Papua Island

Papua is a province of Indonesia are the largest located in the center of the island's most eastern part of Papua or West New Guinea (Irian Jaya). Eastern hemisphere is a country of Papua New Guinea or East New Guinea.

Papua Province covers the entire territory of Papua before the west, so often referred to as West Papua, particularly by the Free Papua Organization (OPM), the nationalists who want independence from Indonesia and establish their own state. During the colonial Dutch East Indies, the region is known as Dutch New Guinea (Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea or Dutch New Guinea). Once under Indonesian rule, the region known as West Irian Province from 1969 until 1973. His name was later changed to Irian Jaya by Soeharto inaugurated at the Freeport copper and gold mine, a name still used officially until 2002.

The name was changed to Papua province in accordance with Law No. 21 of 2001 on Special Autonomy. In 2003, accompanied by numerous protests (and the incorporation of Central Papua East Papua), Papua was divided into two provinces by the government of Indonesia; the eastern kept the name while the western part of Papua into the Province of West Irian Jaya (West Papua a year later.) The eastern part of which is the area of Papua Province at this time.

This island has 40 major rivers, 12 lakes, and 40 islands. The Mamberamo river 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 vast southern lowlands, which consist of a mosaic of habitats including mangrove, tidal and freshwater swamp forest and lowland rainforest, are home to a dense population of fishermen and gatherers such as the Asmat people. The Baliem Valley, home of the Dani people is a tableland 1,600 m (5,250 ft) above sea level in the midst of the central mountain range.

Papua word itself comes from the Malay language which means curly hair, a description which refers to the physical appearance of the original tribes. [wikipedia]