Central Papua in the context of "Maoke Mountains"

Puncak Jaya (Indonesian: [ˈpuntʃak ˈdʒaja]; literally "Victorious Peak", Amungme: Nemangkawi Ninggok) or Carstensz Pyramid (/ˈkɑːrstəns/, Indonesian: Piramida Carstensz, Dutch: Carstenszpiramide) on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of 4,884 m (16,024 ft), is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth, and the highest peak in Indonesia and within Oceania. The mountain is located in the Sudirman Range of the highlands of Mimika Regency, Central Papua, Indonesia. Puncak Jaya is ranked 5th in the world by topographic isolation.

When regarding New Guinea as part of the Australian continent in a biogeographical sense, Puncak Jaya can be considered the highest peak in all of Oceania, with its elevation exceeding those of the highest peaks in the nearby nations of Papua New Guinea (Mount Wilhelm), New Zealand (Aoraki / Mount Cook) and Australia (Mount Kosciuszko). Puncak Jaya is therefore often listed as one of the Seven Summits. However, since Puncak Jaya is in Western New Guinea, an area administered by Indonesia and therefore geopolitically part of Southeast Asia, the peak can also be considered the 8th highest mountain in this region, after Hkakabo Razi and six others in Kachin State, Myanmar.

New Guinea (Tok Pisin: Niugini; Hiri Motu: Niu Gini; Indonesian: Papua, fossilized Nugini, also known as Papua or historically Irian) is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km (303,381 sq mi). It has the third-largest remaining rainforest globally, and the highest plant biodiversity of any island. Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre (81-nautical-mile; 93-mile) wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf, and were united during episodes of low sea level in the Pleistocene glaciations as the combined landmass of Sahul. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez during his maritime expedition of 1545 because of the perceived resemblance of the indigenous peoples of the island to those in the African region of Guinea.

The eastern half of the island is the major land mass of the nation of Papua New Guinea. The western half, known as Western New Guinea, forms a part of Indonesia and is organized as the provinces of Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua. The two major cities on the island are Port Moresby and Jayapura.

Provinces are the first-level administrative divisions of Indonesia. They were formerly called first-level provincial regions (provinsi daerah tingkat I), before the Reform era. Provinces have a local government, consisting of a governor (Gubernur) and a regional legislative body (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Provinsi, DPRD Provinsi). The governor and members of local representative bodies are elected by popular vote for five-year terms, but governors can only serve for two terms. Provincial governments have the authority to regulate and manage their own government affairs, subject to the limits of the central government. The average land area of all 38 provinces in Indonesia is about 49,800 km (19,200 sq mi), and they had an average population of 7,410,626 people in mid-2024.

Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces, nine of which have special autonomous status. The terms for special status are "Istimewa" and "Khusus", which translate to "special", or "designated". Provinces are further divided into regencies and cities (formerly called second-level region regencies/cities, or kabupaten/kotamadya daerah tingkat II), which are in turn subdivided into districts (kecamatan). Proposals for the creation of additional provinces (by the splitting of existing ones) have been considered by the Indonesian government, but further action has been suspended since 2013 under a moratorium. However, in 2022, nine years later, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, and Southwest Papua were created and became the youngest provinces in the country. The enactment of the Law on State Capital in 2022 established a future provincial-level city, Nusantara, which would officially become the 39th province after a presidential decree on relocating the state capital is issued, and it would replace Jakarta as the nation's capital city.

Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (Dutch: Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, Indonesian: Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. It contained what are now Indonesia's six easternmost provinces, Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua, which were administered as a single province prior to 2003 under the name Irian Jaya, and now comprise the Papua region of the country.

