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67-609: A North Halmahera language , it is unlike most languages in Indonesia which belong to the Austronesian language family. Tidore and other North Halmahera languages are perhaps related to languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula , West Papua . Tidore is a regional lingua franca, used for interethnic communication in the Central Halmahera area. Since the 17th century, it had some influence as

134-605: A demonstrable Austronesian stratum , with the ancestral language having received lexical influence from an unnamed Philippine language (or languages). There are also borrowings of probable Central Maluku origin, as well as Oceanic ones; in particular, Voorhoeve (1982) has noted a set of lexical similarities between NH and the Central Papuan languages of the south coast of Papua New Guinea . In addition, Ternate, Tidore, West Makian , and Sahu have adopted many elements of Austronesian grammar; however, other languages of

201-747: A historical legacy of the dominance of the Ternate Sultanate in the Moluccas . Many Ternate loanwords can be found in Sahu. Proto-North Halmahera consonants are (after Voorhoeve 1994: 68, cited in Holton and Klamer 2018: 584): Proto-North Halmahera is notable for having the voiced retroflex stop *ɖ, as retroflex consonants are often not found in Papuan languages . The following proto-North Halmahera reconstructions are listed in Holton and Klamer (2018: 620–621). Most of

268-703: A more Austronesian-type grammar as a consequence of prolonged contact. Spoken in the Maluku Islands , the North Halmahera languages are some of the westernmost Papuan languages (the only other such outlier family in eastern Indonesia being Timor–Alor–Pantar ). Located within Southeast Asia , the two families are arguably the only non-Melanesian linguistic groups that can be linked to the Papuan families of Oceania . The languages are thought to have been brought to

335-473: A political orientation when choosing a name for the western half of the island of New Guinea . The official name of the region is "Papua" according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Independence activists refer to the region as " West Papua ", while Indonesian officials have also used " West Papua " to name the western province of the region since 2007. Historically,

402-547: A steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The tree line is around 4,000 m (13,100 ft) and the tallest peaks feature small glaciers and are snowbound year-round. Both north and west of the central ranges, the land remains mountainous – mostly 1,000 to 2,000 metres (3,300 to 6,600 feet) high with a warm humid climate year-round. The highland areas feature alpine grasslands, jagged bare peaks, montane forests , rainforests, fast-flowing rivers, and gorges. Swamps and low-lying alluvial plains with fertile soil dominate

469-545: A trade language in the Moluccan-New Guinean region. It is closely related to Ternate , of which it is sometimes considered a dialect. Both Ternate and Tidore have been recorded in writing at least since the late 15th century, being the only non-Austronesian (or "Papuan") languages of the region with indigenous (pre-European) literary traditions. All Tidore speakers are also conversant in North Moluccan Malay ,

536-422: Is Indonesian , with Papuan Malay the most used lingua franca . Estimates of the number of local languages in the region range from 200 to over 700, with the most widely spoken including Dani , Yali , Ekari and Biak . The predominant official religion is Christianity , followed by Islam . The main industries include agriculture , fishing , oil production , and mining . Speakers align themselves with

603-491: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . North Halmaheran languages The North Halmahera (NH) languages are a family of languages spoken in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Halmahera and some neighboring islands in Indonesia . The southwestern part of the island is occupied by the unrelated South Halmahera languages , which are a subgroup of Austronesian . They may be most closely related to

670-519: Is also a substantial practice of animism among the major religions, but this is not recorded by the census. There are 6 main Y-chromosome haplogroups in Western New Guinea; Y-chromosome haplogroup M , Y-chromosome haplogroup O , and Y-chromosome haplogroup S across the mountain highlands; meanwhile, D, C2 and C4 are of negligible numbers. Papuans have significant cultural affinities with

737-595: Is predominantly covered with rainforest where traditional peoples live, including the Dani of the Baliem Valley . A large proportion of the population live in or near coastal areas. The largest city is Jayapura . In the late 1940s, territories of the Dutch East Indies became the independent country of Indonesia , except Western New Guinea. The Dutch retained sovereignty over Western New Guinea ( Dutch New Guinea ) until

