freed slaves. The Dutch government established posts in Netherlands New Guinea in 1898, a move welcomed by the missionaries, who saw orderly Dutch rule as the essential antidote to Papua paganism. Subsequently, the UZV mission had more success, with a mass conversion near Cenderawasih Bay in 1907 and the evangelization of the Sentani people by Pamai, a native Papuan in the late 1920s. Due to the Great Depression, the mission suffered a funding shortfall, and switched to native evangelists, who had the advantage of speaking the local language (rather than Malay), but were often poorly trained. The mission extended in the 1930s to Yos Sudarso Bay, and the UZV mission by 1934 had over 50,000 Christians, 90% of them in North Papua, the remainder in West Papua. By 1942 the mission had expanded to 300 schools in 300 congregations. The first Catholic presence in Papua was in Fakfak, a Jesuit mission in 1894. In 1902 the Vicariate of Netherlands New Guinea was established. Despite the earlier activity in Fakfak, the Dutch restricted the Catholic Church to the southern part of the island, where they were active especially around Merauke. The mission campaigned against promiscuity and the destructive practices of headhunting among the Marind-anim. Following the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed one in five in the area, the Dutch government agreed to the establishment of model villages, based on European conditions, including wearing European clothes, but which the people would submit to only by violence. In 1925 the Catholics sought to re-establish their mission in Fakfak; permission was granted in 1927. This brought the Catholics into conflict with the Protestants in North Papua, who suggested expanding to South Papua in retaliation.{{Cite book |last=Lieshout |first=Frans |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/496293547 |title=Sejarah Gereja Katolik di Lembah Balim-Papua : kebudayaan Balim, tanah subur bagi benih Injil |date=2009 |publisher=Sekretariat Keuskupan Jayapura |isbn=978-602-95025-1-0 |edition=1st |location= |language=id |oclc=496293547}}

There are 6 main Y-chromosome haplogroups in Western New Guinea; Y-chromosome haplogroup M, Y-chromosome haplogroup O, and Y-chromosome haplogroup S across the mountain highlands; meanwhile, D, C2 and C4 are of negligible numbers.

• Haplogroup M is the most frequently occurring Y-chromosome haplogroup in Western New Guinea.Kayser M, Brauer S, Weiss G, Schiefenho¨vel W, Underhill P, Shen P, Oefner P, Tommaseo-Ponzetta M, Stoneking (2003) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC379223/ Reduced Y-Chromosome, but Not Mitochondrial DNA, Diversity in Human Populations from West New Guinea] Am J Hum Genet 72:281–302
• In a 2005 study of Papua New Guinea's ASPM gene variants, Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the Papuan people have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM haplogroup D, at 59.4% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele.[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5741/1720 "Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM, a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624001107/http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5741/1720 |date=24 June 2008 }}, Science, 9 September 2005: Vol. 309. no. 5741, pp. 1720–1722.
• Haplogroup O is a primary descendant of haplogroup NO-M214 typical throughout the regions of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia.
• Haplogroup S occurs in eastern Indonesia (10–20%) and Island Melanesia (≈10%), but reaches greatest frequency in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (52%).Murray P. Cox and Marta Mirazón Lahr, "Y-Chromosome Diversity Is Inversely Associated With Language Affiliation in Paired Austronesian- and Papuan-Speaking Communities from Solomon Islands," American Journal of Human Biology 18:35–50 (2006)

{{Pie chart|caption=Papua GDP share by sector (2005)|label4=Construction|value6=7.1|label6=Others|color5=#008080|value5=3.4|label5=Transport & communications|color4=#808000|value4=3.5|color3=#800080|label1=Mining|value3=4.0|label3=Retails|color2=#008000|value2=10.4|label2=Agriculture|color1=#000080|value1=71.6|color6=#8B0000}}Papua is reported to be one of Indonesia's poorest regions.{{Citation |title=Indonesia cuts off internet to Papua following protests |date=August 23, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAdElzlSCW8 |publisher=BBC News |language=en}} It is rich in natural resources but has weaknesses namely in limited infrastructure and less skilled human resources. So far, Papua has had a fairly good economic development due to the support of economic sources, especially mining, forest, agriculture and fisheries products.{{Cite conference |last=Budiono |first=Sidik |date=28 July 2016 |title=Analisis Matriks BCG Perekonomian Papua |book-title=Seminar Nasional Multi Disiplin Ilmu Unisbank |isbn=978-979-3649-96-2 |via=Neliti |url=https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/173569-ID-analisis-matriks-bcg-perekonomian-papua.pdf |language=id}} Economic development has been uneven in Papua, and poverty in the region remains high by Indonesian standards.{{Cite web |last=Simorangkir |first=Eduardo |title=Kualitas Hidup Makin Baik, Tapi Kesenjangan di Papua Masih Tinggi |url=https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-4512501/kualitas-hidup-makin-baik-tapi-kesenjangan-di-papua-masih-tinggi|access-date=26 February 2021 |website=detikfinance |location=Jakarta |publisher=detikcom |language=id-ID}} Part of the problem has been neglect of the poor—too little or the wrong kind of government support from Jakarta and Jayapura. A major factor in this is the extraordinarily high cost of delivering goods and services to large numbers of isolated communities, in the absence of a developed road or river network (the latter in contrast to Kalimantan) providing access to the interior and the highlands. Intermittent political and military conflict and tight security controls have also contributed to the problem but with the exception of some border regions and a few pockets in the highlands, this has not been the main factor contributing to underdevelopment.{{Cite book |last1=Resosudarmo |first1=Budy |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323891923 |title=Papua I: Challenges of Economic Development in an Era of Political and Economic Change: Development, Resources and the Environment in Eastern Indonesia |last2=Napitupulu |first2=Lydia |last3=Manning |first3=Chris |last4=Wanggai |first4=Velix |publisher=ISEAS Publishing |year=2009 |doi=10.1355/9789812309600-008}}

Papua's gross domestic product grew at a faster rate than the national average until, and throughout the financial crisis of 1997–98. However, the differences are much smaller if mining is excluded from the provincial GDP. Given that most mining revenues were commandeered by the central government until the Special Autonomy Law was passed in 2001, provincial GDP without mining is most likely a better measure of Papuan GDP during the pre- and immediate post-crisis periods. On a per capita basis, the GDP growth rates for both Papua and Indonesia are lower than those for total GDP. However, the gap between per capita GDP and total GDP is larger for Papua than for Indonesia as a whole, reflecting Papua's high population growth rates.

