West
Papau
Irian Jaya is a tropical island with primeval rain
forests, powerful rivers, beautiful beaches, lakes,
and mountains. The highest mountain is Mount Jayawijaya,
with snowcaps covering its 5,000-meter-high peaks.
The area is also rich in natural resources, including
fish, timber, and precious metals. These, however
ever, have become a source of conflict between the
central government and local peoples.
West
Irian Jaya is a hot, humid island rising from
the sea with some of the most impenetrable jungles
in the world and yet also has snowcaps covering
5,000meter - High Mountain peaks, towering over
glacier lakes. West Irian Jaya is Indonesia's
largest and easternmost province and covers the
western half of the world's second largest island.
It is a land of exceptional natural grandeur,
with beautiful scenic beaches, immense stretches
of marshlands, cool grassy meadows and powerful
rivers carving gorges and tunnels through dark
and dense primeval forests. The most heavily populated
and cultivated parts of the island are the Paniai
Lakes district and the Baliem Valley to the east.
The
people of the island can be divided into more
than 250 subgroup, which are closely related to
the islands along the southern rim of the Pacific
and include among others, the Marindanim, Yah'ray,
Asmat, Mandobo, Dani and Afyat. Those in the central
highlands still maintain their customs and traditions
and because of the terrain have virtually been
untouched by outside influences. Communications
hove always been difficult here and different
tribes have lived, for the most part, in isolation
even of each other, resulting in an incredibly
diverse mixture of cultures.
POPULATION
The province has a population of approximately 800,000,
making it one of the least populous of all Indonesian
provinces. The capital of Irian Jaya Barat is Manokwari.
The most populated and cultivated parts of the island
are Paniai Lake district and Baliem Valley to the
east. The population comprises migrants from Java
and indigenous people from diverse tribes, such
as Dani of Baliem Valley in the central highlands,
Asmat of the southern coastal region, and Ekari
of Wissel Lakes region. The official language is
Indonesian, but the indigenous people, reflecting
the isolation and small numbers of the tribes, speak
at least 250 languages.
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Information
and pictures courtesy of Indonesia Tourism. |
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