IRIAN JAYA - PAPUA
West Irian was united with the Republic of Indonesia in 1962. Before, West Irian was the colony of the Dutch colonial rule until the Indonesian government took it over under the United Nations auspices. This province now has a new name, Papua. There are many tribal groups live in Irian Jaya. One of them is the Asmat, who call themselves "Asmat-ow" which means "We, the real people," or "We, the tree people." The Asmat are now numbered about 65,000. Many of them live in the foothills of the Jayawijaya Mountain. Asmat people are very skilled-woodcarvers. People of other ethnic groups, especially the Javanese and the Buginese also live in Papua. A few Balinese people live there as well. Many of the Javanese and the Balinese were
migrated to this island by the government under the program of "transmigration." Many of these groups also come to Papua as
government officers, teachers, doctors, nurses and police officers. Meanwhile, the Buginese take the occupation as merchants. This province has a vast amount of tropical rain forests where many exotic birds such as "cendrawasih" live. The soil is also very rich of mining resources such as gold and oil. One of the large companies who has been exploitation the Papuan's wealth is Freeport, a company from the U.S. This company employees many people from outside Papua.

It was the Spaniard Ynigo Ortiz de Retes who, in 1545, gave the name Nueva Guinea to a strip of land on the north coast of the world's second largest island (after Greenland), which is now half Indonesian, half Papua New Guinean territory. Irian Jaya, the western half of the island, is Indonesia's biggest province of about 410,000 square kilometers, representing almost 21 percent of the country's total land area. More than 75 percent of the land is covered by dense tropical forests, with only about 1.5 million people, with an average population density of 2.8 persons per square kilometer, the lowest in Indonesia. Jayapura, the neat provincial capital on a hillside overlooking the bay, is 3,520 kilometers away from Jakarta. Irian Jaya is a land of exceptional natural grandeur. Its jungles are among the wildest, most impenetrable in the world. Eternal snow capped mountain ridges more than 5,000 meters high, with walls plunge hundreds of meters down onto floors filled with small glacier lakes. It has scenic beaches in abundance as well as immense stretches of marshlands. Cool grassy meadows lie at the foot of the towering mountains. Rivers cut through dark forests until their sluggish, crocodile infested mouths disgorge the water into the sea.

The highest peak of the central mountain range is Puncak Jayawijaya (5,500 meters). Second and third are Gunung Trikora(5,160 meters) and Gunung Yamin (5,100 meters), respectively. The biggest lake is Paniai, followed in order of declining size by the lakes Ronbenbai and Sentani, both in the vicinity of Jayapura and Anggigita near Manokwari.

On the basis of physical features and differences in language, customs, artistic expression and other aspects of culture, the indigenous people of Irian Jaya are distinguished into about 250 sub-groups, although they all belong to the Melanesian race and are related to the people inhabiting the islands along the southern rim of the Pacific. The Negritos are believed to have settled on the island first, probably some 30,000 years ago, followed by the Melanesians. The people of the central highlands still maintain their ancestral customs and traditions and are virtually untouched by alien influences. Most of the changes have so far taken place among the coastal people, who are being subjected to ever increasing contacts with the world outside. This process of change is being accelerated by the work of missionaries, who have been working for many decades among the local populations. The people of the north and west are mostly Protestants, while those of the south and of the hinterland around Enarotali are Roman Catholics. Those around Fakfak and the Raja Ampat Islands are mostly Moslem. Animism is still practiced by isolated tribes in various parts of the province.

Although Irian Jaya is famed for its Bird of Paradise, the province's fauna is not particularly rich. Almost all the animals here are of the Australian fauna type. Copper, oil, timber and sea products like fish and shrimps are among the province's main products.

WEST IRIAN JAYA
Irian Jaya is a tropical island with primeval rain forests, powerful rivers, beautiful beaches, lakes and mountains. The highest mountain is Mount Jaya wijaya, with snowcaps covering its 5,000-meter-high peaks. The area is also rich in natural resources, including fish, timber and precious metals. These, however ever, have become a source of conflict between the central government and local peoples.

West Irian Jaya is a hot, humid island rising from the sea with some of the most impenetrable jungles in the world and yet also has snowcaps covering 5,000meter - High Mountain peaks, towering over glacier lakes. West Irian Jaya is Indonesia's largest and easternmost province and covers the western half of the world's second largest island. It is a land of exceptional natural grandeur, with beautiful scenic beaches, immense stretches of marshlands, cool grassy meadows and powerful rivers carving gorges and tunnels through dark and dense primeval forests. The most heavily populated and cultivated parts of the island are the Paniai Lakes district and the Baliem Valley to the east.

