History of Papua
Papua is a province in Indonesia which is located on the western island of New Guinea. Papua is also often referred to as West Papua because Papua can refer to the entire island of New Guinea including the eastern part of the neighboring country, East New Guinea or Papua New Guinea. West Papua is the term preferred by nationalists who want to separate themselves from Indonesia and form their own country. This province was previously known as West Irian from 1969 to 1973, the name was then changed to Irian Jaya by Soeharto when inaugurating the Freeport copper and gold mine, a name that remained in official use until 2002. The name of this province was changed to Papua in accordance with Law No. 21/2001 Special Autonomy for Papua. During the Dutch colonial era, this area was called Dutch New Guinea.
The origin of the word Irian is Join the Republic of Indonesia Anti-Netherland. The word Papua itself comes from Malay which means curly hair, a description that refers to the physical appearance of indigenous tribes.
In 2004, accompanied by various protests, Papua was divided into two provinces by the Indonesian government. The eastern part retained the name Papua while the western part became West Irian Jaya which is now West Papua Province.
Geography
An area
Area 420,540 km
Climate
Rainfall 1,800 3,000 mm
Air temperature 19-28 C
Humidity 80 %
Indigenous tribal groups in Papua
The indigenous tribal groups in Papua consist of 255 tribes, each with a different language. These tribes include:
Ansus
Amungme
Asmat
Ayamaru, inhabits the Sorong area
Bauzi
Breed
Dani
Empur, inhabits the Kebar and Amberbaken areas
Hatam, inhabit the Ransiki and Oransbari areas
Yep
Comoros
Mee, inhabit the Paniai mountain area
Meyakh, inhabits Manokwari City
Moskona, inhabits the Merdei area
Nafri
Sentani, inhabit around Lake Sentani
Souk, inhabits the Anggi and Manyambouw areas
Waropen
Wamesa inhabits the area south of Wondawa Bay (wandamen)
Muyu
Repent
Enggros
Korowai
Fuyu