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804-610: Is the western half of the island of New Guinea , formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region is also called West Papua ( Indonesian : Papua Barat ). Lying to the west of Papua New Guinea and geographically a part of the Australian continent , the territory is almost entirely in the Southern Hemisphere and includes the Biak and Raja Ampat archipelagoes. The region

871-421: Is well-demonstrated. West Makian stands out as an isolate. Their external links remain unclear. While genealogically distinct from most languages of Indonesia , they all show evidence of extensive contact with the dominant Austronesian language family. Some of the North Halmahera languages are characterized by their elaborate morphological structures. Others exhibit deep external influence, having shifted to

938-634: The Amung - Damal , Bauzi , Biak (or Byak), Korowai , Lani , Mee , Mek , Sawi , and Yali . Estimates of the number of distinct languages spoken in the region range from 200 to 700. A number of these languages are permanently disappearing. As in Papua New Guinea and some surrounding east Indonesian provinces, a large majority of the population is Christian. In the 2010 census, 65.48% identified themselves as Protestant, 17.67% as Catholic, 15.89% as Muslim, and less than 1% as either Hindu or Buddhist. There

1005-600: The Asmat people . Lying in the Asia-Australian transition zone near Wallacea , the region's flora and fauna include Asiatic, Australian, and endemic species. The region is 75% forest and has a high degree of biodiversity. The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plants, 124 genera of which are endemic. The mountainous areas and the north are covered with dense rainforest. Highland vegetation also includes alpine grasslands, heath, pine forests, bush and scrub. The vegetation of

1072-469: The Bird's Head Peninsula and surrounding islands to its west. In 2011, Indonesia submitted an application for membership to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) for the two Papua provinces (as well as 3 other melanesian dominated provinces) and was granted observer status. The West Papua National Council for Liberation independence movement made an unsuccessful application for membership to

1139-586: The Bird's Head Peninsula , each of which had over 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. The region is home to around 312 different tribes, including some uncontacted peoples . The Dani (or Hubula) , from the Baliem Valley , are one of the most populous tribes of the region. The Arfak in Arfak Mountains , and the Marind from Merauke. The semi-nomadic Asmat inhabit the mangrove and tidal river areas near Agats and are renowned for their woodcarving. Other tribes include

1206-570: The Morning Star flag raised on 1 December, with independence planned in exactly nine years' time. Sukarno made the takeover of Western New Guinea a focus of his continuing struggle against Dutch imperialism and part of a broader Third World conflict with the West. Although Indonesian seaborne and paratroop incursions into the territory met with little success, the Dutch knew that a military campaign to retain

1273-523: The Netherlands recognised Indonesian sovereignty over the Dutch East Indies with the exception of Dutch New Guinea , the issue of which was to be discussed within a year. The Dutch successfully argued that Western New Guinea was "geographically very different" from Indonesia and the people were also very ethnically different. In an attempt to prevent Indonesia taking control of the region and to prepare

1340-748: The New York Agreement on 15 August 1962, which granted the region to Indonesia. The region became the province of Irian Barat (West Irian) before being renamed Irian Jaya (literally "Glorious Irian") in 1973 and Papua in 2002. The following year, a second province was created from the western part of Papua Province; this was called West Papua , with its administrative capital as Manokwari . Both provinces were granted special autonomous status by Indonesian legislation . In November 2022 three additional provinces were created from parts of Papua Province – Central Papua , Highland Papua , and South Papua – while another additional province, Southwest Papua ,

1407-614: The Teluk Cenderawasih National Park . Western New Guinea is currently administered as six Indonesian provinces: Papuan habitation of the region is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. Research indicates that the highlands were an early and independent center of agriculture, and show that agriculture developed gradually over several thousands of years; the banana has been cultivated in this region for at least 7,000 years. Austronesian peoples migrating through Maritime Southeast Asia settled in

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1474-526: The Ternate  [ ru ] , Tidore , and Galela  [ ru ] peoples, are physically distinct from New Guineans , while Papuan traits are more prevalent among the Austronesian-speaking peoples of South Halmahera. Robert Blust (2013) considers this paradox to be a result of historical language replacement . The ethnic groups of the north Halmahera area share civilizational links with

