Central Papua

Central Papua, officially the Central Papua Province, is an Indonesian province located in the central region of Western New Guinea. It was formally established on 25 July 2022 from the former eight western regencies of the province of Papua. It covers an area of 61,072.91 km² and had an officially estimated population of 1,472,910 in mid 2024. It is bordered by the Indonesian provinces of West Papua to the west, the province of Papua to the north and northeast, by Highland Papua to the east, and by South Papua to the southeast. The administrative capital is located in Wanggar District in Nabire Regency, although Timika is a larger town. Its traditional name is Mee Pago – Saireri.
Central Papua is bordered by seas to the north and south. Nabire is situated in the northern part of Central Papua, Indonesia. This lowland area is directly adjacent to the Teluk Cenderawasih National Park and boasts immense potential for marine tourism including coral reefs, white sandy islands, and whale sharks in their natural habitat. The southern part of Central Papua is mostly swampy terrain and the location of the port of Amamapare and Timika, the largest town in this province. The central region of Central Papua is dominated by the Jayawijaya Mountains, which encompasses the snow-capped Puncak Jaya, the highest peak in Indonesia. This mountain range is also home to the Grasberg gold mine, operated by Freeport Indonesia.
The provincial border roughly follows the cultural region of Mee Pago and parts of Saireri.

History

Sultanate of Tidore era

Since the 18th century, the western region of Mimika has been the furthest reach of the Tidore Sultanate's "Uli Siwa" influence on the south-west coast of Papua Island. The region was influenced primarily by three major ethnic groups, the Koiwai, Kamoro, and Asmat. The trade relations for slaves, ironwares, clothes, and body ornaments that were established exerted a great deal of influence on the local population with the use of titles of Moluccan origin as well as the Islamic culture of the people such as the use of turbaned hats and the custom of not eating pork until the 1950s.
The trading centre of the region is Kipia, led by a leader named Naowa, who received the title of king from Lamora, Namatota King. Kipia led a confederation of Kamoro villages called Tarya We, along with Poraoka, Maparpe, Wumuka, Umar, and Aindua. They co-operated because the region lacked sago and intimidated the more fertile region to the east with canoes and minaki received from trade. Meanwhile, in the east there was a major war called the Tipuka War where Tipuka village was destroyed by Koperapoka assisted by a coalition of Mware, Pigapu, Hiripau, and Miyoko which was thought to be revenge for Tipuka kidnapping people for trade. This trade relationship and influence from the Moluccas gradually disappeared with the strengthening of Dutch colonialism, and the influx of Catholic missionaries and Chinese traders.

Dutch East Indies era

The interior of Central Papua is inhabited by ethnic groups such as the Mee and Moni, who live traditionally by clearing fields and cultivating tubers, raising pigs, fishing, and engaging in feasting. They had formed trade relations with coastal tribes using mege currency made from shells. These indigenous communities were first discovered by Western explorers during the British Ornithologists' Union 1909–1911 expedition to Western New Guinea. They were called Tapiro pygmies on account of their shorter height compared to the Papuans, i.e., the Kamoro. Later in the 1930s, a Dutch pilot named Frits Wissel flew over the highland area and came across three large lakes where the Mee people resided. The lakes were named Paniai, Tigi, and Tage, and the Dutch referred to the region as Wisselmeeren. However, after the Dutch colonial era, the name Paniai became more widely used than Wisselmeeren.
During the Round Table Conference on 27 December 1949. The Dutch East Indies government issued a proclamation stating that the territory of Papua controlled by the Dutch East Indies would be under the jurisdiction of a gubernemen called the New Guinea Gouvernement. Later in 1952 New Guinea was designated as an overseas province of the Netherlands. Dutch New Guinea was officially divided into four Afdeling on 10 May 1952. The district of Central New Guinea was one of the four afdelings and included Wisselmeren as an onderafdeling. However, unlike the other districts, the Central New Guinea afdeling did not have a capital city. The New Guinea Government underwent further reorganisation in 1954 and the Central New Guinea afdeling was temporarily placed directly under the supervision of the Resident of Geelvinkbaai.

