Portal:Oceania/Selected article/March, 2007
Western New Guinea is the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and consists of two provinces, Papua and West Papua (Papua Barat). It was previously known by various names, including Netherlands New Guinea (until 1st Dec 1961), West Papua (until August 1962), West Irian (1962–1973), and Irian Jaya (1973–2000). The incorporation of western New Guinea remains controversial.
Papua was annexed by Indonesia under the controversial Act of Free Choice in 1969. The West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat) province was formed on February 6th, 2006 and the name was officially changed to West Papua (Papua Barat) a year later.
The combined population of the Indonesian provinces of West Irian Jaya and Papua, constituting all of Western New Guinea, was estimated to be 2,646,489 in 2005. The two largest cities in the territory are Sorong in the northwest of the Bird's Head Peninsula and Jayapura in the northeast. Both cities have a population of approximately 200,000.