The people of the island can be divided into more than 250 subgroup, which are closely related to the islands along the southern rim of the Pacific and include among others, the Marindanim, Yah'ray, Asmat, Mandobo, Dani and Afyat. Those in the central highlands still maintain their customs and traditions and because of the terrain have virtually been untouched by outside influences. Communications hove always been difficult here and different tribes have lived, for the most part, in isolation even of each other, resulting in an incredibly diverse mixture of cultures.

POPULATION
The province has a population of approximately 800,000,making it one of the least populous of all Indonesian provinces. The capital of Irian Jaya Barat is Manokwari. The most populated and cultivated parts of the island are Paniai Lake district and Baliem Valley to the east. The population comprises migrants from Java and indigenous people from diverse tribes, such as Dani of Baliem Valley in the central highlands, Asmat of the southern coastal region and Ekari of Wissel Lakes region. The official language is Indonesian but the indigenous people, reflecting the isolation and small numbers of the tribes, speak at least 250 languages.

GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
The province contains one city, Sorong, and 8 regencies:

* Manokwari
* Fak Fak
* Sorong Selatan with its capital is Teminabuan
* Raja Ampat with its capital is Waisai
* Kaimana
* Bintuni Bay with its capital is Bintuni
* Wondama Bay with its capital is Rasiei
* Sorong Regency
* Sorong city

EAST PAPUA
Papua is one of Indonesia province comprising a majority part of the western half of New Guinea Island and nearby. The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea but in 2003, the western portion of the province, on the Bird's Head Peninsula, was declared in Jakarta as separate province named West Irian Jaya. The legality of this separation has been disputed, as it appears to conflict with the conditions of the Special Autonomy status awarded to Papua in the year 2000.The status of West Irian Jaya province is not yet resolved as of early 2006.

Papua is the official Indonesian and internationally recognized name for the province. During the colonial era the region was known as Dutch New Guinea. The province was known as West Irian or Irian Barat from 1969 to 1973, and then renamed Irian Jaya ("Victorious Irian") by Soeharto. This was the official name until Papua was adopted in 2002.Today,natives of this province prefer to call themselves Papuans rather than Irianese. This may be due to etymology (variously identified as a real etymology or a folk etymology) the name of Irian, which stems from the acronym Ikut Republik Indonesia, Anti Nederland (join/follow with the Republic of Indonesia, rejecting The Netherlands). The name West Papua is used among Papuan separatists and usually refers to the whole of the Indonesian portion of New Guinea.

The capital of Papua province is Jayapura. Most of the population depends on subsistence farming, especially the cultivation of rice and maize. The main industries include copper (with the largest concentration of copper in the world at Tembagapura), palm oil, copra, maize, groundnuts, pepper, tuna, gold, oil, coal and phosphates. It is mostly a mountainous and forested region, with the Maoke Mountain range rising to 5,029-m/16,499 ft at Jaya Peak. The population comprises Melanesians (original settlers of Western New Guinea), Papuans, Negritos and Europeans. Indigenous animism prevails. The province declared independence from Indonesia, as West Papua, in June 2000. Howeve the president of Indonesia stated that the declaration was unrepresentative of true feeling in the province.

Geographically
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 ensure 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 covered by thick rain forest and a warm humid year round climate. The third major habitat feature is the southeast lowlands with extensive wetlands stretching for hundreds of kilometers. Mamberamo River sometimes referred to 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 famous Baliem Valley, home of the Dani people is a tableland 1600 m above sea level in the midst of the central mountain range; Jaya Peak, sometimes known by its former Dutch name Carstensz Pyramid, is a mist covered limestone mountain peak 5030 m above sea level.

Wide Area
The wide area of Papua is 420,000 sq km/162,000 sq mi.
Population Papua population based on 2000 est. is 2,220,900.It has some 240 different tribal peoples, each with its own language and culture. Indigenous Papuans in West Papua and Papua New Guinea speak some 15% of the world's known languages. West Papua together with the rest of the island of New Guinea, are the lungs of the Asia-Pacific, containing the last great surviving virgin rainforest after the Amazon.

Demographics
The population of Papua province and the neighboring West Irian Jaya, both of which are still under a united administration, totaled 2,646,489 in 2005. Since the early 1990s,Papua has had the highest population growth rate of all Indonesian provinces at over 3% annually. This is partly a result of high birth rates but also from immigration from other regions in Indonesia.

