West Papua (province)

West Papua Papua Barat
Province with special status
Province of West Papua
Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Cintaku negeriku (Indonesian) (My love, my country)
Location of West Papua in Indonesia
OpenStreetMap
Coordinates (Manokwari): 0°52′S 134°5′E / 0.867°S 134.083°E / -0.867; 134.083
Country	Indonesia
Founded	2003
Capital and largest city	Manokwari
Government
• Body	West Papua Provincial Government
• Governor	Ali Baham Temongmere [id] (Acting)
• Vice Governor	Vacant
Area
• Total	60,275.33 km2 (23,272.44 sq mi)
• Rank	5th
	[1]
Highest elevation (Mount Arfak)	2,955 m (9,695 ft)
Population  (mid 2022 estimate)[1]
• Total	561,403
• Density	9.3/km2 (24/sq mi)
	92.03
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	51% West Papuan tribes (including Arfak, Biak-Numfor, Ayfat, Baham, Yapen, Mooi, Tehit, Wandamen, Irahutu, Kokoda, Inanwatan) 15% Javanese 5.3% Buginese 4.4% Ambonese 4.1% Butonese 2.3% Makassar 17.9% other
• Religion	62.9% Christianity —54.2% Protestantism —8.7% Catholicism 36.7% Islam 0.19% Hinduism 0.19% Buddhism
• Languages	Indonesian Papuan Malay (lingua franca) and various local languages
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (Indonesia Eastern Time)
HDI	0.626 (medium)
HDI rank	16th
Website	papuabaratprov.go.id

West Papua (Indonesian: Papua Barat), formerly Irian Jaya Barat (West Irian), is an Indonesian province located in the land of Papua. It covers most of the two western peninsulas of the island of New Guinea, the eastern half of the Bird's Head Peninsula (or Doberai Peninsula) and the whole of the Bomberai Peninsula, along with nearby smaller islands. The province is bordered to the north by the Pacific Ocean, to the west by Southwest Papua Province, the Halmahera Sea and the Ceram Sea, to the south by the Banda Sea, and to the east by the province of Central Papua and the Cenderawasih Bay. Manokwari is the province's capital and largest city. With an estimated population of 561,403 in mid-2022, West Papua is the least populous province in Indonesia after Southwest Papua, which was a part of West Papua until separated off in 2022.^[1]

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Dutch remained in New Guinea until 1962 when they transferred the control of the region to the Indonesian government as a part of the New York Agreement. West Papua was legally created as a province in 1999 (out of the original Papua Province), but it was not inaugurated until 2003. Consisting until 2022 of twelve regencies and one city, the province has a special autonomous status as granted by Indonesian legislation.

West Papua has a medium Human Development Index. The Indonesian government has launched the building of ambitious infrastructure projects including the Trans-Papua Highway, airports, and other facilities. Detractors claim that these projects threaten Southeast Asia's and Oceania's last large regions of tropical rainforests and native cultures.^[2] According to Bank Indonesia, West Papua recorded an economic growth rate of 7.7% during 2018, which is higher than the national economic growth.^[3]