The Free Papua Movement or Free Papua Organization is a name given to a separatist movement that aims to separate West Papua from Indonesia and establish an independent state in the region. The territory is currently divided into six Indonesian provinces of Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua, also formerly known as Papua, Irian Jaya and West Irian.
The culture of Indonesia has been shaped by the interplay of indigenous customs and diverse foreign influences. With over 600 distinct ethnic groups, including significant Austronesian and Melanesian cultures, contributing to its rich traditions, languages, and customs, Indonesia is a melting pot of diversity. Positioned along ancient trade routes between the Far East, South Asia, and the Middle East, the country has absorbed cultural practices influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity. These influences have created a complex cultural tapestry that often differs from the original indigenous cultures.
Songket or sungkit is a tenun fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. The metallic threads stand out against the background cloth to create a shimmering effect. In the weaving process the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton weft (latitudinal) threads in a technique called supplementary weft weaving technique.
Wamena, also known as the District of Wamena, is a large town in the Western New Guinea region of Indonesia. It also serves as the seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in the province of Highland Papua, located in the Baliem Valley and had a population of 64,967 in the 2020 Census; the official estimate in mid 2023 was 66,080. Wamena is the urban centre of a rural area housing Highland Papua's highest concentration of population, with over 300,000 people inhabiting the Baliem Valley and surrounding areas. These people belong to several related ethnic groups, the most prominent of which are the Dani, Lani, and Yali.
According to the official Indonesian law, the Papuans, indigenous Papuans, or native Papuans are the common native-derived internationalized endonym in Indonesian English for the Native Eastern Indonesians of Papua-origin. They are closely related to Melanesians and Oceanians, who natively inhabited the Eastern Indonesian provinces of Central Papua, Highland Papua, Southwest Papua, West Papua, South Papua, and Papua in Indonesia. The Noken, a traditional knotted or woven bag, an invention of Papuan people, is internationally inscribed as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Papuans natively speak numerous Papuan languages, each with its distinctive and unique linguistic features that are only can be found on the land.
Jayawijaya Regency is one of the regencies (kabupaten) in the Indonesian province of Highland Papua. It occupies an area of 13,925.31 km2 in the Baliem Valley, situated in the central highlands of the province. It had a population of 196,085 at the 2010 Census, and 269,553 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 282,497. Its regency seat is the town of Wamena.
The National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia is a "living culture" that contains philosophical elements from the traditions of society and is still handed down from generation to generation. Edi Sedyawati added an important element in the notion of intangible cultural heritage is the nature of culture that cannot be held (abstract), such as concepts and technology, its nature can pass and disappear in time with the times such as language, music, dance, ceremony, and various other structured behaviors. Thus, cultural heritage is shared by a community or community and experiences development from generation to generation, in the flow of a tradition. The Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia records and establishes a list of intangible cultural heritage. As of June 2020, a total of 9,770 cultural heritages have been recorded and 1,086 of them have been designated.
Buchtar Tabuni is a Papuan independence activist, Chairman of the National Parliament of West Papua (PNWP), incorporating the National Committee for West Papua, and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) representative.
Mako Tabuni was a Papua New Guinea activist for Papuan interests, and the deputy chairman of the National Committee for West Papua.
Yusak Pakage is an Indonesian activist for Papuan independence, best known for his 2005–2010 imprisonment for raising the pro-independence Morning Star flag.
General elections were held in Indonesia on 17 April 2019. For the first time in the country's history, the president, the vice president, members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), and members of local legislative bodies were elected on the same day with over 190 million eligible voters. Sixteen parties participated in the elections nationally, including four new parties.
It is quite difficult to define Indonesian art, since the country is immensely diverse. The sprawling archipelago nation consists of 17,000 islands. Around 922 of those permanently inhabited, by over 600 ethnic groups, which speak more than 700 living languages.
The 2018 Papua gubernatorial election took place in Papua, Indonesia on 27 June 2018 as part of the simultaneous local elections. It was held to elect the governor of Papua along with their deputy, whilst members of the provincial council will be re-elected in 2019.
Yohana Susana Yembise is an Indonesian academic and politician who served as Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection in Joko Widodo's Working Cabinet from 2014 to 2019.
Kenyam is a town and district in Nduga Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia. It is the capital of the regency. Its population as at mid 2022 was 6,394.
General elections were held in Indonesia on 14 February 2024 to elect the president, vice president, and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which consists of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representative Council (DPD), and members of local legislative bodies (DPRD) at the provincial and city or regency levels. The newly elected members of the MPR was sworn in on 1 October 2024, while the elected president and vice president was sworn in on 20 October 2024. Incumbent President Joko Widodo was ineligible to run for a third term due to limitations established by the Indonesian constitution.
Dandhy Dwi Laksono is an Indonesian activist, investigative journalist, and filmmaker. He is known for the 2019 documentary film Sexy Killers, released prior to the 2019 Indonesian general election, which documented the collusion between the political establishment and the coal mining industry which is responsible for the environmental destruction. Dandhy was arrested in September 2019 for making tweets about violence by the state apparatus in the Indonesian Papua. The arrest was heavily criticized by the human rights groups.
Highland Papua is a province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago. It covers an area of 51,213.33 km2 (19,773.58 sq mi) and had a population of 1,448,360 according to the official estimates as at mid 2023.
The noken system, or ikat system, is a voting practice used in parts of Indonesia's Western New Guinea (Papua) that deviates from standard national electoral practices. The name refers to noken bags, which are widely used in the region and hold cultural value. In areas that use the noken system, voting is carried out by communities, either through public agreement on vote allocation or through the delegation of votes to a tribal leader. There is no law establishing noken voting, but its use has been approved by the Constitutional Court of Indonesia as an expression of customary practices.