During the Indonesian Revolution, the Dutch launched politionele acties to capture territory from the Indonesian Republic. The harsh methods of the Dutch drew international disapproval. With international opinion shifting towards support of the Indonesian Republic, the Dutch managed in 1949 to negotiate for the separation of Dutch New Guinea from the broader Indonesian settlement, with the fate of the disputed territory to be decided by the close of 1950. The Dutch in the coming years stated at the UN that the indigenous population of Dutch New Guinea represented a separate ethnic group from the people of Indonesia and thus should not be absorbed into the Indonesian state. The Indonesian Republic, as successor state to the Netherlands East Indies, claimed Dutch New Guinea as part of its natural territorial bounds. The dispute over New Guinea was an important factor in the quick decline in bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia after Indonesian independence. The dispute escalated into low-level conflict in 1962 following Dutch moves in 1961 to establish a New Guinea Council.

Papua, formerly known as West Irian and Irian Jaya, is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Mamta – Tabi Saireri and is divided into eight regencies (kabupaten) and one city (kota), the latter being the provincial capital of Jayapura.

It is bordered by the nation of Papua New Guinea to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the north, Cenderawasih Bay to the west, and the provinces of Central Papua and Highland Papua to the south. The province also shares maritime boundaries with Palau in the Pacific. Papua, along with the five other Papuan provinces, has a higher degree of autonomy compared to other Indonesian provinces.

The Amung (also known as Amungme, Amungm, Amui, Amuy, Hamung, or Uhunduni) people are a group of about 17,700 people living in the highlands of the Central Papua province of Indonesia. Most Amungme live in Mimika and Puncak, in valleys like Noema, Tsinga, Hoeya, Bella, Alama, Aroanop, and Wa. A related group lives in Beoga Valley, Puncak and they are called Damal people.

Their language, Uhunduni, has several dialects. Amung-kal is spoken mostly in the southern regions and in the north, it is called Damal-kal. Additionally, they have symbolic languages called Aro-a-kal and Tebo-a-kal. Tebo-a-kal is only spoken in sacred areas.

The Sudirman Range, also known as the Snow Mountains, Dugunduguoo, or Nassau Range is a mountain range in Central Papua province, Indonesia. It is named after the first armed forces commander-in-chief and Indonesian national hero Sudirman. It is a western sub-range of the Maoke Mountains. The highest peak in Oceania and Australasia, Puncak Jaya (4,884 m), is located here, as are other significant peaks such as Sumantri (4,870 m), Ngga Pulu (4,863 m), and Carstensz East (4,820 m or 4,808 m).

Mimika Regency is one of the regencies (kabupaten) in the Indonesian province of Central Papua. It covers an area of 21,693.51 km, and had a population of 182,001 at the 2010 Census, which grew to 311,969 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as of mid-2024 was 492,896 - a 58% gain from 2020. The administrative centre is the town of Timika, which lies within Mimika Baru District, which had 143,367 inhabitants in mid-2023 but this figure officially more than doubled to 318,679 in mid 2024. The regency covers the entire south coast of its province. The only other coastal regency of Central Papua is Nabire Regency, covering the north coast.

Highland Papua (Indonesian: Papua Pegunungan, lit. 'Papua Mountains') is a province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Lano Pago (often shortened to La Pago). It covers an area of 51,213.33 km (19,773.58 sq mi) and had a population of 1,467,050 according to the official estimates as at mid 2024 (comprising 783,220 males and 683,830 females).

Formally established on 25 July 2022 from the central and mountainous former part of the province of Papua, it is located on the central highlands of Western New Guinea, where it is the first and only landlocked province in Indonesia. The capital of Highland Papua is in Jayawijaya Regency, in Hubikosi District. The legal provision for the province's establishment was approved by the People's Representative Council on 30 June 2022, with the bill signed into Law No. 16/2022 by President Joko Widodo on 25 July, making it one of Indonesia's three then-youngest provinces alongside Central Papua and South Papua (which were subsequently joined by the even newer Southwest Papua Province). It borders Papua New Guinea to its east, South Papua to its south, Central Papua to its west (and southwest) and the residual Papua Province to its north.