ABSTRACT
The Special Province of West Papua (Daerah Provinsi Papua Barat), on the island of New Guinea (Papua), consists mainly of the westernmost part of Indonesian Papua, comprising the distinctive Bird’s Head or Doberai Peninsula and the Bomberai Peninsula to its south, the province’s eastern border zigzagging across the narrow part of the isthmus connecting it to Papua province itself. Some offshore islands, notably Misool and the other Raja Ampat Islands to the west, are also part of the province. The islands of Maluku province lie mainly to the south-west and of North Maluku (Maluku Utara) to the north-west. The province was called West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat) when it was formed in 2003, but renamed West Papua in February 2007.
