Western New Guinea
| Western New Guinea (Nugini Barat Irian Barat) |
|
| Papua Barat | |
| Region | |
| Country |  Indonesia |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Region | Papua, West Papua |
| Cities | Jayapura, Manokwari, Sorong, Wamena, Timika, Merauke |
| Highest point | Puncak Jaya |
| - location | Sudirman Range |
| - elevation | 4,884 m (16,024 ft) |
| - coordinates | 4°5′S 137°11′E / 4.083°S 137.183°E |
| Area | 420,540 km2 (162,371 sq mi) |
| Population | 4,363,869 (2014) |
| Density | 10/km2 (26/sq mi) |
| Timezone | Indonesia Eastern Time (UTC+9) |
| ISO 3166-2 | ID-IJ |
| License plate | DS PB |
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Western New Guinea is the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea (also known as Papua), lying to the west of the nation of Papua New Guinea. The territory is considered to include smaller nearby islands including Biak. The region is predominantly dense forest where numerous traditional tribes live such as the Dani of the Baliem Valley, although the majority of the population live in or near coastal areas. The largest city in the region is Jayapura. The official and most commonly spoken language is Indonesian. Estimates of the number of tribal languages in the region range from 200 to over 700, with the most widely spoken including Dani, Yali, Ekari and Biak. The predominant religion is Christianity (often combined with traditional beliefs) followed by Islam. The main industries include agriculture, fishing, oil production, and mining.
The territory has been part of Indonesia since May 1963. The indigenous Melanesian population at the end of 1961 estimated at 718,055 has been estimated to have grown by year 2005 to 1,559,000 representing a 1.6% growth rate while the Asiatic population at the end of 1961 estimated at 16,581 has been estimated to have grown by year 2005 to 1,088,000 representing a 10% growth rate.
Human habitation is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. The Netherlands claimed the region and commenced missionary work in the nineteenth century. The region was annexed by Indonesia 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 Papua province, although to date, implementation has been partial and often criticised. The region was administered as a single province until 2003, when it was split into the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Speakers align themselves with a political orientation when choosing a name for the western half of the island of New Guinea. "West Papua", which is not the official name for the western half of the island, is preferred by ethnic Papuans. The region has had the official names of Netherlands New Guinea (1895–1962), West New Guinea (1962–63), West Irian (or Irian Barat) (1963–73), Irian Jaya (1973–2001), and Papua (2002–2003). When the region was administratively one in Indonesia, Indonesian officials criticised activists' use of the term "West Papua", because they thought that the term implied that the province was not a part of Indonesia. Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid considered his short-lived use of the name "Papua" in 2002 as a concession to the West Papuans. Since 2003, western New Guinea has had two provinces: the province of West Papua on the west, and the province of Papua on the east. Officials and administrators refer to the province when they say "West Papua"; independence activists mean the whole of western New Guinea.
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