Note #2:
For further information about Papua, including photos and maps, please see the Papua information page
on our mission organisation's new web site.

Profile of Indonesia Location: Southeast Asia, between IndoChina and Australia.  The world's largest archipelago with 18,108 islands.  Size: 1,919,440 km2.  The 15th largest country in the world by area. Population: 241 million.  The world's 4th most populous nation.  About half the population lives on the island of Java, one of the most densely populated regions on earth. Capital & largest city: Jakarta (pop 8.7 million) Leader: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (President) Gained independence: August 17, 1945 from the Netherlands Language: The national language is Bahasa Indonesia.  There are over 500 local languages and dialects. Religion: 89% Muslim, 8% Christian, 2% Hindu, 1% Buddhist Currency: Rupiah.  A$1 = 7500 rupiah (approx.) Major resources/industries: Oil, natural gas, textiles, timber, tea, coffee, rubber, tin, copper, gold, rice, spices, palm oil Geology: Indonesia lies on the borders of several tectonic plates.  It has frequent earthquakes and many volcanoes. On December 24, 2004, Indonesia was hit by a massive offshore earthquake and a tsunami, causing over 237,000 deaths.

Profile of Papua Location: The easternmost province of Indonesia, comprising the western half of the island of New Guinea. Names: The western half of the island was a single province named Irian Jaya from 1973 to 2002.  In 2002 its name was officially changed to Papua.  In 2003 a law was passed ruling that Papua would be divided into 3 provinces, the first division occurred and it was called West Irian Jaya.  Due to protests, the second division never occurred, meaning that the majority of the original province was still left as a single province.  In 2004, the Indonesian constitutional court anulled the previous law which was to divide the province, however the court ruled that the new province of West Irian Jaya was already established and would stay.  These facts get very confusing, made even more so by the fact that the eastern half of the island is a separate country altogether called Papua New Guinea. It is easier to talk about the western half of the island as just one province as it was originally.  This is most frequently known simply as "Papua", although the original name "Irian Jaya" is still common.  All the data below refers to Papua as the entire western half of the island treated as one province. Size: Papua's land area is approximately 420,000 km2. It comprises 21% of the total land area of Indonesia, but is home to only 1% of its population.  The whole island of New Guinea is the second largest island on earth, after Greenland. Population: Approx 2.5 million (roughly 50% indigenous, 50% migrants from other parts of Indonesia) Largest city: Jayapura (located in the north-east corner) Language: The national language is Bahasa Indonesia.  However there are 265 tribal languages.  Mostly due to its inhospitable, rugged terrain, the island of New Guinea as a whole contains nearly one quarter of the world's languages. Major products/industries: Mining (50+% of income), oil, gas, wood and other natural resources. Geography: The centre of the province is dominated by a large jungle-covered mountain chain, approximately 600km long by 100 km across, which has some of the most rugged terrain on earth.  The highest peak in the chain is Puncak Jaya, 4884 m high, which is permanently covered in snow and even has a small glacier, despite being only 2 degrees south of the equator.  It is considered by some to be one of the world's Seven Summits.  About half of the land in the province is hilly or mountainous. On each side of the mountain chain are extensive lowlands, particularly in the south, with hundreds of kilometers of swampy land.  The climate there is hot and humid. Other notable features include the largest river, the Mamberamo, which flows north from the mountains to the ocean; the Baliem valley, a famous tableland or wide valley located 1600m above sea level in the middle of the mountain range; and Lake Sentani, a large fresh water lake despite being very close to the ocean, located near the main city of Jayapura. Ecology: Papua is almost entirely covered in tropical forest, and has among the richest biodiversity on earth.  Its ecology is estimated to contain approximately 16,000+ species of plants, 80,000+ species of insects, 2700+ species of orchid, and 600+ species of birds, to name a few.  However these are only estimations since much of Papua remains to be explored, much its ecology is yet to be discovered by science.

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