Jayapura in the context of "West New Guinea"

Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, 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). It is one of the seven geographical units of Indonesia in ISO 3166-2:ID.

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 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.

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.

Port Moresby (/ˈmɔːrzbi/ ; Tok Pisin: Pot Mosbi), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of New Guinea. The city emerged as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century. During World War II, it was a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas. Due to its population and outsized influence compared to other cities in Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby may be regarded as a primate city.

As of the 2011 census, Port Moresby had 364,145 inhabitants. This grew to 756,754 at the 2024 census. The place where the city was founded has been inhabited by the Motu-Koitabu people for centuries. The first Briton to see it was Royal Navy Captain John Moresby in 1873. It was named in honour of his father, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Fairfax Moresby.

The Baliem Valley (Indonesian: Lembah Baliem; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea, specifically in the province of Highland Papua, Indonesia. The main town in the valley is Wamena, which lies on the Baliem River. The valley is about 80 km in length by 20 km in width and lies at an altitude of about 1,600–1,700 metres (5,200–5,600 ft), with a population of over 200,000.

The discovery of the Baliem Valley to the Western world and the unexpected presence of its large agricultural population was made by Richard Archbold’s third zoological expedition to New Guinea in 1938. On 21 June an aerial reconnaissance flight southwards from Hollandia (now Jayapura) found what the expedition called the "Grand Valley". Flights in later weeks described fenced villages of 3-50 houses, farm fields and drainage ditches. They landed on Lake Habbema 15 miles west. Teams of Dutch soldiers and Dayak people recruited from Borneo collected flora and fauna in the Baliem Valley, but did not know the language and killed one native without firing a warning shot. 10-15 villages formed a neighborhood, within an hour's walk. Several neighborhoods made a confederation, and several confederations made an alliance of 4,000-5,000 people, which was constantly fighting feuds to avenge previous deaths caused by members of other alliances, though all had the same culture, ethnicity and language.

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.

Yos Sudarso Bay (Indonesian: Teluk Yos Sudarso), known as Humboldt Bay from 1827 to 1968, is a small bay on the north coast of New Guinea, about 50 kilometers west of the border between Indonesia's province of Papua and the country of Papua New Guinea. The Indonesian provincial capital Jayapura is situated on the bay.

Keerom Regency is one of the regencies (kabupaten) in the Papua Province of Indonesia. It was formed from the eastern districts then within Jayapura Regency with effect from 12 November 2002, and is thus the most eastern of the regencies within the province of Papua, bordering with the nation of Papua New Guinea to the east. It covers an area of 9,365 km, and had a population of 48,536 at the 2010 Census and 61,623 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 74,332 (comprising 39,105 males and 35,227 females). The regency's administrative centre is at the town of Waris.

Keerom Regency is located in the border area between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, in Papua Province. It borders Green River Rural LLG and Amanab Rural LLG of Sandaun Province (in Papua New Guinea) to the east, Highland Papua Province to the south and Jayapura Regency to the west, while to the north it is separated from the coast by Muara Tami and Abepura Districts of the city of Jayapura (Muara Tami District provides the outlet to the Pacific Ocean of the rivers originating in Keerom Regency).