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The name West Papua is also in common use, as Papua may also refer to either the entire island of New Guinea or to the southern half of the neighboring country of Papua New Guinea. West Papua is the preferred name among nationalists who hope to separate from Indonesia and form their own country. The province was known as West Irian or Irian Barat from 1969 to 1973—Irian is the Indonesian term for the island of New Guinea. It was then renamed Irian Jaya (roughly translated, "Victorious Irian") by Suharto, a name that remained in official use until 2002. During the colonial era the region was known as Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea.
In 2004, Papua was subdivided by the Indonesian government into two provinces; the eastern portion retained the name Papua, and the western portion, on the Bird's Head Peninsula, became West Irian Jaya.
Papuans, the native people of New Guinea, have inhabited the island for more than forty thousand years. Papuans are Melanesian, as are the Pacific people of the Solomons, Vanuatu, New CaledoniaNew Caledonia ( French: Nouvelle-Caledonie is a territory of 18,575 km² (7,172 sq. miles) made up of a main island and several smaller islands, in the southwest Pacific. Population in 2004 is in between 250,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. Name The name deriv and FijiThe Republic of the Fiji Islands occupies an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu. Republic of the Fiji Islands Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti ( In Detail) National motto:Rerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na; Papua and the Moluccas are part of AustralasiaAustralasia is the area that includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the many smaller islands in the vicinity, most of which are the eastern part of Indonesia. The name was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres austr. Papua has developed a diversity of separate cultures and languages; there are 253 known languages and over two hundred additional dialects (See Papuan languagesThe term Papuan languages refers to those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The majority of the Papuan languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea (which is divided between the countries of Papua New Guin).
It is believed the first Europeans to sight New Guinea were the Portuguese, but it was the Dutch vessel DuyfkenThe Duyfken little dove in English) was a small Dutch ship that sailed from the Indonesian island of Banda in 1606 in search of gold and trade opportunities on Nova Guinea (now Papua New Guinea). In the course of that voyage, it encountered the Australian which first recorded its travel along the southern coast of Papua in 1605Events April 13 Tsar Boris Godunow dies Feodor II accedes to the throne May 16 Paul V becomes Pope June 1 Russian troops in Moscow imprison Feodor II and his mother. They are later executed June 20 Pretender Dmitri and his supporters march to Moscow July. The Duyfken did not explore the coast of Papua, but sailed south into the Gulf of Carpentaria, landing in northern Australia.
In 1828 the Dutch claimed the south coast west of the 141st meridian, and in 1848 added the north coast west of Humboldt Bay. The Netherlands established trading posts in the area after Britain and Germany recognized the Dutch claims in treaties of 1885 and 1895. (At much the same time, Britain claimed south-east New Guinea later known as the Territory of Papua and Germany claimed the north-east later known as the Territory of New Guinea).
The need for a national Papuan government was discussed by graduates of the Dutch Protestant Missionary Teachers College in Mei Wondama, Manokwari during the 1930s. These graduates then continued these discussions among the wider community and its three hundred languages. The College Principal Rev. Kijne also composed Hai Tanahku Papua (Oh My Land Papua) which was adopted as the national anthem in 1961.
In 1942 the northern coast of West Papua and the nearby islands were occupied by the Japanese Empire. Allied forces expelled the Japanese in 1944 and with Papuan approval the United States constructed a huge base and Headquarters for Gen. MacArthur at Hollandia (now Jayapura) as a staging point for operations taking of the Philippines.
After the war ended, the Dutch regained possession of the territory. In March 1945 Japan had appointed Sukarno to head an independence committee for a new nation called Indonesia from the Islands of Java and Sumatra; acknowledged in 1949, in 1950 Indonesia also claimed the Asian islands of Borneo, the Celebes, and the Australasian islands of Timor (under Portuguese administration), the Moluccas, and West Papua. The Dutch eventually surrender their possessions in Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas; but retained Netherlands New Guinea which was clearly Melanesian and not Malay in both nature and culture. A governor and an administration of its own, directly under The Hague were appointed.
