- The name of Papua Barat was, until very recent, Irian Jaya. During the 'Dutch period' the name was Dutch New Guinee (in Dutch: Nederlands Nieuw Guinea).
- It is the most eastern province of Indonesia.
- Surface 12 times as big as the Netherlands.
- Distance from north to south: ca. 740 kiliometers and the east-west distance is about 2400 kilometers.
- Number of inhabitants: 1,5 to 2 million, of which almost one million Papua People. These inhabitants are divided over about 240 tribes.
- Landscape and climate: dense tropical rainforrests. Big and smaller rivers cut through these forrests. Along the south coast you'll find big mangrove forrests, swamps and wetlands. Inland you'll find an extremely rough terrain and mountains up to 5000 meters.
- The temperature has an average of about 30 degrees Celsius
- Rainfal: up to 200 mm per year in coastal areas, in the mountains up to 4000 mm per year
- Export products are fisch (shrimps), oil, mining products like copper and iron
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Facts and figures
