Western New Guinea, also known as Papua (ISO code: ID-PP), is the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea. Since the island is also named as Papua, the region is sometimes called West Papua. Lying to the west of the independent state of Papua New Guinea, it is the only Indonesian territory to be situated in Oceania. The territory is mostly in the Southern Hemisphere and also includes nearby islands, including the Schouten and Raja Ampat archipelagoes. The region is predominantly covered with ancient rainforest where numerous traditional tribes live such as the Dani of the Baliem Valley, although a large proportion of the population live in or near coastal areas, with the largest city being Jayapura.Following its independence proclamation in 1945, the Republic of Indonesia took over all the former Dutch East Indies territories, including Western New Guinea. However, the Dutch retained sovereignty over the region until the New York Agreement on 15 August 1962, which returned Western New Guinea to Indonesia. The region became the province of Irian Jaya before being renamed as Papua in 2002. The following year, the second province in the region, West Papua in Manokwari, was inaugurated. Both provinces were granted special autonomous status by the Indonesian legislation.
Western New Guinea has an estimated population of 4,363,869, with majority of whom are Papuan people. The official and most commonly spoken language is Indonesian. Estimates of the number of tribal languages in the region range from 200 to over 700, with the most widely spoken including Dani, Yali, Ekari and Biak. The predominant religion is Christianity (often combined with traditional beliefs) followed by Islam. The main industries include agriculture, fishing, oil production, and mining.