1541-640: The Islamic world and the populations of western Indonesia, betraying a mismatch between cultural and linguistic affiliation. At the turn of the 19th century, the NH languages had already been recognized as a highly divergent (but perhaps Austronesian) group. Their non-Austronesian character was finally demonstrated by Hendrik van der Veen in 1915. The structural similarities between NH and certain Papuan families in Melanesia were noted as far back as 1900, and an early version of

1608-621: The MSG in 2013 after which the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) was established in December 2014 to unite the three main political independence movements under a single umbrella organisation. In June 2015, the ULMWP was granted MSG observer status as representative of West Papuans outside the country while Indonesia was upgraded to associate member. In 2016, at the 71st Session of

1675-679: The Philippines. Papuan men and resources were used to support the Allied war effort in the Pacific. After the war's end, the Dutch regained possession of the region. Since the early twentieth century, Indonesian nationalists had sought an independent Indonesia based on all Dutch colonial possessions in the Indies, including western New Guinea. Some even founded local-based political parties, such as Indonesian Irian Independence Party (PKII) in 1946. In December 1949,

1742-635: The UN General Assembly , leaders of several Pacific Island countries called for UN action on alleged human rights abuses committed against Papua's indigenous Melanesians, with some leaders calling for self-determination for West Papua. Indonesia accused the countries of interfering with Indonesia's national sovereignty. In 2017, at the 72nd Session , the leaders called again for an investigation into killings and various alleged human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces. The 2019 Papua protests began on 19 August 2019, and mainly took place across

1809-618: The West Papuan family was proposed by H.K.J. Cowan (1957–1965), linking NH with the Bird's Head languages, among others (based on lexical and morphemic evidence). Holton and Klamer (2018: 626) do not unequivocally accept the genealogical unity of West Papuan, but note that the more restricted "West Papuan" proposal, linking NH with West Bird's Head in particular (and also the Yapen/Yawa languages ), appears to be particularly convincing. The family has

1876-500: The area at least 3,000 years ago, and populated especially in Cenderawasih Bay . Diverse cultures and languages have developed in situ; there are over 300 languages and two hundred additional dialects in the region ( see Papuan languages , Austronesian languages , Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages ). The 14th-century Majapahit poem Nagarakretagama mentioned Wwanin or Onin and Sran as recognized territories in

1943-400: The area's rich oil reserves in the 1930s. In 1942, the northern coast of West New Guinea and the nearby islands were occupied by Japan . In 1944, Allied forces gained control of the region through a four-phase campaign from neighbouring Papua New Guinea. The United States constructed a headquarters for MacArthur at Hollandia (Jayapura), intended as a staging point for operations to retake

2010-986: The border with Papua New Guinea follows the 141st meridian east until it reaches the Fly River . The island of New Guinea was once part of the Australian landmass and lay on the continent of Sahul . The collision between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate resulted in the formation of the Maoke Mountains , which run through the centre of the region and are 600 km (373 mi) long and 100 km (62 mi) across. The range includes about ten peaks over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet), including Puncak Jaya (4,884 m or 16,024 ft), Puncak Mandala (4,760 m or 15,620 ft) and Puncak Trikora (4,750 m or 15,580 ft). This range ensures

2077-438: The closest affinity with the languages of the Bird's Head, which suggests a migration from the western Bird's Head to northern Halmahera. However, Ger Reesink notes that the evidence for genetic relatedness between the different "West Papuan" groupings is too skimpy to form a firm conclusion, suggesting that they be considered an areal network of unrelated linguistic families. Moreover, many speakers of NH languages, such as

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2144-485: The cultural practice of multilingualism. Ternate and Tidore are generally treated as separate languages, though there is little Abstand involved, and the separation appears to be based on sociopolitical grounds. Voorhoeve groups these idioms together as varieties of a unitary "Ternate-Tidore" language, while Miriam van Staden classifies them as distinct languages. Other North Halmahera languages, such as Galela and Tobelo, have received significant influence from Ternate,

2211-424: The democratic culture of the Papuan people themselves at the time, there was a system known as noken , within a community in the central highlands of Papua, in which the vote is represented by the tribal chief. Soon after, as of United Nations Resolution 2504 (XXIV) the region became the 26th province of Indonesia. The 1969 Act of Free Choice is considered contentious, with even United Nations observers recognizing