According to the 2000 census, 78% of the Papuan population identified themselves as Christian with 54% being Protestant and 24% being Catholic. 21% of the population was Muslim and less than 1% were Buddhist or Hindu. There is also substantial practice of animism by Papuans, which is not recorded by the Indonesian government in line with the policy of Pancasila.

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, cuscuses), other mammals (including the endangered Long-beaked Echidna), many bird species (including birds of paradise, cassowaries, parrots, cockatoos), the world's longest lizards (Papua monitor) and 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 2006,a team of scientists exploring the Foja Mountains, Sarmi, discovered numerous new species of birds, butterflies, amphibians and plants, including a species of rhododendron, which may have the largest bloom of the genus. Ecological threats include logging-induced deforestation, forest conversion for plantation agriculture (especially oil palm), small holder agricultural conversion, the introduction and potential spread of non-native 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.

Regions
Indonesia structures regions contains of regencies and sub districts within those. Though names and areas of control of these regional structures can vary over time in accord with changing political and other requirements, in 2005 Papua province consisted of 19 regencies. The regencies are: Timika, Yapen-Waropen, Biak-Numfor, Nabire, Puncak Jaya, Paniai, Jayawijaya, Merauke, Sarmi, Keerom, Waropen, Tolikara, Yahukimo, Bintang Mountain, oven Digoel, Mappi, Asmat, Supiori and Jayapura. In addition to these, Jayapura city also has the status of regency.

Government
Papua province has governed by a directly elected governor and a regional legislature,DPRP (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Papua). A unique government organization that only exists in Papua is the MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua / Papuan People's Council) that was formed by the Indonesian Government in 2005 as a coalition of Papuan tribal chiefs, tasked with arbitration and speaking on behalf of Papuan tribal customs.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Jayapura
Jayapura is the capital and the biggest city of this easternmost province. It is a neat and pleasant city, built on the slope of a hill overlooking the bay. General Douglas Mc Arthur's World War II quarters still stand here. The Museum Jayapura is located inside the Cenderawasih University campus.


The Skyline Hills
Tanjung Ria Beach, known as base G by the Allies during World War II, is a popular holiday resort with facilities for water sports. From Skyline in the hills behind the city, one gets a beautiful view of Jayapura, Jotefa and Humboldt bays and the lake Sentani area.Places in the vicinity of Jayapura such as Skyline and Lake Sentani can be reached by taking a minibus. Biak has air and sea links with Jayapura. Sorong, is also served by air fromJayapura. Other destinations are reached by car or boat, or by light aircraft
From Skyline in the hills behind the city, one gets a beautiful view of Jayapura, Jotefa and Humboldt bays and the lake Sentani area.

Lake Sentani
There is a settlement on the shore of this lake not far from Jayapura where one can observe local traditions as they are practiced in the daily lives of the people. The short trip from Jayapura, pleasant as it is, offers a little foretaste of the province's magnificent sceneries.

Biak
Biak, a town built on the rocky soil of an island of the same name on the rim of Cenderawasih Bay, is Irian Jaya's gateway. A big Indonesian naval base, it has an infrastructure that is better than in most other places in the province. Japanese caves are found near Ambroben.

There are some good beaches on Biak island, the most popular of which are Bosnik on the east coast, good for swimming and skin-diving and Korem on the north coast, where one can watch young men dive for pearls. Supiori Island, just north of Beaches a recreation forest and villages where visitors are welcome.

Casuarinas Cape
Named after the big casuarinas trees which grow in the area, Kasuarina Cape is just two kilometers from Sorong town on the Bird's Head peninsula of northern Irian Jaya. Good for swimming and recreation.

The Asmat
The Asmat people who live along the remote southeast coast around Agats are famed for their artistic "primitive" woodcarving. Modern civilization did not reach this area until recently. Agats has an interesting museum filled with woodcarvings and other objects.

The area, however is still largely untamed wilderness. Asmat crafts received a boost in the late 1960s under a United Nations supported project to encourage local craftsmen to keep alive their art. Daily flights are available between Jayapura, Jakarta and Ujung Pandang. In addition, there are weekly flights to and from Ambon, Surabaya and Bali.

PT. Pelni has regular service between Jakarta, Surabaya Ujung Pandang, and Jayapura in comfortable passenger ships.

Places in the vicinity of Jayapura such as Skyline and Lake Sentani can be reached by taking a minibus. Biak has air and sea links with Jayapura. Sorong, is also served by air from Jayapura. Other destinations are reached by car or boat, or by light aircraft.

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