The history


Papua comprises most of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands. It is the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia. It was known as Irian Jaya until the Sixties. The westernmost tip of the island around the Bird's Head Peninsula, is a separate province and retains the name of West Papua (province).

Papua is inhabited by primitive ethnic groups and it is still partially unexplored, due to a lack of ways of transportation and communication.

At the end of the Second World War, following the removal of the Anglo-American troops who had fighted against the Japanese, the territory was given back to the Dutch colonial authority, who eventually renounced Indonesia (the Netherlands West Indies). This gave the Papuans a brief period of autonomy and freedom, which ended in 1969 with the intervention of the army, validated by a plebiscite.
During the ensuing period and because of the rich natural resources of the region (logging industry and mining) the Papuans have been subjected to the pressure of strong international economic interests.

The democratization of the country is achieving a gradual process of autonomy, though the self-determination of the native populations appears to be still far away, with the risk of a cultural and linguistic extinction.
During the previous regime some cases of human rights abuses have been reported. This has caused a slow and gradual change of tribal life and traditions, and a more visible Indonesiation of the area. The Papuan population has been isolated and estranged into small groups settled in the mountains and in the rainforest, where more than 300 tribes with different languages live. It is supposed that the number may be larger.



The Languages


According to recent studies, more than 93.000 spoken languages are present in New Guinea, equal to one seventh of the total world languages. Most of these are spoken by small communities who live in isolated pockets and are on the risk of extinction. Among the latest social achievements, the government has introduced the use of indigenous languages in the first three elementary classes, alongside the compulsory Indonesian language.