2278-537: The east, today identified as Onin peninsula in Fakfak Regency in the western part of the larger Bomberai Peninsula south of the Bird's Head region of Western New Guinea. Wwanin or Onin was probably the oldest name in recorded history to refer to the western part of the island of New Guinea. Meanwhile Sran refer to an ancient local kingdom of Sran Eman Muun , located in the southern part of Bomberai Peninsula called Koiwai (modern day Kaimana Regency ), which

2345-615: The elders were placed under duress and forced to vote yes. The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has engaged in a pro-independence conflict with the Indonesian military since the 1960s. This has been in response to the initial take over of the region and multiple killings and other human rights violations by Indonesian troops, causing many West Papuans and international organisations to describe the situation in West Papua as "genocide". Rebellions occurred in remote mountainous areas in 1969, 1977, and

2412-580: The end of the sixteenth century, the Sultanate of Ternate under Sultan Baabullah (1570–1583) had influence over parts of Papua. In 1660, the Dutch recognised the Sultan of Tidore 's sovereignty over New Guinea . New Guinea thus became notionally Dutch as the Dutch held power over Tidore. In 1793, Britain established a settlement near Manokwari . However, it failed. By 1824 Britain and the Netherlands agreed that

2479-467: The equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored. In February 2005, a team of scientists exploring the Foja Mountains discovered numerous new species of birds, butterflies, amphibians, and plants, including a species of rhododendron that may have the largest bloom of the genus. Environmental issues include deforestation, the spread of the introduced crab-eating macaque , which now threatens

2546-600: The existence of native species, and discarded copper and gold tailings from the Grasberg mine . The Bird's Head Peninsula , also known as the Doberai Peninsula, is covered by the Vogelkop montanerainforests ecoregion . It includes more than 22,000 km of montane forests at elevations of 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and higher. Over 50% of these forests are located within protected areas. There are over 300 bird species on

2613-510: The family are rather conservative, having preserved the SOV word order , the use of postpositions , as well as the use of object and subject prefixes. The presence of archaic typological features sharply distinguishes these languages from other West Papuan languages, which generally have a left-headed syntactic structure. The family is dialectally heterogeneous, with blurry lines between different languages. While different authors tend to disagree on

2680-481: The forms in Holton and Klamer are derived from Wada (1980). The following basic vocabulary words are from the Trans-New Guinea database. The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. utu , hutu for “hair”) or not (e.g. dofolo , apota for “head”). West Papua (region) Western New Guinea , also known as Papua , Indonesian New Guinea , and Indonesian Papua ,

2747-536: The highlands, the koteka (penis gourd) is worn by males in ceremonies. The use of the holim (Dani's koteka) as everyday dress by Dani males in Western New Guinea is uncommon. As of 2019, it is estimated that only 10% highland population (in Central Papua and Highland Papua ) regularly uses koteka, and it is only used during cultural festival or as a souvenir. A culture of inter-tribal warfare and animosity between neighboring tribes has long been present in

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2814-485: The highlands. The Indonesian government is very strict in giving foreign journalists permission to enter Western New Guinea, considering that this region is very vulnerable to separatist movements. As formerly in East Timor, Indonesia's former territory, the Indonesian administration takes great efforts to filter the information that gets out of Western New Guinea. However, there is no prohibition for journalists to go to

2881-538: The inhabitants of Papua New Guinea. As in Papua New Guinea, the peoples of the highlands have traditions and languages distinct from the peoples of the coast. Example being sago as the staple food of the coastal Papuans, a tradition shared with many people in the Eastern Indonesia , while in the highlands where sago do not grow, tubers ( sweet potato , yam , and taro ) are the staple foods. In some parts of

2948-526: The language of wider communication, and the contact between Malay and Tidore has left a great mark on the local language. There are many North Moluccan Malay and Indonesian loans in Tidore, and the language exhibits strong Austronesian influence in general. A flap consonant can be heard as alveolar or post-alveolar [ ɾ̠ ] . This Papuan languages –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Indonesia -related article

3015-453: The languages of the Bird's Head region of West Papua , but this is not well-established. The best known North Halmaheran language is Ternate (50,000 native speakers), which is a regional lingua franca and which, along with Tidore , were the languages of the rival medieval Ternate and Tidore sultanates, famous for their role in the spice trade . Most of these languages are very closely related to each other, and their family status