Although Papua has experienced almost no growth in GDP, the situation is not as serious as one might think. It is true that the mining sector, dominated by Freeport Indonesia, has been declining over the last decade or so, leading to a fall in the value of exports. On the other hand, government spending and fixed capital investment have both grown, by well over 10 per cent per year, contributing to growth in sectors such as finance, construction, transport and communications, and trade, hotels and restaurants. With so many sectors still experiencing respectable levels of growth, the impact of the stagnant economy on the welfare of the population will probably be limited. It should also be remembered that mining is typically an enclave activity; its impact on the general public is fairly limited, regardless of whether it is booming or contracting.Weisskoff and Wolf, 1977{{Cite book |last1=Resosudarmo |first1=Budy |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323887003 |title=Development in Papua after special autonomy |last2=Mollet |first2=Julius |last3=Raya |first3=Umbu |last4=Kaiwai |first4=Hans |chapter=18. Development in Papua after special autonomy |publisher=ISEAS Publishing |year=2014 |pages=433–459 |doi=10.1355/9789814519175-025 |hdl=1885/59427 |isbn=9789814519175}}

File:Grasberg mine.jpg. Mining is the most important sector in the province]]

Papua has depended heavily on natural resources, especially the mining, oil and gas sectors, since the mid-1970s.Manning and Rumbiak, 1989Resosudarmo et al. 2009a Although this is still the case, there have been some structural changes in the two provincial economies since the split in 2003. The contribution of mining to the economy of Papua province declined from 62 per cent in 2003 to 47 per cent in 2012. The shares of agriculture and manufacturing also fell, but that of utilities remained the same. A few other sectors, notably construction and services, increased their shares during the period. Despite these structural changes, the economy of Papua province continues to be dominated by the mining sector, and in particular by a single company, Freeport indonesia.

Mining is still and remains one of the dominant economic sector in Papua. The Grasberg Mine, the world's largest gold mine and second-largest copper mine,{{cite web |title=Grasberg Open Pit, Indonesia |url=http://www.mining-technology.com/projects/grasbergopenpit|access-date=16 October 2017 |website=Mining Technology}} is located in the highlands near Puncak Jaya, the highest mountain in Papua and whole Indonesia. Grasberg Mine producing 1.063 billion pounds of copper, 1.061 million ounces gold and 2.9 million ounces silver. It has 19,500 employees operated by PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI) which used to be 90.64% owned by Freeport-McMoran (FCX). In August 2017, FCX announced that it will divest its ownership in PT-FI so that Indonesia owns 51%. In return the CoW will be replaced by a special license (IUPK) with mining rights to 2041 and FCX will build a new smelter by 2022.{{cite press release |title=Freeport-McMoRan Announces Framework for Agreement with Indonesian Government Regarding Long-Term Operating Rights for PT Freeport Indonesia |url=https://ptfi.co.id/media/files/press/59a609a0a937c_fcx-news_release_082917_eng.pdf |website=PT Freeport Indonesia|access-date=16 October 2017 |date=29 August 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Jamasmie |first1=Cecilia |date=29 August 2017 |title=Freeport to yield control of giant Grasberg copper mine to Indonesia |work=MINING.com |url=http://www.mining.com/freeport-to-yield-control-of-giant-grasberg-copper-mine-to-indonesia/|access-date=16 October 2017}}

File:Raiyani Muharramah kapal suku biak waiwor-0978.jpg]]

Besides mining, there are at least three other important economic sectors (excluding the government sector) in the Papuan economy. The first is agriculture, particularly food crops, forestry and fisheries. Agriculture made up 10.4 per cent of provincial GDP in 2005 but grew at an average rate of only 0.1 per cent per annum in 2000–05. The second important sector is trade, hotels and restaurants, which contributed 4.0 per cent of provincial GDP in 2005. Within this sector, trade contributed most to provincial GDP. However, the subsector with the highest growth rate was hotels, which grew at 13.2 per cent per annum in 2000–05. The third important sector is transport and Communications, which contributed 3.4 per cent of provincial GDP in 2005. The sector grew at an average annual rate of 5.3 percent in 2000–05, slightly below the national level. Within the sector, sea transport, air transport and communications performed particularly well. The role of private enterprise in developing communications and air transport has become increasingly significant. Since private enterprise will only expand if businesspeople see good prospects to make a profit, this is certainly an encouraging development. At current rates of growth, the transport and communications sector could support the development of agriculture in Papua. However, so far, most of the growth in communications has been between the rapidly expanding urban areas of Jayapura, Timika and Merauke (the latter two now in the new provinces of Central Papua and South Papua respectively), and between them and the rest of Indonesia. Nevertheless, in the medium term, improved communication networks may create opportunities for Papua to shift from heavy dependence on the mining sector to greater reliance on the agricultural sector. With good international demand for palm oil anticipated in the medium term, production of this commodity could be expanded. However, the negative effects of deforestation on the local environment should be a major consideration in the selection of new areas for this and any other plantation crop. In 2011, Papuan caretaker governor Syamsul Arief Rivai claimed Papua's forests cover 42 million hectares with an estimated worth of Rp 700 trillion ($78 billion) and that if the forests were managed properly and sustainably, they could produce over 500 million cubic meters of logs per annum.{{cite web |date=24 August 2011 |title=Forests in Papua are valued at $78 billion |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/08/24/forests-papua-are-valued-78-billion.html}}

Manufacturing and banking make up a tiny proportion of the regional economy and experienced negative growth in 2000–05. Poor infrastructure and lack of human capital are the most likely reasons for the poor performance of manufacturing. In addition, the costs of manufacturing are typically very high in Papua, as they are in many other outer island regions of Indonesia. Both within Indonesia and in the world economy, Papua's comparative advantage will continue to lie in agriculture and natural resource-based industries for a long time to come. A more significant role for manufacturing is unlikely given the far lower cost of labor and better infrastructure in Java. But provided that there are substantial improvements in infrastructure and communications, over the longer term manufacturing can be expected to cluster around activities related to agriculture—for example, food processing.

Compared to other parts of Indonesia, the infrastructure in Papua is one of the most least developed, owing to its distance from the national capital Jakarta. Nevertheless, for the past few years, the central government has invested significant sums of money to build and improve the current infrastructure in the region.{{Cite web |last=Kusumasomantri |first=Aisha Rasyidila |date=11 March 2020 |title=Rethinking infrastructure approach in Papua |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/03/11/rethinking-infrastructure-approach-in-papua.html |access-date=26 February 2021 |website=The Jakarta Post |language=en}} The infrastructure development efforts of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Papua have been very massive in the last 10 years. This effort is carried out to accelerate equitable development and support regional development in Papua. The main focus of infrastructure development in Papua is to improve regional connectivity, improve the quality of life through the provision of basic infrastructure and increase food security through the development of water resources infrastructure. The achievements and conditions of infrastructure development in Papua until 2017 have shown significant progress.{{Cite book |url=http://sibasripi-pupr.pu.go.id/assets/files/gap_analysis/Profil%20Provinsi%20Papua.pdf |title=Profil Pengembangan Wilayah Provinsi Papua |publisher=Indonesian Ministry of Public Works and Housing |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812205645/http://sibasripi-pupr.pu.go.id/assets/files/gap_analysis/Profil%20Provinsi%20Papua.pdf }}

