Papua is a province of Indonesia. It comprises most of the western half of the island of New Guineaand nearby islands. Its capital is Jayapura. It is the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia.
The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea. In 2003, the Indonesian government declared the westernmost part of the island, around Bird's Head Peninsula, a separate province; its name was first West Irian Jaya and is now West Papua: the remaining part retained the name, Province of Papua. It is bordered by the nation of Papua New Guinea to the east.During the Dutch colonial era the region was known as part of "Dutch New Guinea" or "Netherlands New Guinea". Since its annexation in 1969, it became known as "West Irian" or "Irian Barat" until 1973, and thereafter renamed "Irian Jaya" (roughly translated, "Glorious Irian") by the Suharto administration. This was the official name until the name "Papua" was adopted in 2002. Today, natives of this province prefer to call themselves Papuans.
Terima Kasih Monie for this beautiful "People" card from Papua!
Received: 27 December 2012
