Papua (Provinsi Papua)
The island of New Guinea has been populated for tens of thousands of years. European traders began frequenting the region around the late 16th century due to spice trade. In the end, the Dutch Empire emerged as the dominant leader in the spice war, annexing the western part of New Guinea into the colony of Dutch East Indies. The Dutch remained in New Guinea until 1962, even though other parts of the former colony has declared independence as the Republic of Indonesia in 1945. Following negotiations and conflicts with the Indonesian government, the Dutch transferred Western New Guinea to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA), which was again transferred to Indonesia after the controversial Act of Free Choice. The province was formerly called Irian Jaya and comprised the entire Western New Guinea until the inauguration of the province of West Papua (then West Irian Jaya) in 2001. In 2002, Papua adopted its current name and was granted a special autonomous status under Indonesian legislation.
The province of Papua remains one of the least developed provinces in Indonesia. As of 2020, Papua has a GDP per capita of Rp 56.1 million (US$ 3,970), ranking 11th place among all Indonesian provinces. However, Papua only has a Human Development Index of 0.604, the lowest among all Indonesian provinces. The harsh New Guinean terrain and climate is one of the main reasons why infrastructure in Papua is considered to be the most challenging to be developed among other Indonesian regions.
The 2020 Census revealed a population of 4,303,707, of which the majority of were Christians. The official estimate for mid 2021 was 4,355,445 prior to the division of the province into four separate provinces. The population in mid 2021 of the reduced province was 1,020,190. The interior is predominantly populated by ethnic Papuans while coastal towns are inhabited by descendants of intermarriages between Papuans, Melanesians and Austronesians, including the Indonesian ethnic groups. Migrants from the rest of Indonesia also tend to inhabit the coastal regions. The province is also home to some uncontacted peoples.
Map - Papua (Provinsi Papua)
Map
Country - Indonesia
Flag of Indonesia |
As the world's third largest democracy, Indonesia is a presidential republic with an elected legislature. It has 38 provinces, of which nine have special status. The country's capital, Jakarta, is the world's second-most populous urban area. Indonesia shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern part of Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and India. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest level of biodiversity.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
IDR | Indonesian rupiah | Rp | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
NL | Dutch language |
EN | English language |
ID | Indonesian language |
JV | Javanese language |