Electricity distribution in the region as well as the whole country is operated and managed by the Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). Originally, most Papuan villages do not have access to electricity. The Indonesia government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in the beginning of year 2016, introduced a program named "Indonesia Terang" or Bright Indonesia. The aimed of this program is to speed up Electrification Rate (ER) with priority to the Papua region. The target of Indonesian's ER by 2019 is 97%. While the Indonesian's national ER already high (88.30%) in 2015, Papua still the lowest ER (45.93%) among the provinces. The scenario to boost up ER in the Eastern area by connected the consumers at villages which not electrified yet to the new Renewable Energy sources.{{Cite journal |last1=Innah |first1=Herbert |last2=Kariongan |first2=Jackobus |last3=Liga |first3=Marthen |date=2017 |title=Electrification ratio and renewable energy in Papua Province |journal=AIP Conference Proceedings |volume=1826 |issue=1 |location=Bogor, Indonesia |pages=020036 |doi=10.1063/1.4979252 |bibcode=2017AIPC.1826b0036I|doi-access=free}}

The percentage of household that were connected to the electricity in Papua (Electrification ratio/ER) is the lowest one among the provinces in Indonesia. Data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources shows that only Papua has ER level below 50% (45.93%) with the national average RE was 88.30%. High ER of more than 85% can be found in the rest of west area of the country. The main reason of lowest ER in Papua is a huge area with landlocked and mountain situation and low density population. Energy consumption in residential sector, 457 GWh in year 2014, contributes the electrification rate in Papua. But again, geographic and demographic obstacle made the electrical energy not well dispersed in Papua. The ER levels are usually higher in the coastal area but become low in the mountain area. These can be seen by the different rates between the provinces: Papua province has an ER of 89.22%, South Papua has an ER of 73.54%, Central Papua has an ER of 47.36%, and Highland Papua has an ER of 12.09%.{{cite web | last=Muhamad | first=Nabilah | title=Deretan Provinsi dengan Rasio Elektrifikasi Rumah Tangga Terendah Nasional 2022, Indonesia Timur Mendominasi | website=Databoks | date=2023-07-11 | url=https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2023/07/11/deretan-provinsi-dengan-rasio-elektrifikasi-rumah-tangga-terendah-nasional-2022-indonesia-timur-mendominasi | access-date=2023-11-11}}

All pipes water supply in the region is managed by the Papua Municipal Waterworks (Indonesian: Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum Papua – PDAM Papua ). The supply of clean water is one of the main problem faced by the region, especially during drought seasons.{{Cite web |last=Hamdani |first=Trio |title=PUPR: Sumber Air di Asmat Terbatas dan Kualitasnya Jelek |url=https://finance.detik.com/infrastruktur/d-3857125/pupr-sumber-air-di-asmat-terbatas-dan-kualitasnya-jelek|access-date=26 February 2021 |website=detikfinance |location=Jakarta |publisher=detikcom |language=id-ID}} Papua has been named as the region with the worst sanitation in Indonesia, garnering a score of 45 while the national average is 75, due to unhealthy lifestyle habits and a lack of clean water. In response, the government has invested money to build the sufficient infrastructure to hold clean water.{{Cite web |last=Petriella |first=Yanita |date=6 February 2018 |title=Pembangunan Air Bersih dan Sanitasi di Kabupaten Asmat Dioptimalkan {{!}} Papua Bisnis.com |url=https://papua.bisnis.com/read/20180206/414/735303/pembangunan-air-bersih-dan-sanitasi-di-kabupaten-asmat-dioptimalkan |access-date=26 February 2021 |website=Bisnis.com}} Several new dams are also being built by the government throughout the region.{{Cite web |last=Cahyu |location=Jakarta |date=12 September 2017 |title=Pembangunan Bendung di Papua untuk Mendukung Ketahanan Pangan |url=https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/3091660/pembangunan-bendung-di-papua-untuk-mendukung-ketahanan-pangan|access-date=26 February 2021 |website=liputan6.com |language=id}}

Achieving universal access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene is essential to accelerating progress in the fields of health, education and poverty alleviation. In 2015, about a quarter of the population used basic sanitation facilities at home, while a third still practiced open defecation. The coverage of improved drinking water sources is much higher, both in households and schools. Inequality based on income and residence levels is stark, demonstrating the importance of integrating equity principles into policy and practice and expanding the coverage of community-based total sanitation programs.{{Cite web |title=SDG untuk Anak-Anak di Indonesia. Profil singkat provinsi: Papua |url=https://www.unicef.org/indonesia/sites/unicef.org.indonesia/files/2019-06/Bahasa%20Papua%20lowres3.pdf|access-date=3 March 2021 |website=UNICEF.org |publisher=UNICEF}}

Papua has the least amount of telecommunications services in Indonesia due to geographic isolation. The deployment of service to the district and to the sub district is still not evenly distributed. The distribution of telecommunication services in Papua is still very uneven. This is indicated by the percentage of the number of telecommunication services and infrastructure whose distribution is centralized in certain areas such as Jayapura. Based on data, the Human Development Index in Papua increases every year but is not accompanied by an increase adequate number of telecommunication facilities.{{Cite book |last1=Ibnugraha |first1=P. D. |url=https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/103379-ID-persebaran-layanan-dan-infrastruktur-tel.pdf |title=Persebaran Layanan dan Infrastruktur Telekomunikasi Provinsi Papua |last2=Fahrudin |first2=Tora |date=1 May 2014 |publisher=Fakultas Ilmu Terapan Universitas Telkom |location=Bandung}}

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology through the Information Technology Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) has built around 9 base transceiver stations in remote areas of Papua, namely Puncak Jaya Regency and Mamberamo Raya Regency, to connect to internet access. In the early stages, the internet was prioritized to support the continuity of education, health and better public services. To realize connectivity in accordance with government priorities, the Ministry of Communication and Information is determined to reach all districts in the Papua region with high-speed internet networks by 2020. It is planned that all districts in the Papua region will build a fast internet backbone network. There are 31 regencies that have new high-speed internet access to be built.{{Cite web |others=PDSI KOMINFO |title=Akses Internet Jangkau Pelosok Papua |url=https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/13517/akses-internet-jangkau-pelosok-papua/0/sorotan_media |access-date=27 February 2021 |website=Website Resmi Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika RI |publisher=Investor Daily |language=id}}

