propinsi (province), Indonesia, the western half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands—including the individual islands of Yapen (Yapen Island), Adi, Waigeo (Waigeo Island), Batanta, Kofiau, Salawati, Misool, and Yos Sudarsa and the Schouten Islands. Papua fronts the Ceram and Banda seas to the west, the Arafura Sea to the southwest, and the Pacific Ocean to the north; it is bounded by Papua New Guinea to the east. The provincial capital is Jayapura. Papua's former name, Irian, is the Indonesian term for New Guinea, with barat meaning “west” and jaya “glorious,” or “victorious.”

The first Europeans to sight the island were the Portuguese in 1511, and what is now Papua province was subsequently visited by Spanish, Dutch, German, and English explorers. The English attempted to found a colony near Manokwari in 1793. The Dutch claimed the western half of New Guinea in 1828, but their first permanent administrative posts, at Fakfak and Manokwari, were not set up until 1898. Haji Misbach, a Muslim communist, was exiled by the Dutch to Irian Barat in 1924, and three years later about 1,300 communists were imprisoned there after an uprising in Java. The Japanese occupied the northern part of Irian Barat in World War II until Allied forces recaptured Hollandia (now Jayapura) in 1944. The Netherlands regained sovereignty of Irian Barat at the end of the war and retained it after granting independence to Indonesia in 1949. In 1962, after protracted negotiations, Irian Barat was placed under United Nations administration. The region was transferred to Indonesia in 1963, with provision that a plebiscite would be held by 1969 to decide its future.

Opposition to Indonesian rule quickly sprang up, led by the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka; OPM). The plebiscite took place in 1969, and, though the results were suspect, the area became the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya. The OPM continued to resist Indonesian rule, and violence broke out periodically. By 2002 Indonesia had changed the name of the province to Papua and granted it more autonomy. Efforts were also made to divide Papua into three provinces, one of which, West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat), was declared in 2003.

The Maoke Mountains, an extension of the cordillera composing the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, stretch about 400 miles (640 km) east-west across the central part of Papua and rise to an elevation of 16,502 feet (5,030 metres) at Mount Jaya (Jaya Peak). The summits are heavily forested, except for the highest ones, which consist of glaciated rock. To the north is the east-west valley of the Tariku and Taritatu rivers, tributaries to the northwestward-flowing Mamberamo River. The Van Rees and Gauttier ranges, the latter rising to some 7,450 feet (2,270 metres), separate the east-west valley from the northern coastal lowlands. The mostly lowland Bomberai Peninsula lies to the west, and the more mountainous Doberai (Vogelkop; Dutch, “Bird's Head”) Peninsula is to the northwest. Extending south of the Maoke Mountains is a wide swampy area imperfectly drained by the Digul, Pulau, Braza, Baliem, Loren, Armandville, Blumen, Semara, and Mapi rivers. The high mountain regions are broken by valleys covered with coarse grass, and tropical rainforest vegetation is common. The low-lying areas north of the central mountain range are clothed with dense rainforests. Among the many varieties of trees are palms (sago, coconut, and nipa), sandalwood, ebony, rubber, casuarina, cedar, breadfruit, and mangrove; orchids and ferns thrive in the rainforests. Wildlife includes marsupials, monotremes (egg-laying mammals), snakes, crocodiles, butterflies, cassowaries, birds of paradise, moundbuilders, bowerbirds, anteaters, flying foxes, wild dogs, wild pigs, opossums, tortoises, frilled lizards, water rats, tree kangaroos, plumed herons, green pigeons, and lories.

Most of the people are engaged in agriculture; the chief products are cacao, fish, nutmeg, rice, shells, timber, vegetables, copra (dried coconut), and copal (varnish resin). Industrial activities include sawmilling, rice milling, and shipbuilding. Crafts include wood carving, leather tanning, basket and mat weaving, and handloom weaving.

One of the largest concentrations of copper ore in the world is at Tembagapura. Despite long-term guerrilla fighting, exploitation of those deposits has taken place at nearby Kokenau, on the south-central coast, the ore being shipped at Amaferi. Oil is also drilled, and gold and uranium are mined. Papua has been the scene of intense exploration for nickel, petroleum, and additional copper deposits. Among its exports are crude oil, copra, copal, spices, and wood. Internal transport consists of a few secondary coastal roads, riverboats, and airways linking Sorong, Manokwari, Inanwaten, Fakfak, Biak, Nabire, Kokenau, Enarotali, Merauke, Wamena, and Jayapura. The population comprises Melanesians (the original settlers of western New Guinea), Negritos, Papuans, and Europeans. Immigrants from the Celebes, Java, and the Moluccas have settled as traders and fishermen along the coasts and river mouths and on satellite islands. Numerous local languages are spoken, some by only a few people. Although indigenous animism prevails, there are some Muslims and Christians. Area 162,928 square miles (421,981 square km). Pop. (2000) 2,220,934.