Bensbach River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | ![]() |
Region | Western Province |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Papua New Guinea |
Mouth | Arafura Sea |
• location | Torasi Estuary, southwestern Western Province, near the Indonesian border |
• coordinates | 9°07′43″S141°01′09″E / 9.1285°S 141.0193°E |
Length | 242 km (150 mi) |
Basin size | 2,516.7 km2 (971.7 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Near mouth |
• average | 88.74 m3/s (3,134 cu ft/s) |
The Bensbach River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Maro River in Merauke Regency, Indonesia, and just to the west of the Morehead River in Papua New Guinea.
The mouth of the river, Torasi Estuary, marks part of the extreme southern boundary between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. [1]
The river is strongly meandering and rather narrow. From the rivermouth, it stretches in a roughly northeasterly direction, and so is entirely located in PNG territory. It flows through the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands, including the Tonda Wildlife Management Area.
Europeans first discovered the river on 27 February 1893, and it was named after Jacob Bensbach, Dutch Resident at Ternate, by Sir William MacGregor. The local people call it the Torassi (sometimes spelled Torasi).
Tonda languages are spoken in the Bensbach River area. [2]
Indo-Pacific is a hypothetical language macrofamily proposed in 1971 by Joseph Greenberg and now believed to be spurious. It grouped together the Papuan languages of New Guinea and Melanesia with the languages of the Andaman Islands and, tentatively, the languages of Tasmania, both of which are remote from New Guinea. The valid cognates Greenberg found turned out to be reflexes of the less extensive Trans–New Guinea family. Recently the Kusunda language, which is generally seen as a language isolate, is also included in the Indo-Pacific proposal. Greenberg did not include "Australian" in his original 1971 proposal.
Western Province is a coastal province in southwestern Papua New Guinea, bordering the Indonesian provinces of Highland Papua and South Papua. The provincial capital is Daru. The largest town in the province is Tabubil. Other major settlements are Kiunga, Ningerum, Olsobip and Balimo.
The Trans-Fly–Bulaka RiverakaSouth-Central Papuan languages form a hypothetical family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages west of the Fly River in southern Papua New Guinea into southern Indonesian West Papua, plus a pair of languages on the Bulaka River a hundred km further west.
The Eastern Trans-Fly languages are a small independent family of Papuan languages spoken in the Oriomo Plateau to the west of the Fly River in New Guinea.
The bronze quoll is a species of quoll found only in the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands of New Guinea and West Papua.
The Turama–Kikorian languages are a family identified by Arthur Capell (1962) and part of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) family in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and Malcolm Ross (2005). The family is named after the Turama River and Kikori River of southern Papua New Guinea; the alternative name is based more narrowly on the Omati River.
The Tirio languages are a family of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. The Tirio languages have about 40% of their lexicon in common.
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf, and were united during episodes of low sea level in the Pleistocene glaciations as the combined landmass of Sahul. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez during his maritime expedition of 1545 due to the resemblance of the indigenous peoples of the island to those in the African region of Guinea.
The Tonda languages form a branch of the Yam language family of southern New Guinea. There are over 10 languages.
The Yam languages, also known as the Morehead River languages, are a family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages south and west of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian West Papua.
The Trans-Fly languages are a small family of Papuan languages proposed by Timothy Usher, that are spoken in the region of the Fly River.
The Wasur National Park forms part of the largest wetland in Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia and has been one of the least disturbed by human activity. The high value of its biodiversity has led to the park being dubbed the "Serengeti of Papua". The vast open wetland, in particular Rawa Biru Lake, attracts a very rich fauna.
The Trans Fly savanna and grasslands are a lowland ecoregion on the south coast of the island of New Guinea in both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean sides of the island. With their monsoon and dry season climate these grasslands are quite different from the tropical rainforest that covers most of the island and resemble the landscape of northern Australia which lies to the south.
The Tonda Wildlife Management Area is a wetland of international importance and the largest protected area in Papua New Guinea. It is located in the south-western corner of the Western Province and is contiguous with Wasur National Park of Indonesia. It forms part of the Trans Fly savanna and grasslands ecoregion.
Tabo, also known as Waia (Waya), is a Papuan language of Western Province, Papua New Guinea, just north of the Fly River delta. The language has also been known as Hiwi and Hibaradai.
Blafe (Mblafe), also known as Tonda or Indorodoro/Yendorador, is a Papuan language of New Guinea. Dialects are Mblafe and Ránmo. It is centered in Indorodoro village of Kandarisa ward, Morehead Rural LLG, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Mblafe-speaking villages are located along eastern banks of the Bensbach River and inland areas to the east of the river.
Morehead Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Merauke Regency, Indonesia is located adjacently to the west. Yam, Pahoturi, and Anim languages are spoken in the LLG.
The Morehead River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Bensbach River, and to the west of the Fly River. The river flows through the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands.
The tiger grunter is a freshwater species of ray-finned fish within the family Terapontidae. The species inhabits rivers in Papea New Guinea, mainly the Fly, Morehead and Bensbach River systems, and can grow to a length of 15 centimeters.