The Indonesian province of West Papua, also known as Pabar. It is at the westernmost point of the Papuan island.Manokwari is its capital. This province used to be called West Irian Jaya, as required by Law No. 45 of 1999. Here will be discuss about unique geographical location of West Papua.
This province’s name was changed to West Papua on April 18, 2007. It is as a result of Government Regulation Number 24 of 2007. Provinces like West Papua and Papua enjoy special autonomy. Even though West Papua Province is now a separate province, it still receives special treatment from its parent province.
Unique Geographical Location of West Papua
The territory of this province includes the bird’s head area of the island of Papua and the surrounding islands. In the north, the province is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. The west is bordered by the province of North Maluku and the province of Maluku. The east is bordered by the Cenderawasih Bay. South by the Seram Sea and in the southeast by the province of Papua. Here are the geographical location of West Papua.
The boundary of West Papua is almost the same as the boundary of Afdeling (“section”) West Nieuw-Guinea (“West New Guinea”) during the Dutch East Indies period. The province is divided into several districts and cities.
Here is detail boundaries geographical location of West Papua. West Papua Province is located between 0° – 4° South Latitude and between 124° – 132° East Longitude. The area of West Papua Province is 97,024.37 km². West Papua Province has territorial boundaries are as follows: Pacific Ocean (North), Banda Sea and Maluku (West) and Papua (East) provinces. Read also Education gender equality in Papua you need to know.
West Papua Province, as in general in Indonesia, has two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. From June to September wind currents originate from Australia and contain little moisture, resulting in a dry season. On the other hand in December until March the wind currents contain a lot of water vapor from Asia and the Pacific Ocean so that the rainy season occurs.
The maximum air temperature ranges from 29.7°C – 31.8°C and the minimum temperature ranges from 22.9°C – 26°C. Air humidity is between 83.67% – 86.8%. Law Number 45 of 1992 was the final document establishing West Papua Province.Each district of Fak-fak, Sorong, Manokwari, South Sorong Kaimana, Raja Ampat, Teluk Bintuni, Wondama Bay, and the city of Sorong are comprised of eight regencies and one Madya City in this province as effect by geographical location of West Papua.
Land Physiography The West Papua Province’s physiography generally consists of basins and attenuation, lowlands and swamps, highlands and mountains, coastal areas, and coastal islands. Dow et al. say that (2005), the rugged Bird’s Head region is made up of massive metamorphic and granitic mountains in the southeast.
It consists of limestone highlands, alluvial plains, and swamps in the south and west. It is where the elevation gradually decreases. This lowland is divided in half by a bay that runs east-west. It is surrounded by swamps, plains filled with recently formed alluvium, and the final tertiary, Teluk Bintuni, which looks like a mouth bird. It is the unique of geographical location of West Papua.
On the other side of Bintuni Bay, the Bomberai plain connects the Onin-Kumawa peninsula with the Bird’s Neck, a lowland of recent and final Tertiary alluvium material. In the southwest, a large arch of limestone protrudes from the plains and forms the peninsula of Onin and Kumawa.
The Raja Ampat islands can be found in the western region.The islands in this region are typically mountainous or hilly.The north of the island of Misool and the south of the island of Salawati are both home to lowlands.There are two hilly areas on the small island of Numfor in the north of Manokwari that are higher than 110 meters as geographical location of West Papua.
