West Papua is a province of Indonesia which is located in the western part of New Guinea. Its capital is Manokwari. The name of this province formerly West Irian Jaya, based on Government Regulation No. 24 of 2007 the name was changed to the province of West Papua. West Papua and Papua is a province special autonomy status.
This province covers an area of the bird’s head Guinea and surrounding islands. In the north, the province is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, the western border province of North Maluku and Maluku provinces, the eastern part bounded by the Gulf of Paradise, south of the Seram Sea and the southeastern border with Papua province.
This province has a tremendous potential, be it farming, mining, forest products and tourism. Pearl and seaweed produced in Raja Ampat regency while only traditional industries called ikat cloth produced in the district of East South Sorong.
Fragrant nutmeg syrup can be found in Fak-Fak regency as well as various other potentials. In addition, nature tourism is also one of the mainstay of West Irian Jaya, such as Paradise Bay National Park which is located in the Gulf Wondama district.
Besides, recently, discovered a cave that is claimed as the world’s deepest cave by a French expedition team speologi Lina Mountains region, Kampong Irameba, Anggi district, Manokwari District. This cave is estimated to reach a depth of 2000 meters.
West Irian Jaya is a hot, humid island rising from the sea with some of the most impenetrable jungles in the world and yet also has snowcaps covering 5,000meter – High Mountain peaks, towering over glacier lakes. West Irian Jaya is Indonesia’s largest and easternmost province and covers the western half of the world’s second largest island. It is a land of exceptional natural grandeur, with beautiful scenic beaches, immense stretches of marshlands, cool grassy meadows and powerful rivers carving gorges and tunnels through dark and dense primeval forests. The most heavily populated and cultivated parts of the island are the Paniai Lakes district and the Baliem Valley to the east.
Asmat people who live along the remote southeast coast around Agats are famed for their artistic “primitive” woodcarving. Modern civilization did not reach this area until recently. Agats has an interesting museum filled with woodcarvings and other objects. The area however is still largely untamed wilderness. The Asmat homeland comprises the rugged and isolated southern coast of Irian Jaya. It is an area of approximately 10,000 square miles and comprises mainly swamps and mangroves.
The Raja Ampat Island in Irian is group spreads out over a huge area and consists of over 610 islands. The four largest islands are Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool. The area’s reefs are covered in a diverse selection of both hard and soft corals. Most of the areas reefs are pristine, with mile after mile of perfect hard corals, drift after drift of soft corals of many species and colors ranging from brilliant red, to shocking yellow pretty pink and exotic purple. Most reef dives are very colorful. The tourist would be able to experience the best dives sites within those islands, which include Cape Kri, Mellisa’s Garden, Sardines Reef, The Passage, Nudibranch Rock, Wai Island Night Dive.