3082-607: The mid-1980s, occasionally spilling over into Papua New Guinea . In 1980, the Trans Irian Jaya Highway, currently Trans-Papua Highway , began construction. The highway would link unconnected cities and regions across the region, which were previously only accessible by sea or, for inland areas, by air. However, some experts suggested prioritizing development of local indigenous people over infrastructure development in order to be parallel with non-Papuan migrants, who were progressively inhabiting Western New Guinea's cities at

3149-434: The number of distinct languages identified, there is general accord regarding the internal subgrouping of the family. The classification used here is that of Voorhoeve 1988. Ternate – Tidore Sahu: Sahu , Waioli , Gamkonora Galela–Tobelo (Northeast Halmaheran): Tobelo – Togutil , Galela – Loloda , Modole , Pagu – Kao , Tabaru West Makian West Makian is divergent due to heavy Austronesian influence. It

3216-416: The peninsula, of which at least 20 are unique to the ecoregion, and some live only in very restricted areas. These include the grey-banded munia , Vogelkop bowerbird , and the king bird-of-paradise . Road construction , illegal logging , commercial agricultural expansion , and ranching potentially threaten the integrity of the ecoregion. The southeastern coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula forms part of

3283-588: The region Ilhas dos Papuas (Islands of Papuans). In 1545 the Spaniard Yñigo Ortiz de Retez sailed along the north coast as far as the Mamberamo River near which he landed, naming the island Nueva Guinea . In 1606 Portuguese navigator Luís Vaz de Torres sailed in the name of Spain along the southwestern part of the island in present-day Papua , and also claimed the territory for the King of Spain. Near

3350-445: The region as a result of migration from New Guinea , likely predating the arrival of Austronesian languages. These languages are classified by some to be part of a larger West Papuan family , along with the languages of the Bird's Head region of Western New Guinea , while others consider NH to form a distinct language family, with no demonstrable relationship outside the region. The languages of North Halmahera appear to have

3417-420: The region for independence, the Dutch significantly raised development spending from its low base, began investing in Papuan education, and encouraged Papuan nationalism. A small western elite developed with a growing political awareness attuned to the idea of Papuan independence, with close links to neighbouring eastern New Guinea, which was administered by Australia. A national parliament was elected in 1961 and

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3484-640: The region has had the official names of Netherlands New Guinea (1895–1962), West New Guinea or West Irian (1962–1973), Irian Jaya (1973–2002), and Papua (2002–present). The expected Indonesian translation of "Western New Guinea", Nugini Barat , is currently only used in historical contexts such as kampanye Nugini Barat " Western New Guinea campaign ". The region is 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) from east to west and 736 kilometres (457 miles) from north to south. It has an area of 412,214.61 square kilometres (159,157 square miles ), which equates to approximately 22% of Indonesia's land area. The northern part of

3551-511: The region in response to the arrests of 43 Papuan students in Surabaya for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag . In July 2022 three additional provinces were created from parts of the existing Papua Province. The new provinces were Central Papua , Highland Papua and South Papua . In November 2022, Southwest Papua was created from the western part of West Papua Province. Thus, including

3618-468: The region would require protracted jungle warfare, and, unwilling to see a repeat of their futile efforts in the armed struggle for Indonesian independence in the 1940s, agreed to American mediation. The United States President John F. Kennedy wrote to the then Dutch Prime Minister Jan de Quay , encouraging the Netherlands to relinquish control of Western New Guinea to Indonesia and warning of Indonesia's potential alliance with communist powers if Sukarno

3685-501: The region. In 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received 11 applications for permission to cover Papua from a number of foreign media. Of 11 requests, five were approved while the other six were rejected. Meanwhile, in 2013, requests for permission to cover Papua by foreign media soared to 28. At that time, the ministry approved 21 letters of application and rejected the other seven. The process of admitting foreign press and NGOs, which

3752-419: The residual West Papua Province and Papua Province, there were then six provinces covering Western New Guinea. The population of the region was estimated to be 5,601,888 in mid 2022. The interior is predominantly populated by ethnic Papuans while coastal towns are inhabited by descendants of intermarriages between Papuans, Melanesians, and Austronesians, including other Indonesian ethnic groups. Migrants from

