n.
Variant: or formerly Iri · an Ja · ya
Pronunciation: ' ir- ē - ˌ än- ' j ī -ä
or West Irian or earlier Netherlands New Guinea
Function: geographical name
territory of Indonesia comprising the W half of New Guinea & adjacent islands; belonged to the Netherlands until 1963 capital Jayapura area 162,927 sq mi (421,981 sq km ), pop 1,648,708