IRIAN JAYA

also spelled Irian Djaya, formerly Irian Barat, English West New Guinea, or West Irian propinsi (province), Indonesia, the western half (area 162,928 sq mi [412,981 sq km]) of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands (including Yapen, Adi, Numfoor, Waigeo, Batanta, Kofiau, Salawati, Misool, and Yos Sudarsa islands) and the Schouten and Raja Ampat island groups. Irian is the Indonesian name for New Guinea: barat, west; jaya, glorious, or victorious. Irian Jaya fronts the Ceram Sea and the Banda Sea on the west, the Arafura Sea on the southwest, and the Pacific Ocean on the north; it is bounded by Papua New Guinea on the east. The first Europeans to sight the island were the Portuguese in 1511, and what is now Irian Jaya was subsequently visited by Spanish, Dutch, German and English explorers. The English made an attempt at colonization 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, an Islamic Communist, was exiled by the Dutch to Irian in 1924. In 1927, about 1,300 Communists were imprisoned in Irian 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. After the war, The Netherlands regained sovereignty until the granting of independence to Indonesia in 1949. Irian Barat was placed under United Nations administration in 1962 and was transferred to Indonesia in 1963, with provision for the holding of a plebiscite by 1969 to decide Irian Barat's future. The plebiscite was held in 1969, and as a result the area became the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, with its capital at Jayapura. The Pegunungan (mountains) Maoke, an extension of the mountains composing the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, extend about 400 mi (640 km) eastwest across the central part of Irian Jaya and rise to an elevation of 16,503 ft (5,030 m) at Puncak (mount) Jaya. The summits, except for the highest ones, are covered with snow and glaciated. To the north is the eastwest valley of the Tariku and Taritatu rivers, tributaries to the northwestward-flowing Sungai (river) Mamberamo). The Pegunungan Van Rees and the Pegunungan Gauttier (rising to 7,454 ft) separate the eastwest valley from the northern coastal lowlands. The mostly lowland Jazirah (peninsula) Bomberai lies to the west, and the more mountainous Jazirah Doberai (Vogelkop; Dutch, meaning bird's head) is to the northwest. Extending south of the Pugunungan Maoke 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-rain-forest vegetation is common. The low-lying areas north of the central mountain range are clothed with dense tropical rain forests. Among the many varieties of trees are sago, coconut, nipa palm, sandalwood, ebony, rubber, casuarina, cedar, breadfruit, and mangrove; orchids and ferns thrive in the rain forests. Wildlife includes marsupials, monotremes, snakes, crocodiles, butterflies, cassowary, birds of paradise, moundbuilders, bowerbirds, anteaters, flying fox, wild dog, wild pig, opossum, tortoise, frilled lizard, water rat, tree kangaroo, plumed heron, green pigeon, and lory. Most of the population is engaged in agriculture; the chief products are cocoa, fish, nutmeg, rice, shells, timber, vegetables, copra, and copal. Industries comprise sawmilling, rice milling, and shipbuilding. Crafts include wood carving, leather tanning, basket and mat weaving, and handloom weaving. The largest concentration of copper in the world is at Tembagapura. Despite a continuing guerrilla war, exploitation of these 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. Irian Jaya was, in the early 1980s, the scene of intense exploration for nickel, petroleum, and additional copper deposits. Crude oil, copra, copal, crocodile skins, shells, scrap metal, mace, nutmeg, resin, and wood are exported. 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, together with 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. There are numerous local languages, some spoken by only a few people. Although indigenous animism prevails, there are some Muslims and Christians. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 1,641,000.