Definitions for "Papua"
Keywords:  indonesia, jaya, irian, jakarta, island
A Pacific island north of Australia; governed by Australia and Indonesia.
Papua is a province of Indonesia comprising a majority part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands (see also Western New Guinea). The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea, but in 2003, the western portion of the province, on the Bird's Head Peninsula, was declared by Jakarta as a separate province named West Irian Jaya. The legality of this separation has been disputed as it appears to conflict with the conditions of the Special Autonomy status awarded to Papua in the year 2000.