Papua is a province in Indonesia which is located on the island of West New Guinea or west New Guinea. Papua is also often referred to as West Papua because Papua can refer to the entire island of New Guinea including the eastern hemisphere of a neighboring country, east New Guinea or Papua New Guinea. West Papua is the name preferred by nationalists who want to separate from Indonesia and form their own state. This province used to be known as West Irian from 1969 to 1973, its name was later changed to Irian Jaya by Suharto when he inaugurated the Freeport copper and gold mine, a name that remained in official use until 2002. The name of this province was changed to Papua in accordance with Law No. 21/2001 Special Autonomy for Papua. During the Dutch colonial era, this area was called Dutch New Guinea (Dutch New Guinea).
The origin of the word Irian is Join the Republic of Indonesia Anti-Netherland. The word Papua itself comes from the Malay language which means curly hair, an image that refers to the physical appearance of the indigenous tribes.
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