West Irian Jaya or Western New Guinea is the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and consists of two provinces, Papua and West Papua. It was previously known by various names, including Netherlands New Guinea (1895-1st Dec 1961), West Papua (1st Dec 1961-1 October 1962), West New Guinea (1 October -1 May 1963), West Irian (1 May 1963–1973), and Irian Jaya (1973–2000). The incorporation of western New Guinea into Indonesia remains controversial with human rights NGOs, including some supporters in the United States Congress and other bodies, as well as many of the territory's indigenous population. Many human rights NGOs refer to it as West Papua.

Western New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia under the controversial Act of Free Choice in 1969. In 2003, the Indonesian central government declared that the province would be split into three provinces: Papua Province, Central Irian Jaya Province, and West Irian Jaya Province. Opposition to this resulted in the plan for Central Irian Jaya province being scrapped, and even the designation of West Irian Jaya Province is still legally unclear. Despite this, the West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat) province was formed on February 6th, 2006 and the name was officially changed to West Papua (Papua Barat) on February 7th, 2007. The independent sovereign state of Papua New Guinea (PNG) borders Papua Province to the east.

History

Papuans have inhabited the Australasian continental island of Papua for over 40,000 years while Austronesians have been there for several thousand years. These groups have developed diverse cultures and languages in situ; there are over 300 languages and two hundred additional dialects in West New Guinea alone (See Papuan languages, Austronesian languages).

On June 13, 1545 Ortiz de Retez, in command of the San Juan, left port in Tidore, an island of the East Indies and sailed to reach the northern coast of the island of New Guinea, which he ventured along as far as the mouth of the Mamberamo River. 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.

Geography

A central East-West mountain range dominates the geography of New Guinea, over 1600 km in total length. The western section is around 600 km long and 100 km across. Steep mountains 3000 to 4000 m and up to 5000 m high along the range ensures a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The tree line is around 4000 m elevation and the tallest peaks are snowbound year round.

Both north and west of the central ranges the land remains mountainous — mostly 1000 to 2000 m high — and covered by thick rain forest with a warm humid climate year round.

The third major habitat feature is the south east lowlands with extensive wetlands stretching for hundreds of kilometers.

The province has 40 major rivers, 12 lakes, and 40 islands. The Mamberamo river, sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of Papua" is the province's largest river which winds through the northern part of the province. The result is a large area of lakes and rivers known as the Lakes Plains region. The vast southern lowlands, which consist of a mosaic of habitats including mangrove, tidal and freshwater swamp forest, and lowland rainforest, are home to a dense population of fishermen and gatherers such as the Asmat people. The famous Baliem Valley, home of the Dani people is a tableland 1600 m above sea level in the midst of the central mountain range; Puncak Jaya (formerly Carstensz Pyramid) is a mist covered limestone mountain peak 4,884 m above sea level, the highest point in Indonesia.

The border with Papua New Guinea mostly follows the 141st meridian, with one section defined by the Fly River. This border is largely unguarded, and has seen a dramatic amount of refugees and illegal aliens cross over to PNG to flee the Indonesians. There are no reliable estimates on how many have crossed.

Ecology

A vital tropical rainforest with the tallest tropical trees and vast biodiversity, Papua's known forest fauna includes marsupials (including possums, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, cuscus), other mammals (including the endangered long-beaked echidna), many bird species (including birds of paradise, casuarius, parrots, cockatoos), the world's longest lizards (Papua monitor) and some of the world's largest butterflies.

The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plant, 124 genera of which are endemic.

The extensive waterways and wetlands of Papua are also home to salt and freshwater crocodile, tree monitor, flying foxes, osprey, bats and other animals; while the equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored.

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 which may have the largest bloom of the genus.[10]

Ecological dangers include deforestation at an alarming rate; the spread of the exotic Crab-eating Macaque (monkey) which now threatens the existence of many native species; pollution such as Grasberg mine dumping 190,000 tons of copper and gold tailings into the rivers system each day.

Culture

West Papuan culture was forcibly repressed under the forty years of Indonesian rule since 1963. Only in 2001 was Papua Province granted special autonomy by the Indonesian government, opening the possibility of developing indigenous cultural production and arts venues.

However, in March 2003 John Rumbiak, West Papua's famous human rights investigator, stated that Papuan culture "will be extinct," within 10 to 20 years if the present rate of assimilation in the region continues.[11] The Indonesian government states that the special autonomy arrangement specifically addresses the ongoing preservation of Papua culture, and that the transmigration program was "designed specifically to help the locals through knowledge transfer".[12]

In some parts of the highlands, the koteka is traditionally worn by males in ceremonial contexts. Despite government efforts to suppress it, the use of the koteka as everyday dress by Dani males in Western New Guinea is still very common.