In late 2019, the government announced the completion of the Palapa Ring project – a priority infrastructure project that aimed to provide access to 4G internet services to more than 500 regencies across Indonesia, Papua included. The project is estimated to have cost US$1.5 billion and comprises {{convert|35,000|km|mi|abbr=on}} of undersea fiber-optic cables and {{convert|21,000|km|mi|abbr=on}} of land cables, stretching from the westernmost city in Indonesia, Sabang to the easternmost town, Merauke, which is located in Papua. Additionally, the cables also transverse every district from the northernmost island Miangas to the southernmost island, Rote. Through the Palapa Ring, the government can facilitate a network capacity of up to 100 Gbit/s in even the most outlying regions of the country.{{Cite web |last=Medina |first=Ayman Falak |date=28 January 2020 |title=Indonesia's Palapa Ring: Bringing Connectivity to the Archipelago |url=https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/indonesias-palapa-ring-bringing-connectivity-archipelago/ |access-date=27 February 2021 |website=ASEAN Business News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kakisina |first=Ernes Broning |editor-last=Yusuf |editor-first=Muhammad |location=Sorong |publisher=antaranews.com |date=14 October 2019 |title=Ring Timur menjawab kesulitan telekomunikasi di pelosok Papua |url=https://www.antaranews.com/berita/1112644/ring-timur-menjawab-kesulitan-telekomunikasi-di-pelosok-papua|access-date=27 February 2021 |website=Antara News}}

File:Teras Republik Indonesia di Skouw Jayapura.jpg]]

So far, air routes have been a mainstay in the region as a means of transporting people and goods, including basic necessities, due to inadequate road infrastructure conditions. This has resulted in high distribution costs which have also increased the prices of various staple goods, especially in rural areas. Therefore, the government is trying to reduce distribution costs by building the Trans-Papua Highway.{{Cite web |title=Meningkatkan Kesejahteraan Papua Melalui Pembangunan Transportasi Darat |url=http://lipi.go.id/berita/single/Meningkatkan-Kesejahteraan-Papua-Melalui-Pembangunan-Transportasi-Darat/12374|access-date=27 February 2021 |website=lipi.go.id |language=id}} As of 2016, the Trans-Papua highway that has been connected has reached 3,498 kilometers, with asphalt roads for 2,075 kilometers, while the rest are still dirt roads, and roads that have not been connected have reached 827 km. The development of the Trans-Papua highway will create connectivity between regions so that it can have an impact on the acceleration of economic growth in Papua and West Papua in the long term. Apart from the construction of the Trans-Papua highway, the government is also preparing for the first railway development project in Papua, which is currently entering the feasibility study phase. The said infrastructure funding for Papua is not insignificant. The need to connect all roads in Papua and West Papua is estimated at Rp. 12.5 trillion (US$870 million). In the 2016 State Budget, the government has also budgeted an additional infrastructure development fund of Rp. 1.8 trillion (US$126 million).

Data from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (KPUPR) states, the length of the Trans-Papua highway in Papua reaches 2,902 km. These include Merauke-Tanahmerah-Waropko (543 km), Waropko-Oksibil (136 km), Dekai-Oksibil (225 km), and Kenyam-Dekai (180 km). Then, Wamena-Habema-Kenyam-Mamug (295 km), Jayapura-Elelim-Wamena (585 km), Wamena-Mulia-Ilaga-Enarotali (466 km), Wagete-Timika (196 km), and Enarotali-Wagete-Nabire (285 km). As of 2020, only about 200–300 kilometers of the Trans-Papua highwat have not been connected.{{Cite web |last=Hariyanto |first=Puguh |date=14 February 2021 |title=Jalan Trans-Papua, Pembangunan Baru dan Kesejahteraan Maju |url=https://nasional.sindonews.com/read/334522/18/jalan-trans-papua-pembangunan-baru-dan-kesejahteraan-maju-1613275328 |access-date=27 February 2021 |website=SINDOnews.com |language=id-ID}}

File:0419 Holtekamp.jpg, currently the longest bridge in Papua]]

As in the rest of Indonesia, Papua uses a dual carriageway with the left-hand traffic rule, and cities and towns such as Jayapura and Merauke provide public transportation services such as buses and taxis along with Gojek and Grab services.{{Cite web |last=Ludwianto |first=Bianda |date=10 January 2019 |editor-last=Panji |editor-first=Aditya |title=GOJEK Hadir di Jayapura, Bisa Pakai Go-Ride, Go-Food, Go-Send, Go-Pay |url=https://kumparan.com/kumparantech/gojek-hadir-di-jayapura-bisa-pakai-go-ride-go-food-go-send-go-pay-1547109112629299721 |access-date=27 February 2021 |website=kumparan |language=id-ID}} Currently, the Youtefa Bridge in Jayapura is the longest bridge in the region, with a total length of {{convert|732|m|ft|abbr=off}}.{{Cite web |last1=Alexander |first1=Hilda |last2=Prabowo |first2=Dani |last3=Umasagi |first3=Ryana Aryadita |last4=Mukaromah |first4=Vina Fadhrotul |last5=Suwandi |first5=Dhias |date=19 August 2020 |editor-last=Rachmawati |editor2-last=Setiawan |editor2-first=Sakina Rakhma Diah |editor3-last=Wedhaswary |editor3-first=Inggried Dwi |title=Mengenal Jembatan Youtefa, Landmark Papua yang Gambarnya Tercetak di Uang Baru Rp 75.000 Halaman all |url=https://regional.kompas.com/read/2020/08/19/09200001/mengenal-jembatan-youtefa-landmark-papua-yang-gambarnya-tercetak-di-uang |access-date=27 February 2021 |website=Kompas.com |publisher=Kompas Cyber Media |language=id}} The bridge cut the distance and travel time from Jayapura city center to Muara Tami district as well as Skouw State Border Post at Indonesia–Papua New Guinea border. The bridge construction was carried out by consortium of state-owned construction companies PT Pembangunan Perumahan Tbk, PT Hutama Karya (Persero), and PT Nindya Karya (Persero), with a total construction cost of IDR 1.87 trillion and support from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing worth IDR 1.3 trillion.{{Cite web |last=Kencana |first=Maulandy Rizky Bayu |date=1 April 2019 |title=Jembatan Holtekamp Siap Diresmikan Juli 2019 |url=https://www.merdeka.com/uang/jembatan-holtekamp-siap-diresmikan-juli-2019.html |website=merdeka.com |language=id}} The main span assembly of the Youtefa Bridge was not carried out at the bridge site, but at PAL Indonesia shipyard in Surabaya, East Java. Its production in Surabaya aims to improve safety aspects, improve welding quality, and speed up the implementation time to 3 months. This is the first time where the arch bridge is made elsewhere and then brought to the location.{{Cite web |title=Menteri Basuki: Jembatan Holtekamp Jayapura Siap Diresmikan Juli 2019 |url=https://www.pu.go.id/berita/view/16826/menteri-basuki-jembatan-holtekamp-jayapura-siap-diresmikan-juli-2019 |website=pu.go.id|access-date=4 March 2021|archive-date=26 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026153921/https://www.pu.go.id/berita/view/16826/menteri-basuki-jembatan-holtekamp-jayapura-siap-diresmikan-juli-2019}} From Surabaya the bridge span, weighing 2000 tons and 112.5 m long, was sent by ship with a 3,200 kilometers journey in 19 days.{{Cite web |last=Setiawan |first=Kodrat |date=2019-04-02 |title=PUPR: Jembatan Holtekamp Jadi Solusi Kepadatan Penduduk Jayapura |url=https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/1191615/pupr-jembatan-holtekamp-jadi-solusi-kepadatan-penduduk-jayapura |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Tempo |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Bentang Utama Pertama Jembatan Holtekamp Tiba Lebih Cepat di Jayapura |url=https://pu.go.id/berita/view/15134/bentang-utama-pertama-jembatan-holtekamp-tiba-lebih-cepat-di-jayapura |website=pu.go.id|access-date=4 March 2021|archive-date=26 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026153925/https://pu.go.id/berita/view/15134/bentang-utama-pertama-jembatan-holtekamp-tiba-lebih-cepat-di-jayapura}} Installation of the first span was carried out on 21 February 2018, while the second span was installed on 15 March 2018 with an installation time of approximately 6 hours.{{Cite journal |last=Janur |first=Katharina |title=Soekarnopura Pengganti Nama Jembatan Holtekamp Jayapura |url=https://www.liputan6.com/regional/read/3376095/soekarnopura-pengganti-nama-jembatan-holtekamp-jayapura |website=liputan6.com|date=16 March 2018 }} The bridge was inaugurated on 28 October 2019 by President Joko Widodo.{{Cite web |title=Resmikan Jembatan Youtefa, Presiden Jokowi: Jadikan sebagai Momentum Papua Bangkit Maju |url=https://www.setneg.go.id/baca/index/resmikan_jembatan_youtefa_presiden_jokowi_jadikan_sebagai_momentum_papua_bangkit_maju |website=setneg.go.id}}