In 1952, the Netherlands recognized Papuan self-determination as a right in accordance with Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations, and began preparing the nation for independence. After repeated Indonesian claims for Dutch New Guinea, Indonesia was invited by Holland to present the claim before an International Court of Law, but declined. Concerned that invasion might be a possibility, Holland accelerated its education and technical programs in preparation for independence.
In 1961, the Dutch Foreign Minister, Joseph Luns, launched a plan to have western New Guinea put under UN control. A number of African countries, known as the Brazzaville Group, also called for the territory to be put provisionally under international control. In 1961 an elected Nieuw Guinea Raad (New Guinea Council) became the first Papuan parliament. The new government adopted a national anthem, the Papuan flag (Morning Star), and decided the territory's official name would be "West Papua". The Dutch recognized the flag and anthem (though not the name) on 18 November 1961 (Government Gazettes of Dutch New Guinea Nos. 68 and 69), and these ordinances came into effect on December 1, 1961.
The Morning Star was raised on the 1st December 1961, an act which West Papuan people celebrate each year at flag raising ceremonies as indicative of their national unity and commitment to independence. The date for independence of Netherlands New Guinea was set for 1970.
The Dutch commitment to eventual Papuan independence led to an undeclared war between Indonesia and the Netherlands in New Guinea. On December 19, 1961, Indonesia commenced a guerrilla war against Dutch forces including a minor naval battle on January 19 1962. Behind the scenes, the Netherlands, under pressure from the United States, began negotiations with Indonesia and in August produced the "New York Agreement". The Australian government, which had been a firm supporter of the Dutch independence position, also reversed its policy.
The agreement, ratified in the UN on September 21 1962, stipulated that authority would transer to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on October 1, and that UNTEA would hand the territory to Indonesia on May 1, 1963, until such time as a UN-conducted "Act of Free Choice" could determine the will of the people.
Since 1962 consistent reports have surfaced of programs of suppression including killings, imprisonments, and aerial bombardments. The Indonesian government disbanded the New Guinea Council, and forbade the use of the new flag or the singing of the national anthem. There has been considerable resistance to Indonesian integration and occupation, both through civil disobedience (such as Morning Star flag raising ceremonies) and via the formation of the quasi-military Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM, or Free Papua Movement) in 1964.
In 1969 Indonesia conducted the widely criticized " Act of Free Choice ". Public voting was deemed to be unnecessary and the Indonesian military selected representatives, provided them with some training in the Indonesian language, and encouraged the representatives to provide a public vote for the assembled troops and two western observers. The observers left after witnessing the first two hundred votes for integration. This procedure was deemed to have been an "Act of Free Choice" in accordance with the United Nations requirements and Indonesia formally annexed the territory in August.
In 1977 construction of the worlds largest copper and gold mine (also the worlds largest open cut mine) began. Under a Indonesian agreement signed in 1967 (two years before the "Act of Free Will") the US company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. holds a 30 year exclusive mining license for the region from the official opening of the mine (1981). Locals made several violent attempts to dissuade the mine owners, including blowing up a pipeline in July, but order was quickly restored.
The 1990s saw Indonesia accelerate its Transmigration Program and ship approximately 1.2 million Islamic Javanese into West Irian over a ten year period. (Prior to Indonesian rule, most people in the territory belonged to Catholic, Protestant or tribal religions.)
A separatist congress in 2000 again calling for independence resulted in a military crackdown on independence supporters. In 2001 a now majority Islamic population was given limited autonomy. An August 2001 US State Department travel warning advised "all travel by U.S. and other foreign government officials to Aceh, Papua and the Moluccas (provinces of North Maluku and Maluku) has been restricted by the Indonesian government".
During the Abdurrahman Wahid administration in 2000, Papua has been given a Special Autonomy status along with Special Province of Aceh. Despite lack of political will of politicians in Jakarta to proceed with real implementation of the Special Autonomy, which is stipulated with a law, the region has then divided into two provinces, e.g., Province of Papua and Province of Irian Jaya Barat, based on a Presidential Instruction in January 2001 soon after President Wahid been impeached by the Parliament and replaced by the Vice President, Megawati Sukarnoputri. The division of the province is neither directly cancelling the Law of Special Autonomy of Papua nor listening to protest coming from throughout the region.
