Nederlands talige versie
Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua)


Peter, Sept. 30, 1959
  • The reason for establishing this website was my need to be educated on the place where I was born. I am in the process trying to gather information objectively, to preserve this part of history. This web site is dedicated to Netherlands New Guinea, from 1828 till 1962 (currently West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya). But of course one cannot look at half an island, without the history before and after that period and that of the island as a whole.
    Departure from Hollandia, Sept. 27, 1962
  • My parents moved from Nistelrode, The Netherlands, to Hollandia, Netherlands New Guinea in September 1957, where I was born in December 1958. My mother returned with 2 children by boat from Fremantle, Australia, to the Netherlands in September 1962 and my father, who was a history teacher at the highschool, in January 1963. In August 2001 my parents went back for the 50th anniversary of the HBS in Hollandia, the highschool in Jayapura.
  • If you want to share information that makes this website more complete, please contact me,
    Peter van der Heijden

    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.

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    Last updated October 22, 2007
    © 2000-2007 Peter van der Heijden. All rights reserved
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