Things You Need To Know About West Papua Indonesia – Geography

When talking about west Papua, most people might think about the orthodox and judgmental point of view. It either relates to the remote and far from the modern civilization. But, there are a lot of things you need to know about west Papua Indonesia including its biodiversity geography. It is even considered one of the most diverse areas in Indonesia. here are the details.

Locations

Where is it? if you never heard about west Papua, then you are missing a lot of things. Western New Guinea is in the southern part of Indonesia. It is 1,200 kilometers from east to west and 736 kilometers from north to south. The vast area is the home of about 5,440,000 populations, which are majority come from the native Papuan.

One fact that you will find interesting is that the west Papuan region occupies about 22% of the Indonesian land area. It makes the province one of the most vital parts of the country. The unique point itself also comes from the 420,540 square meters kilometer total areas. One of the things you need to know about west Papua Indonesia is that it has a diverse ecology.

Geography

Geographically, the West Papuan area is mostly covered under a tropical rain forest. however, it also has highland areas that come with mountain peaks, grasslands, rainforest, gorges, and montane forest. the land itself mostly comes in the mountainous condition, which reaches about 1,000 to 2,000 meters high.

Along with it, there are also mangrove swamps that are about in the lowland coastal areas. Some swamps extend to 300 kilometers around the central Asmat regions. However, one thing that makes the province unique is the ranges of islands. In this case, the thing you need to know about west Papua Indonesia is the number of 40 islands in it.

The result of the unique geographical creates large areas of rivers and lakes in the lowland. The southern lowland mostly has mangrove, rainforest, and swamp forest. it explains the lowland tribes such as Asmat people are mostly gatherers. Meanwhile, the highland tribes such as the Dani people are living in the central mountain ranges.

Agriculture And Animal Breeding

Due to its geography, the mainstay of the economy is agriculture. The native is more engaging in farming. They grow staple crops such as rice, cassava, soybean, yams, corn, and many more. There are also some other plants including cocoa, oil fruit, and nutmeg. However, there is also a rising number of animal farming.

The most common livestock around the west Papua are pigs, goats, and cattle. However, people on the lowlands are focus on gathering sago and fish as their staple diets. But one of the things you need to know about west Papua Indonesia is that the area is also rich in minerals, such as gold, nickel, and copper.

One of the reasons why west Papua is filled with diverse populations, wildlife, ecology, tribe, or even wonders is its geography. The province has 162,371 square miles areas which comprise range ecosystems. It has forests, mangroves, lakes, seas, bay, woodland, etc. It is also divided into lowland and highland, which later separate the local population and lifestyles.