I. History
Our Story
II. People
1. Papuas, 2. Language, 3. Towns, 4. Education, 5. Genealogy, 6. Currency, 7. Stamps, 8. National Anthem, 9. Flag 10. Time, 11. Photo's
III. Maps
IV. Military
V. Current status
VI. Bibliography
VII. Guest book

There are 3 major island groups in the Pacific Ocean: Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. Melanesia includes (from west to east) the island of New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and the Bismarck and Louisiade archipelagoes; the Solomon Islands and the Santa Cruz Islands; New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands; Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides); Fiji; Norfolk Island; and numerous smaller islands.
New Guinea is an island north of Australia and just south of the equator. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Bismarck and Solomon Seas to the east, the Coral Sea and Torres Strait to the south, and the Arafura Sea to the southwest. New Guinea is the second largest island in the world (after Greenland); about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) long (from northwest to southeast) and about 400 miles (640 km) wide at its widest (north to south), covering an area of about 309,000 square miles (791,000 square km).
New Guinea is administratively divided into two halves: in the west West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya, Irian Barat and Netherlands New Guinea), a propinsi ("province") of Indonesia since 1969; in the east Papua New Guinea, an independent parliamentary state since 1975. The population of the entire island, including minor adjoining islands, was 4.7 million in 1990, of which West Papua 1.6 million and Papua New Guinea 3.1 million.
West Papua (Irian Jaya) consists of the western half (163,000 square miles or 413,000 square km) of New Guinea, its islands (Yapen, Numfoor, Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, Kofiau, Misool and Adi islands) and the Schouten and Raja Ampat island groups. West Papua fronts the Ceram Sea and the Banda Sea on the west, the Arafura Sea on the southwest, and the Pacific Ocean on the north; it is bounded by Papua New Guinea on the east.