The New Three Provinces Are South Papua, Central Papua, And Highland Papua, With Their Customary Names Being Anim Ha, Mee Pago, And La Pago, Respectively.
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The number of provinces in Indonesia has officially increased to 37 provinces. The additional three provinces came from the expansion of Papua provinces. The formation of the three provinces refers to the Draft Law (Rancangan Undang-Undang) on the new autonomous regions of Papua Province, which just has been passed into Law.
The ratification of the Draft Law was finalized through the Plenary Meeting of the House of Representatives at Parliament complex in Jakarta on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Papua’s new three provinces are South Papua, Central Papua, and Highland Papua.
Profile of Indonesia’s Three New Provinces
To learn further about Papua’s new three provinces in Indonesia, here are the brief profiles:
South Papua Province
South Papua province has the customary name Anim Ha, with Merauke as the capital city. This province covers Merauke Regency, Mappi Regency, Asmat Regency, and Boven Digoel Regency. The tribe inhabiting the South Papua region is the Marind Anim, which consists of seven major clans.
The seven major clans are Kaize, Mahuze, Balagaize, Gebze, Samkakai, Ndiken, and Basik-basik. The Marind Anim community still preserves their previous life patterns: hunting, gathering, and farming.
The Marind Anim tribe’s staple food is sago. Not only used as a daily meal, but sago is also used in many rituals, such as a customary court, deliberation, and marriage. Moreover, they use sago palms to make boats and housing materials.
Besides Marind Anim, South Papua province is also inhabited by Asmat tribes, divided into two – those who live on the coast and those who live inland. South Papua province or Anim Ha’s east side is directly adjacent to Papua New Guinea, while the south is directly adjacent to the Arafura Sea.
Central Papua Province
Central Papua Province has the traditional name Mee Pago, and its capital city is in Nabire Regency. This new province consists of Nabire Regency, Mimika Regency, Paniai Regency, Dogiyai Regency, Deyiai Regency, Intan Jaya Regency, and Puncak Regency.
The major tribe that inhabits Central Papua Province is the Mee tribe. Besides Mee, this province is also occupied by other tribes, like Moni, Nduga, Damal, and Dani. Mee tribe farm and raise cattle for their living. Still, they do other activities as well, like fishing and trading.
The north side of Central Papua Province is adjacent to Papua, while the west side is adjacent to West Papua. The southern border is the Arafura Sea, and the eastern border is Highland Papua and South Papua Province.
The Mee Pago regions have some main commodities. Some are coffee and sweet potatoes, mainly produced by Dogiyai and Paniai districts. Meanwhile, Nabire Regency excels in citrus, pig farming, and rice.
Highland Papua Province
La Pago is the customary and traditional name of this Highland Papua Province. Wamena in Jayawijaya district is the capital city of this province. This province consists of Puncak Jaya Regency, Jayawijaya Regency, Nduga Regency, Tolikara Regency, Yahukimo Regency, Middle Mamberamo Regency, Lanny Jaya Regency, and Yalimo Regency.
There are at least 23 tribes living in Highland Papua Province, such as Ngalum, Dani, Ndugwa, Dem, Pesekhem, Una, Ngalik, Uria, Nimbora, and Pyu. There are also Yali, Biksi, Korapan, Himanggona, Kupel, Momuna, Murop, Karfasia, Nduga, Nayak, Sela Sarmi, Wanam, and Timorini tribes.
Most of the Nayak tribes have livelihoods as sweet potato and taro farmers. They also have staple foods like sweet potatoes, vegetables, and pork cooked by piling them with hot stones.
Meanwhile, Nduga, another tribe in this province, is planting and owning special areas for hunting for a living. Highland Papua is the only province that is landlocked–meaning that this province is not bordered by any waters or sea.
Those are Papua’s new three provinces in Indonesia. With this, Papua now has five provinces, namely Papua, West Papua, South Papua, Central Papua, and Highland Papua.
