Friday, May 9, 2008


Western New Guinea is the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and consists of two provinces, Papua and West Papua. It was previously known by various names, including Netherlands New Guinea (1895-1 October 1962), West New Guinea (1 October 1962-1 May 1963), West Irian (1 May 1963–1973), and Irian Jaya (1973–2000). The incorporation of western New Guinea into Indonesia remains controversial with human rights NGOs, including some supporters in the United States Congress and other bodies, as well as many of the territory's indigenous population. Many indigenous inhabitants and human rights NGOs refer to it as West Papua.Western New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia under the controversial Act of Free Choice in 1969. In 2003, the Indonesian central government declared that the province would be split into three provinces: Papua Province, Central Irian Jaya Province, and West Irian Jaya Province. Opposition to this resulted in the plan for Central Irian Jaya province being scrapped, and even the designation of West Irian Jaya Province is still legally unclear. Despite this, the West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat) province was formed on February 6th, 2006 and the name was officially changed to West Papua (Papua Barat) on February 7th, 2007. The independent sovereign state of Papua New Guinea (PNG) borders Papua Province to the east.

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