West Papua (region) - Name

Name

Speakers align themselves with a political orientation when choosing a name for the western half of the island of New Guinea. "West Papua", which is not the official name for the western half of the island, is preferred by ethnic Papuans. The region has had the official names of Netherlands New Guinea (1895–1962), West New Guinea (1962–63), West Irian (1963–73), Irian Jaya (1973–2001), and Papua (2002–2003). When the region was administratively one in Indonesia, Indonesian officials criticised activists' use of the term "West Papua", because they thought that the term implied that the province was not a part of Indonesia. Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid considered his short-lived use of the name "Papua" in 2002 as a concession to the West Papuans. Since 2003, western New Guinea has had two provinces: the province of West Papua on the west, and the province of Papua on the east. Officials and administrators refer to the province when they say "West Papua"; independence activists mean the whole of western New Guinea.