A railway with a length of 205 km is being planned, which would connect the provincial capital Jayapura and Sarmi to the east. Further plans include connecting the railway to Sorong and Manokwari in West Papua. In total, the railway would have a length of 595 km, forming part of the Trans-Papua Railway.{{Cite web |last=Paskalis |first=Yohanes |date=17 September 2015 |editor-last=Wibowo |editor-first=Eko Ari |title=Jalur Sorong-Manokwari Akan Jadi Kereta Perintis di Papua |url=https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/701323/jalur-sorong-manokwari-akan-jadi-kereta-perintis-di-papua |access-date=3 March 2021 |website=Tempo}} Construction of the railway is still in the planning stage.{{Cite news |last=Paskalis |first=Yohanes |date=17 September 2015 |editor-last=Wijaya |editor-first=Agoeng |title=Jalur Kereta Trans Papua, Tahap Konstruksi Akan Dimulai 2018 |url=https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/704457/jalur-kereta-trans-papua-tahap-konstruksi-akan-dimulai-2018 |access-date=3 March 2021 |website=Tempo}} A Light Rapid Transport (LRT) connecting Jayapura and Sentani is also being planned.{{Cite web |last=Siagian |first=Wilpret |title=Pembangunan LRT Jayapura-Bandara Sentani Butuh Dana Rp 25 Triliun |url=https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-3348698/pembangunan-lrt-jayapura-bandara-sentani-butuh-dana-rp-25-triliun|access-date=3 March 2021 |website=detikfinance |location=Jayapura |publisher=detikcom |language=id-ID}}

File:Aerial view of Sentani Airport 20130412.jpg in Jayapura is the principal point of entry to Papua]]

The geographical conditions of Papua which are hilly and have dense forests and do not have adequate road infrastructure, such as in Java or Sumatra, make transportation a major obstacle for local communities. Air transportation using airplanes is by far the most effective means of transportation and is needed most by the inhabitants of the island, although it is not cheap for it. A number of airlines are also scrambling to take advantage of the geographical conditions of the island by opening busy routes to and from a number of cities, both district and provincial capitals. If seen from the sufficient condition of the airport infrastructure, there are not a few airports that can be landed by jets like Boeing and Airbus as well as propeller planes such as ATR and Cessna.{{Cite news |last=Wijaya |first=Ahmad |date=24 July 2017 |title=Membuka transportasi udara di Papua |work=Antaranews|editor-last=Burhani|editor-first=Ruslan |url=https://www.antaranews.com/berita/642391/membuka-transportasi-udara-di-papua|access-date=27 February 2021}}

Sentani International Airport in Jayapura is the largest airport in the region, serving as the main gateway to the region from other parts of Indonesia. The air traffic is roughly divided between flights connecting to destinations within the Papua region and flights linking Papua to other parts of Indonesia. The airport connects Jayapura with other Indonesian cities such as Manado, Makassar, Surabaya and Jakarta, as well as towns within the region such as Biak, Timika and Merauke. Sentani International Airport is also the main base for several aviation organizations, including Associated Mission Aviation, Mission Aviation Fellowship, YAJASI and Tariku Aviation. The airport currently does not have any international flights, although there are plans to open new airline routes to neighboring Papua New Guinea in the future.{{Cite web |last=Bonauli |title=Papua-Papua Nugini, Tetangga Tapi Tak Punya Penerbangan Langsung |url=https://travel.detik.com/international-destination/d-5074167/papua-papua-nugini-tetangga-tapi-tak-punya-penerbangan-langsung|access-date=27 February 2021 |website=detikTravel |location=Jayapura |publisher=detikcom |language=id}} Other medium-sized airports in the region are Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika, Mopah International Airport in Merauke, Frans Kaisiepo International Airport in Biak, and Wamena Airport in Wamena. There are over 300 documented airstrips in Papua, consisting of mostly small airstrips that can only be landed by small airplanes.{{Cite web |last=Sontani |first=Roni |date=28 February 2019 |title=Lebih 200 dari 362 "Bandara Perintis" di Papua Belum Punya Penjaga |url=https://www.airspace-review.com/2019/02/28/lebih-200-dari-362-bandara-perintis-di-papua-belum-punya-penjaga/ |access-date=27 February 2021 |website=Airspace Review |language=id}} The government is planning to open more airports in the future to connect isolated areas in the region.{{Cite web |last=Yuniartha |first=Lidya |editor-last=Winarto |editor-first=Yudho |location=Jakarta |publisher=Grahanusa Mediatama |date=27 October 2019 |title=Bangun 10 bandara, prioritas infrastruktur transportasi Papua dan Papua Barat |url=http://industri.kontan.co.id/news/bangun-10-bandara-prioritas-infrastruktur-transportasi-papua-dan-papua-barat|access-date=27 February 2021 |website=kontan.co.id |language=id}}

