| West Papua | |||
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| — Province — | |||
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| Motto: Cintaku Negeriku (Indonesian) (My love, my country) |
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| Location of West Papua in Indonesia | |||
| Coordinates (Manokwari): | |||
| Country | Indonesia | ||
| Capital | Manokwari | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Abraham Octavianus Atururi | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 97,024.27 km2 (37,461.3 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 741,841 | ||
| • Density | 7.6/km2 (19.8/sq mi) | ||
| Demographics | |||
| • Ethnic groups | Melanesian, Papuan | ||
| • Religion | Christianity, Islam, Indigenous religions | ||
| • Languages | Indonesian (official) | ||
| Time zone | EIT (UTC+09) | ||
| Website | papuabaratprov.go.id | ||
West Papua (Indonesian: Papua Barat) is a province of Indonesia covering the western peninsula of the island of New Guinea. It is the least-populous province of Indonesia and one of two situated in Indonesian New Guinea, with the province of Papua also lying to the east. Prior to 2007, the province was known as West Irian Jaya (Indonesian: Irian Jaya Barat). The region covers the Bird's Head (Doberai) and Bomberai peninsulas and the surrounding islands of Raja Ampat. Its first census, in 2010 recorded some 761,000 people.[1]
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The capital of West Papua province is Manokwari. It is administratively divided into ten regencies (kabupaten) and one city (kota): Regency - Principal Town - Area - Population
Even after Indonesia's independence in 1949, Irian Jaya was retained by the Dutch for various reasons. However, Indonesia claimed all of the territory of the former Dutch East Indies, including the Dutch New Guinea holdings, so it invaded Irian Jaya in 1961. In 1969, the United Nations supervised the Act of Free Choice in which Papuan leaders decided in favour of joining Indonesia. This was however rejected by the Free Papua Movement (OPM). The OPM group then conducted guerrilla warfare against Indonesia.[3]
West Papua was created from the western portion of Papua province in February 2003, initially under the name of Irian Jaya Barat; it was renamed Papua Barat (West Papua) on 7 February 2007.
In November 2004, an Indonesian court agreed that the split violated Papua's autonomy laws. However, the court ruled that because the new province had already been created, it should remain separate from Papua. The ruling also prohibited the creation of another proposed province, Central Irian Jaya, as that division had not yet been formalised.
The split is inline with the general trend of provincial splits that is occurring in all parts of Indonesia in the post-Suharto era. The new province has so far been widely supported by the province's inhabitants, as the new entity created more jobs and more government subsidies flowing into the province.[4]
The province changed its name to West Papua on 7 February 2007. The new name applies from that date, but a plenary session of the provincial legislative council is required to legalise the change of name, and the government needs to then issue a regulation.[5]
At 4:43 am local time on 3 January 2009, an earthquake 7.6 on the Richter magnitude scale struck near the northern coast of the Doberai Peninsula. A tsunami warning was initially issued but lifted within an hour of the quake.[6][7] The earthquake occurred about 150 km west-northwest of Manokwari and about 170 km east-northeast of Sorong.[7]
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