3819-516: The rest of Indonesia also tend to inhabit the coastal regions. The largest cities in the territory are Jayapura in the region's northeast, and Sorong in the northwest of the Bird's Head Peninsula . By 2022 Jayapura had a population of over 400,000 and Sorong nearly 300,000; other major towns are Timika and Nabire in Central Papua, Merauke in South Papua, and Manokwari in the northeast of

3886-536: The south coast includes mangroves and sago palms and in the drier southeastern section, eucalypts, paperbarks, and acacias. Marsupial species dominate the region; there are an estimated 70 marsupial species (including possums , wallabies , tree-kangaroos , and cuscus ), and 180 other mammal species (including the endangered long-beaked echidna ). The region is the only part of Indonesia to have kangaroos, marsupial mice, bandicoots, and ring-tailed possums. The approximately 700 bird species include cassowaries (along

3953-537: The southeastern section around the town of Merauke . Swamps also extend 300 kilometres (190 miles) around the Asmat region. The Mamberamo River is the region's largest and runs through the length of Papua Province. The result is a large area of lakes and rivers known as the Lakes Plains region. The southern lowlands, habitats of which included mangrove, tidal and freshwater swamp forest, and lowland rainforest, are home to populations of fishermen and gatherers such as

4020-642: The southern coastal areas), bowerbirds , kingfishers , crowned pigeons , parrots, and cockatoos . Approximately 450 of these species are endemic. Birds-of-paradise can be found in Kepala Burung and Yapen . The region is also home to around 800 species of spiders, 200 frogs, 30,000 beetles, and 70 bats, as well as one of the world's longest lizards (the Papuan monitor ) and some of the world's largest butterflies. The waterways and wetlands of Papua provide habitat for salt and freshwater crocodiles , tree monitors, flying foxes , ospreys , and other animals, while

4087-518: The terms of the New York Agreement , all Western New Guinean men and women were to be given a plebiscite; this was to be called the Act of Free Choice . However, when the act was due to take place under the new president Suharto , the Indonesian government used a musyawarah or traditional consensus to decide the region's status. The 1,026 elders were hand-picked by the Indonesian government and many were coerced into voting for union with Indonesia. However, in

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4154-444: The time. In the post-Suharto era , the national government began a process of decentralisation of the provinces, including, in December 2001, a special autonomy status for Papua province and a reinvestment into the region of 80% of the taxation receipts generated by the region, in addition of special autonomy fund. In 2003, a new province of West Papua was created from the western regencies of Papua (province) , comprising lands in

4221-433: The western half of the island would become part of the Dutch East Indies . In 1828 the Dutch established the settlement of Fort Du Bus at Lobo (near Kaimana ), which also failed. Great Britain and Germany had recognised the Dutch claims on western New Guinea in treaties of 1885 and 1895. Dutch activity in the region remained minimal in the first half of the twentieth century. Dutch, US, and Japanese mining companies explored

4288-432: Was created from part of West Papua Province; these received the same special autonomous status as (the residual) West Papua and Papua Provinces, the latter now reduced to northern Papua and the groups of islands in Cenderawasih Bay . In 2020, West Papua and Papua provinces had a census population of 5,437,775, the majority of whom are indigenous ; the official estimate as of mid-2022 was 5,601,888. The official language

4355-485: Was not appeased. The negotiations resulted in the UN-ratified New York Agreement of September 1962, which transferred administration to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) and proposed that the administration could be assumed by Indonesia until such time as a plebiscite could be organized to allow Papuans to determine whether they wanted independence or union with Indonesia. Under

4422-547: Was once classified as an Austronesian language . It should be distinguished from East Makian (Taba), an unrelated Austronesian language. There is a degree of mutual intelligibility between the Galela–Tobelo languages, and Voorhoeve 1988 considered them dialects of a language he called Northeast Halmaheran , though most speakers consider them to be distinct languages. They are probably best considered separate languages, as mutual intelligibility testing appears to be skewed by

4489-536: Was the predecessor of local Papuan kingdoms in the area. In 1526–27, the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Menezes accidentally came upon the principal island in the Biak archipelago and is credited with naming it Papua , from a Malay word pepuah , for the frizzled quality of Melanesian hair. Heading east, he eventually reported the northern coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula and the Waigeo Island , and named

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