Water transportation, which includes sea and river transportation, is also one of the most crucial form of transportation in the region, after air transportation. The number of passengers departing by sea in Papua in October 2019 decreased by 16.03 percent, from 18,785 people in September 2019 to 15,773 people.{{Cite book |last=Aji |first=B.W.P. |url=https://papua.bps.go.id/pressrelease/download.html?nrbvfeve=NDA1&sdfs=ldjfdifsdjkfahi&twoadfnoarfeauf=MjAyMS0wMi0yOCAxMzowMDo0NQ%3D%3D |title=Perkembangan Transportasi Provinsi Papua Bulan Oktober 2019 |date=2 December 2019 |publisher=Badan Pusat Statistik Papua |location=Jayapura}} The number of passengers arriving by sea in October 2019 decreased by 12.32 percent, from 11,108 people in September 2019 to 9,739 people. The volume of goods loaded in October 2019 was recorded at 17,043 tons, an increase of 30.57 percent compared to the volume in September 2019 which amounted to 13,053 tons. The volume of goods unloaded in October 2019 was recorded at 117,906 tons or a decrease of 2.03 percent compared to the volume in September 2019 which amounted to 120,349 tons.

There are several ports in the region, with the Port of Depapre in Jayapura being the largest, which started operation in 2021.{{Cite web |last=Alvin |first=Silvanus |location=Jakarta |date=30 April 2016 |title=Jokowi: Pelabuhan Depapre Akan Jadi Terbesar di Papua |url=https://www.liputan6.com/bisnis/read/2496322/jokowi-pelabuhan-depapre-akan-jadi-terbesar-di-papua|access-date=3 March 2021 |website=liputan6.com |language=id}}{{Cite web |last1=Narwawan |first1=Faisal |location=Jayapura |publisher=papuainside |date=28 January 2021 |title=Pelabuhan Peti Kemas Depapre Beroperasi |url=http://papuainside.com/pelabuhan-peti-kemas-depapre-beroperasi/|access-date=3 March 2021 |website=Papua Inside |language=en-US}} There are also small to medium-sized ports in Biak, Timika, Merauke and Agats, which serves passenger and cargo ships within the region, as well as from other Indonesian provinces.

Health-related matters in the Papua is administered by the Papua Provincial Health Agency (Indonesian: Dinas Kesehatan Provinsi Papua).{{Cite web |title=Dinas Kesehatan Provinsi Papua – Website Resmi Dinas Kesehatan Provinsi Papua |url=https://dinkes.papua.go.id/|access-date=3 March 2021 |language=id-ID}} According to the Indonesian Central Agency on Statistics, as of 2015, there are around 13,554 hospitals in Papua which consists of 226 state-owned hospitals and 13,328 private hospitals.{{Cite web |title=Badan Pusat Statistik: Jumlah Rumah Sakit Umum, Rumah Sakit Khusus, dan Puskesmas (Unit), 2013–2015 |url=https://www.bps.go.id/indicator/30/232/1/jumlah-rumah-sakit-umum-rumah-sakit-khusus-dan-puskesmas.html|access-date=3 March 2021 |website=www.bps.go.id}} Furthermore, there are 394 clinics spread throughout the region. The most prominent hospital is the Papua Regional General Hospital (Indonesian: Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Papua) in Jayapura, which is the largest state-owned hospital in the region.{{Cite web |title=Pemerintah Provinsi Papua |url=https://www.papua.go.id/view-detail-instansi-70/rumah-sakit-umum-daerah-abepura.html |access-date=3 March 2021 |website=www.papua.go.id}}

Papua is reported to have the highest rates of child mortality and HIV/AIDS in Indonesia. Lack of good healthcare infrastructure is one of the main issues in Papua as of today, especially in the remote regions, as most hospitals that have adequate facilities are only located at major cities and towns. A measles outbreak and famine killed at least 72 people in Asmat regency in early 2018,{{cite news |date=13 February 2018 |title=Indonesia's Papua province children starving in a land of gold |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42985439|access-date=18 March 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Salim |first1=Hanz Jimenez |date=13 April 2018 |title=Jokowi Mengaku Kesulitan Pindahkan Penduduk Asmat dari Distrik Terpencil |language=id |work=liputan6.com |url=https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/3451991/jokowi-mengaku-kesulitan-pindahkan-penduduk-asmat-dari-distrik-terpencil|access-date=7 March 2019}} during which 652 children were affected by measles and 223 suffered from malnutrition.{{cite news |last1=Rakhmat |first1=Muhammad Zulfikar |last2=Tarahita |first2=Dikanaya |date=28 February 2018 |title=An Indonesian District Isolated From Development |work=Asia Sentinel |url=https://www.asiasentinel.com/society/indonesia-asmat-district-isolated-development/|access-date=18 March 2019}}{{cite news |publisher=TEMPO.CO |location=Jakarta |date=14 February 2018 |title=Tragedy in Asmat |work=Tempo.co English Edition |url=https://en.tempo.co/read/915736/tragedy-in-asmat|access-date=18 March 2019}}

{{Main|List of universities in Indonesia}}

Education in Papua, as well as Indonesia in a whole, falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan or Kemdikbud) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kementerian Agama or Kemenag). In Indonesia, all citizens must undertake twelve years of compulsory education which consists of six years at elementary level and three each at middle and high school levels. Islamic schools are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The Constitution also notes that there are two types of education in Indonesia: formal and non-formal. Formal education is further divided into three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary education. Indonesians are required to attend 12 years of school, which consists of three years of primary school, three years of secondary school and three years of high school.{{cite news |last=Natahadibrata |first=Nadya |date=26 June 2013 |title=RI kicks off 12-year compulsory education program |newspaper=Jakarta Post |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/06/26/ri-kicks-12-year-compulsory-education-program.html |access-date=22 May 2014}}

As of 2015, there are 3 public universities and 40 private universities in Papua.{{Cite web |title=Badan Pusat Statistik: Jumlah Perguruan Tinggi 1, Mahasiswa, dan Tenaga Edukatif (Negeri dan Swasta) di Bawah Kementrian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Menurut Provinsi tahun ajaran 2013/2014-2014/2015 |url=https://www.bps.go.id/statictable/2015/09/14/1839/jumlah-perguruan-tinggi-mahasiswa-dan-tenaga-edukatif-negeri-dan-swasta-di-bawah-kementrian-pendidikan-dan-kebudayaan-menurut-provinsi-2013-2014-2014-2015.html|access-date=3 March 2021 |website=www.bps.go.id}} Public universities in Papua fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Research and Technology (Kementerian Riset dan Teknologi) as well as the Ministry of Education and Culture. The most famous university in the region is the Cenderawasih University in Jayapura. The university has faculties in economics, law, teacher training and education, medical, engineering, and social and political science. Until 2002 the university had a faculty of agricultural sciences at Manokwari, which was then separated to form the Universitas Negeri Papua.