Entry of Freeport Indonesia

In 1936, the Carstensz expedition, led by Anton Colijn from the Netherlands, conquered Puncak Jaya, the highest mountain in Papua. Among the members of the team was a geologist named Jean Jacques Dozy, who discovered large copper deposits in one of the places they passed. This location was later named Ore Mountain or "Ertsberg" and was published. Reports about this site were ultimately forgotten due to World War II. However, in 1963, the Freeport Sulfur Company discovered this valuable report and sent an expedition to confirm the existence of this natural wealth. The team, led by Forbes Wilson, included geologists Delos Flint. They succeeded in discovering enormous potential in the region, leading to the signing of the first contract with the Government of Indonesia under President Suharto, who had just passed Law No. 1 of 1967 concerning Foreign Investment. Forbes Wilson later became the President of Freeport Indonesia. In 1970, the mine was opened, and the Amungme people were relocated to another area. Apart from opening a mine, Freeport also built supporting infrastructure, including Amamapare Port in the Kamoro Tribe area and a settlement called Kuala Kencana in 1995. The company then opened a new mine, the Grasberg mine in Tembagapura, which contains gold and signed the second contract in 1991.

Provincial proposal

During the New Order

Efforts to split Papua Province have been made since the reign of Governor Busiri Suryowinoto. At that time, President Suharto encouraged the division of Irian Jaya Province to increase Irian Jaya's representation in the central legislature and to facilitate development in the region. The idea of expansion was also put forward at a seminar on "Local Government Development" in 1982.
Before his death in early August 1982, Busiri put forward three different proposals for the division of the province, which were considered by Kompas journalist Korano Nicolash LMS as the first concept that "contained a comprehensive and detailed division of Irian Jaya into three provinces". One of Busiri's proposals was to divide Irian Jaya into three provinces, namely East Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya, and West Irian Jaya. The Central Irian Jaya province consisted of the districts of Mapurajaya, Nabire, Enarotali, Mulia, Yapen-Waropen, and Teluk Cenderawasih. Although this expansion proposal was never realised, President Suharto approved the division of Irian Jaya into three assistant governorates in 1984.

Expansion in 1999 and 2003

After several years of delay, President B.J. Habibie approved the division of Irian Jaya Province. The province of Irian Jaya was divided into the provinces of Irian Jaya, West Irian Jaya, and Central Irian Jaya through Law Number 45 of 1999 which was enacted on 4 October 1999. Former Assistant Governor of Region II Herman Monim was then inaugurated as the first Governor of Central Irian Jaya on 12 October 1999. However, the division of Irian Jaya Province was opposed by the Irian Jaya DPRD and the DPRD unilaterally cancelled the division four days later. The central government recognised the validity of the decision issued by the Irian Jaya DPRD and the law was withdrawn.
After Irian Jaya was renamed Papua in 2000, demands for the division of Papua province resurfaced. On 23 August 2003, , Jacobus Muyapa, and Philip Wona declared the formation of Central Papua province. As a result of the declaration, the community in the Central Papua region was polarised into two groups, those who supported and those who rejected the division of Central Papua province. The two groups fought and held each other hostage for about a week until finally the central government issued a decision to postpone the division of the province on 28 August. The two parties finally decided to reconcile the day after the decision was issued by the central government. The fighting left five people dead and dozens injured.

Regency expansion

After independence, the current Central Papua region was administered under Paniai Regency and Fakfak Regency. In 1966, the capital of Paniai was moved from Enarotali in the interior to Nabire on the coast because it was easily accessible by sea transportation, making it strategically important as a gateway to other inland areas. Then, according to Government Regulation Number 52 of 1996, Paniai Regency with Nabire as its capital was renamed Nabire Regency, followed by the establishment of a new Paniai Regency with Enarotali as its capital, and Puncak Jaya Regency with Mulia as its capital. Furthermore, the further expansion was enacted in Law Number 45 of 1999, which also resulted in the splitting of Mimika Regency with Timika as its capital from Fakfak Regency.
After the enactment of the Law on Regional Autonomy, proposals for the formation of new regions began to emerge so that the number of regencies and cities increased rapidly. In 2008, the area now comprising Central Papua Region itself expanded from four regencies to eight. The eastern part of Paniai Regency was split off to form a Intan Jaya Regency, the Paniai area around Lake Tigi was split off to form a Deiyai Regency, the southern side of Nabire Regency was separated into a regency called Dogiyai Regency, and finally the western part of Puncak Jaya Regency was split off to form a Puncak Regency.