West Papua (province) in the context of "Salawati"

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.

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.

Central Papua, officially the Central Papua Province (Indonesian: Provinsi Papua Tengah) is an Indonesian province located in the central region of Western New Guinea. It was formally established on 25 July 2022 from the former eight western regencies of the province of Papua. It covers an area of 61,072.91 km and had an officially estimated population of 1,472,910 in mid 2024 (comprising 784,670 males and 688,240 females). It is bordered by the Indonesian provinces of West Papua to the west, the province of Papua to the north and northeast, by Highland Papua to the east, and by South Papua to the southeast. The administrative capital is located in Wanggar District in Nabire Regency, although Timika (in Mimika Regency) is a larger town. Its traditional name is Mee Pago – Saireri.

Central Papua is bordered by seas to the north and south. Nabire is situated in the northern part of Central Papua, Indonesia. This lowland area is directly adjacent to the Teluk Cenderawasih National Park and boasts immense potential for marine tourism including coral reefs, white sandy islands, and whale sharks in their natural habitat. The southern part of Central Papua is mostly swampy terrain and the location of the port of Amamapare and Timika, the largest town in this province. The central region of Central Papua is dominated by the Jayawijaya Mountains, which encompasses the snow-capped Puncak Jaya, the highest peak in Indonesia. This mountain range is also home to the Grasberg gold mine, operated by Freeport Indonesia.

Southwest Papua (Indonesian: Papua Barat Daya; Indonesian pronunciation: [papʊa barat daja]) is the 38th province of Indonesia to be created and was split off from West Papua on 8 December 2022. Despite being named "southwest", this is actually a misnomer and this province is actually located in the northwest edge of Papua. The province comprises the Greater Sorong area (Indonesian: Sorong Raya; Indonesian pronunciation: [ˌsɔrɔŋ ˈraja]) which consists of Sorong City, Sorong Regency, South Sorong Regency, Maybrat Regency, Tambrauw Regency, and Raja Ampat Regency. The Bill (RUU) on the Establishment of the Southwest Papua Province was passed into law (by Act No. 29 of 2022), and therefore, it became the 38th province in Indonesia with effect from 8 December 2022.

Southwest Papua is situated on the northwestern side of the region known as the Doberai Peninsula, or the Bird's Head Peninsula. The province's westernmost point encompasses the protected region of the Raja Ampat Islands, which boasts a rich variety of marine creatures, including coral reefs, leatherback sea turtles, manta rays, and whale sharks. The province of Southwest Papua is centered around its capital, Sorong, which serves as an important hub for the region's oil and gas industry and a gateway to Papua. With modern port and airport facilities, Sorong is one of the most developed cities in Papua. The province of Southwest Papua is home to various preserved ecosystems, including tropical rainforests and mountains. Tambrauw Regency, in particular, is a popular birdwatching destination and has declared its area as Conservation Regency in order to promote ecotourism.

Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It is located in Eastern Indonesia, between Sulawesi and Western New Guinea, and comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. It is directly adjacent to North Maluku, Southwest Papua, and West Papua in the north; Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi in the west; the Banda Sea, Australia, Timor-Leste, and East Nusa Tenggara in the south; and the Arafura Sea, Central Papua, and South Papua in the east. The land area is 46,158.26 km, and the total population of this province at the 2010 census was 1,533,506 people, rising to 1,848,923 at the 2020 census, and the official estimate in mid 2024 was 1,945,648 (comprising 983,943 males and 961,705 females). The largest city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon on the small Ambon Island.

Maluku has two main religions, namely Islam which at the 2020 census was adhered to by 52.85% of the population of the province and Christianity which is embraced by 46.3% (39.4% Protestantism and 7.0% Catholicism).

The following is a list of current governors of the Indonesian provinces.

Indonesia is administratively divided into thirty-eight provincial-level subjects: twenty-nine regular provinces, seven special autonomous provinces (Aceh, Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, West Papua), one special (istimewa) region (Special Region of Yogyakarta), and one special (khusus) region (the outgoing Special Capital Region of Jakarta). There is also one future provincial-level city (the future Capital City of Nusantara), which would officially become the 39th province after the enactment of a presidential decree on the new state capital.

Papuan Malay or Irian Malay is a Malay-based creole language spoken in the Indonesian part of New Guinea. It emerged as a contact language among tribes in Indonesian New Guinea (now Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, West Papua, and Southwest Papua) for trading and daily communication. Nowadays, it has a growing number of native speakers. More recently, the vernacular of Indonesian Papuans has been influenced by Standard Indonesian, the national standard dialect. It is spoken in Indonesian New Guinea alongside 274 other languages and functions as a lingua franca.

Papuan Malay belongs to the Malayic sub-branch within the Western-Malayo-Polynesian (WMP) branch of the Austronesian language family.

North Kalimantan (Indonesian: Kalimantan Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. North Kalimantan borders the Malaysian states of Sabah to the north and Sarawak to the west, and by the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan to the south. Tanjung Selor serves as the capital of the province, while Tarakan is the largest city and the financial centre.

Formed on 25 October 2012, North Kalimantan was separated from the province of East Kalimantan to reduce development disparity and Malaysia's influence over the territory. North Kalimantan covers 70,650.73 square kilometres and consists of four regencies and one city. It had a population of 524,656 at the 2010 Census and 701,784 at the 2020 Census, making it at that time the least populous province in Indonesia, until the subsequent creation in 2022 of the new provinces of South Papua (which became the new least populous province), West Papua and Southwest Papua. The official estimate as at mid 2023 was 746,201 people (comprising 391,845 males and 353,356 females). Most of the province is sparsely populated.