File:Jally Cultural Society - panoramio.jpg]]

Papuans have significant cultural affinities with the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} As in Papua New Guinea, the peoples of the highlands have traditions and languages distinct from the peoples of the coast. Example being sago as the staple food of the coastal Papuans, a tradition shared with many people in the Eastern Indonesia, while in the highlands where sago do not grow, tubers (sweet potato, yam, and taro) are the staple foods.{{cite news | last=Rahmadi | first=R | title=Hipere, Tanaman yang Selalu di Hati Masyarakat Pegunungan Tengah Papua | work=Mongabay.co.id | date=2023-03-28 | url=https://www.mongabay.co.id/2023/03/28/hipere-tanaman-yang-selalu-di-hati-masyarakat-pegunungan-tengah-papua/ | access-date=2024-04-22}} In some parts of the highlands, the koteka (penis gourd) is worn by males in ceremonies. The use of the holim (Dani's koteka) as everyday dress by Dani males in Western New Guinea is uncommon. As of 2019, it is estimated that only 10% highland population (in Central Papua and Highland Papua) regularly uses koteka,{{cite news | author=Tim detikcom | title=Anggota DPRD di Papua 2019-2024 Diminta Pakai Koteka Saat Pelantikan | work=detiknews | date=2019-08-06 | url=https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4654027/anggota-dprd-di-papua-2019-2024-diminta-pakai-koteka-saat-pelantikan | language=id | access-date=2024-06-08}} and it is only used during cultural festival or as a souvenir.{{cite news| last=Wargadiredja | first=Arzia Tivany | title=Koteka Terancam Punah, Muncul Gerakan Mahasiswa Papua Memakainya di Kampus | work=VICE | date=2019-08-07 | url=https://www.vice.com/id/article/koteka-terancam-punah-muncul-gerakan-mahasiswa-papua-memakainya-di-kampus/ | language=id | access-date=2024-06-08}} A culture of inter-tribal warfare and animosity between neighboring tribes has long been present in the highlands.{{cite news |title=Papua New Guinea massacre of women and children highlights poor policing, gun influx |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-10/png-tribal-massacre-poor-policing-weapons-influx-fuel-violence/11297136 |work=ABC News |date=11 July 2019}}

File:Memotong sagu Kering.jpg.]]

The native Papuan food usually consists of roasted boar with Tubers such as sweet potato. The staple food of Papua and eastern Indonesia in general is sago, as the counterpart of central and western Indonesian cuisines that favour rice as their staple food.{{Cite web |last=Santoso |first=Agung Budi |date=10 December 2013 |editor-last=Gultom |editor-first=Hasiolan Eko Purwanto |title=Papeda, Makanan Sehat Khas Papua |url=https://www.tribunnews.com/lifestyle/2013/12/10/papeda-makanan-sehat-khas-papua |access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Tribunnews.com |language=id-ID}} Sago is either processed as a pancake or sago congee called papeda, usually eaten with yellow soup made from tuna, red snapper or other fishes spiced with turmeric, lime, and other spices. On some coasts and lowlands on Papua, sago is the main ingredient to all the foods. Sagu bakar, sagu lempeng, and sagu bola, has become dishes that is well known to all Papua, especially on the custom folk culinary tradition on Mappi, Asmat and Mimika. Papeda is one of the sago foods that is rarely found.{{Cite web |title=Papeda Makanan Khas Maluku dan Papua |url=http://makanan-indonesia.weebly.com/1/post/2017/01/papeda.html|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Makanan Indonesia |language=id}} As Papua is considered as a non-Muslim majority regions, pork is readily available everywhere. In Papua, pig roast which consists of pork and yams are roasted in heated stones placed in a hole dug in the ground and covered with leaves; this cooking method is called bakar batu (burning the stone), and it is an important cultural and social event among Papuan people.{{Cite web |date=9 November 2010 |title=Pesta Bakar Batu |url=https://wisatapapua.wordpress.com/wisata-provinsi-papua/pesta-bakar-batu/|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Wisata Papua |language=id}}

In the coastal regions, seafood is the main food for the local people. One of the famous sea foods from Papua is fish wrap (Indonesian: Ikan Bungkus). Wrapped fish in other areas is called Pepes ikan. Wrapped fish from Papua is known to be very fragrant. This is because there are additional bay leaves so that the mixture of spices is more fragrant and soaks into the fish meat. The basic ingredient of Papuan wrapped fish is sea fish, the most commonly used fish is milkfish. Milkfish is suitable for "wrap" because it has meat that does not crumble after processing. The spices are sliced or cut into pieces, namely, red and bird's eye chilies, bay leaves, tomatoes, galangal, and lemongrass stalks. While other spices are turmeric, garlic and red, red chilies, coriander, and hazelnut. The spices are first crushed and then mixed or smeared on the fish. The wrapping is in banana leaves.{{Cite web |date=4 September 2018 |title=Ikan Bungkus, Pepes Ikan dari Papua yang Harum |url=https://merahputih.com/post/read/ikan-bungkus-pepes-ikan-dari-papua-yang-harum|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=MerahPutih}}

File:Papeda, Kuah Kuning, Ikan Tude Bakar 2.jpg, a notable dish originating from Eastern Indonesia]]

