Introduction to Papua

A land of exceptional natural grandeur

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. Papua, 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 (...)

History	Where to the Irianese come from?

It is not known for sure where the Irianese originated. There are two basic ethnicities native to Irian - the Negroid peoples and those of Melanesian stock. It is thought that the Negritos settled on the island first, probably some 30,000 years ago, followed by those of Melanesian stock. One theory is that the bulk of Irianese came from East Africa and were pushed interior by successive migrations (...)

Raja Ampat Islands	A devine diving destination in eastern Indonesia

Raja Ampat Islands is the most western district of the Indonesian province of Papua. Raja Ampat consists of an area surrounding four major island off the western coast of Birds Head Panisula of New Guinea Island. The western half of which is Indonesia and the eastern half, Papua New Guinea. The province was called Irian Jaya, and its a cluster of over 1500 small Islands. Raja Ampat is t (...)

Travel	Follow in the footsteps ...

Travel in Papua can be a great experience and it can be a terrible experience. Careful planning can help eliminate many of the more unpleasant aspects as well as enhance the more pleasurable ones. Select the appropriate link for your needs. But first some basic advice would be in order. Things to keep in mind are as follows. Indonesians do not shake hands with their left hand. This is c (...)

Bintang Kejora	A myth and a miracle that didn't take place

It wasn't quite the miracle they had been hoping for, but rebels of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) were yesterday celebrating a partial victory. During a visit to Papua at the weekend, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid agreed the easternmost province would revert to its former name of West Papua. However, he ruled out any hope of the OPM achieving its dream of independence. "As (...)

Danau Sentani	A lake created by a fault in the earths' crust

Lake Sentani, near Jayapura at the northeastern extremity of Papua, lies at an elevation of 73 m in a fault-controlled depression mainly in Mesozoic mafic and ultramafic rocks of the Cyclops Ophiolite Belt. It is bounded by the Cyclops Mountains block to the north and the lower-standing terrain of the New Guinea fold thrust belt to the south. An irregularly shaped body with approximate maximum dim (...)