Common Papuan snacks are usually made out of sago. Kue bagea (also called sago cake) is a cake originating from Ternate in North Maluku, although it can also be found in Papua.{{cite web |title=Resep Kue Bagea Ambon |url=http://resepkue.net/kue-tradisional/resep-kue-bagea-modern-kue-tradisional-dari-ternate-malulu-utara/|access-date=16 May 2014 |publisher=resepkue.net|archive-date=17 May 2014|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517134045/http://resepkue.net/kue-tradisional/resep-kue-bagea-modern-kue-tradisional-dari-ternate-malulu-utara/}} It has a round shape and creamy color. Bagea has a hard consistency that can be softened in tea or water, to make it easier to chew.{{Cite web |title=Finding Raja Ampat Culinary {{!}} Discover Indonesia|url=http://goindonesia.blendong.com/culinary/finding-raja-ampat-culinary.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425095024/http://goindonesia.blendong.com/culinary/finding-raja-ampat-culinary.html|archive-date=25 April 2016|access-date=17 April 2016|website=goindonesia.blendong.com}} It is prepared using sago,{{cite web |title=Ambon yang Selalu Manise |url=http://www.jalanjalanyuk.com/ambon-yang-selalu-manise/|access-date=17 May 2014 |publisher=Jalanjalanyuk.com|archive-date=17 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517193412/http://www.jalanjalanyuk.com/ambon-yang-selalu-manise/}} a plant-based starch derived from the sago palm or sago cycad. Sagu Lempeng is a typical Papuan snacks that is made in the form of processed sago in the form of plates. Sagu Lempeng are also a favorite for travelers. But it is very difficult to find in places to eat because this bread is a family consumption and is usually eaten immediately after cooking. Making sago plates is as easy as making other breads. Sago is processed by baking it by printing rectangles or rectangles with iron which is ripe like white bread. Initially tasteless, but recently it has begun to vary with sugar to get a sweet taste. It has a tough texture and can be enjoyed by mixing it or dipping it in water to make it softer.{{Cite web |date=4 September 2018 |title=Sagu Lempeng, Rotinya Masyarakat Papua yang Tak Tergantikan |url=https://merahputih.com/post/read/sagu-lempeng-rotinya-masyarakat-papua-yang-tak-tergantikan|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=MerahPutih}} Sago porridge is a type of porridge that are found in Papua. This porridge is usually eaten with yellow soup made of mackerel or tuna then seasoned with turmeric and lime. Sago porridge is sometimes also consumed with boiled tubers, such as those from cassava or sweet potato. Vegetable papaya flowers and sautéed kale are often served as side dishes to accompany the sago porridge.{{Cite web |last=Khairunnisa |first=Syifa Nuri |editor-last=Pertiwi F. |editor-first=Ni Luh Made |location=Jakarta |publisher=Kompas Cyber Media |date=5 December 2019 |title=4 Makanan Papua dari Sagu Halaman all |url=https://travel.kompas.com/read/2019/12/05/200500027/4-makanan-papua-dari-sagu|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=Kompas.com |language=id}} In the coastal regions, Sago worms are usually served as a type of snack dish.{{Cite web |last=Farhan |first=Afif |title=Mengapa Orang Papua Makan Ulat Sagu? |url=https://travel.detik.com/domestic-destination/d-4841664/mengapa-orang-papua-makan-ulat-sagu|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=detikTravel |location=Jayapura |publisher=detikcom |language=id}}{{Cite web |last=Alfarizi |first=Moh Khory |date=24 December 2019|editor-last=Prima|editor-first=Erwin |title=Ulat Sagu Jadi Kuliner Favorit Sejak Masa Prasejarah di Papua |url=https://tekno.tempo.co/read/1287127/ulat-sagu-jadi-kuliner-favorit-sejak-masa-prasejarah-di-papua|access-date=5 March 2021 |website=Tempo |language=Indonesian}} Sago worms come from sago trunks which are cut and left to rot. The rotting stems cause the worms to come out. The shape of the sago worms varies, ranging from the smallest to the largest size of an adult's thumb. These sago caterpillars are usually eaten alive or cooked beforehand, such as stir-frying, cooking, frying and then skewered. But over time, the people of Papua used to process these sago caterpillars into sago caterpillar satay. To make satay from this sago caterpillar, the method is no different from making satay in general, namely on skewers with a skewer and grilled over hot coals.{{Cite web |last=Fitria |first=Riska |title=5 Fakta Ulat Sagu, Kuliner Ekstrem yang Kaya Nutrisi |url=https://food.detik.com/info-kuliner/d-5230291/5-fakta-ulat-sagu-kuliner-ekstrem-yang-kaya-nutrisi|access-date=4 March 2021 |website=detikfood |location=Jakarta |publisher=detikcom |language=id}}

The Indonesian government is very strict in giving foreign journalists permission to enter Western New Guinea, considering that this region is very vulnerable to separatist movements. As formerly in East Timor, Indonesia's former territory, the Indonesian administration takes great efforts to filter the information that gets out of Western New Guinea.{{Cite journal|last=Robie|first=David|date=2017-01-02|title=Indonesian double standards over press freedom endanger safety of Papuan journalists|journal=Media Asia|volume=44|issue=1|pages=40–47|doi=10.1080/01296612.2017.1379812|s2cid=159306665|issn=0129-6612}} However, there is no prohibition for journalists to go to the region. In 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received 11 applications for permission to cover Papua from a number of foreign media. Of 11 requests, five were approved while the other six were rejected. Meanwhile, in 2013, requests for permission to cover Papua by foreign media soared to 28. At that time, the ministry approved 21 letters of application and rejected the other seven.{{Cite web|url=https://westpapuaindonesia.com/irian-jaya/|title=Irian Jaya|last=wepi|date=2018-10-28|website=West Papua Indonesia|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-09}}

The process of admitting foreign press and NGOs, which was previously complicated, began to be facilitated in 2015. Kompas.com explained that Jokowi officially revoked the ban on foreign journalists from entering Papua. According to him, Papua is the same as other regions of Indonesia. However, as of today foreign journalists are still required to apply for permission to enter Papua through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.https://www.kemlu.go.id/newdelhi/en/layanan-konsuler/prosedur-dan-oeraturan/Pages/Pelayanan-Media.aspx {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}

{{portal|New Guinea}}

• Free Papua Movement
• Kurima Valley
• List of rivers of Western New Guinea
• Papua conflict
• Terianus Satto

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{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Friend |first=T. |title=Indonesian Destinies |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-674-01137-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/indonesiandestin00theo }}
• McDonald, H., Suharto's Indonesia, Fontana Books, 1980, Blackburn, Australia, {{ISBN|0-00-635721-0}}
• {{Cite book |last=Vickers |first=Adrian |title=A History of Modern Indonesia |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-521-54262-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri }}
• Conboy, Ken. 2003. Kopassus. Equinox Publishing, Jakarta Indonesia. {{ISBN|979-95898-8-6}}
• {{cite web |first= Klemen |last= L |date= 2000 |title= Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html }}
• Leith, Denise. 2002. The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-2566-7}}
• Monbiot, George. 1989, 2003. Poisoned Arrows: An investigative journey through the forbidden lands of West Papua. London: Michael Joseph, Green Books. {{ISBN|1903998271}}
• Penders, C.L.M., The West New Guinea débâcle. Dutch decolonisation and Indonesia 1945–1962, Leiden 2002, KITLV
• "[http://www.dgmoen.net/video_trans/004.html Arrow Against the Wind]." {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828191341/http://www.dgmoen.net/video_trans/004.html |date=28 August 2008 }} Narrative of documentary on people of Asmat and Dani, their culture, and their relationship with the nature
• Throwim Way Leg by Tim Flannery
• Neles Tebay : West Papua. The struggle for peace with justice. Catholic Institute for International Relations: London 2005, {{ISBN|1 85287 316 7}}.
• Marshall, A.J. and B. Beehler (eds.), "The Ecology of Papua". 2007. Parts 1 & 2 as Vol. 6 in "The Ecology of Indonesia" series. Singapore: Periplus Press.

{{Wikivoyage|Papua}}

• [https://papua.go.id/ Province of Papua]
• [https://papuabaratprov.go.id/ Province of West Papua]
• [http://www.freewestpapua.org/ Free West Papua Campaign]

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