Central Papua
Central Papua is a province in Indonesia located on Papua island. The capital of Central Papua province is Nabire district, which is located in the northern part of Central Papua. Nabire is a lowland area directly bordering the Cenderawasih Bay National Park, which has marine tourism destinations such as coral reefs, white sand islands, and whale sharks.
The central part of Central Papua is the Paniai Lake area and the Jayawijaya Mountains. In this province, there is the highest mountain in Indonesia, Puncak Jaya, which has an eternal glacier, and the Grasberg gold mine, which is operated by Freeport Indonesia.
The southern part of Central Papua is Mimika Regency, with its capital in Timika, which is one of the largest cities on Papua Island. Meanwhile, Mimika's topography consists of swamps, rivers, and beaches.
The inland area of Central Papua is inhabited by tribes such as the Mee (Ekari) and Moni. The Mee people live traditionally by clearing fields and planting tubers, raising pigs, fishing in lakes, and feasting. They also use Mege currency, which is made from shells. The outside world (in the words of inland tribes in Papua) discovered these inland tribes for the first time in the 1930s. A pilot named Frits Wissel flew over this area and discovered three large lakes where the Mee tribe lived. The lakes consist of Lakes Paniai, Tigi, and Tage. By the Dutch, this area was given the name Wisselmeeren (Wissel lakes). After the colonial era, the name Paniai became more popular than Wisselmeeren.
Indigenous Tribes of Central Papua
Nabire is inhabited by coastal tribes who are part of the Saireri traditional territory, including the Yaur, Wate, Mora, Umari, Gwoa, and Yerisiam tribes. Apart from that, in the mountainous region, there are Mee, Moi, and Auye (Napan). The central part of this province is Lake Paniai, which is inhabited by other tribes, the Moni tribe and the Wolani tribe. Meanwhile, the Jayawijaya Mountains to the east are inhabited by the Amungme, Damalme, Dem, Turu (Iau), and Wano, as well as tribes that can also be found in the Papua Mountains, such as the Dani, Lani, and Nduga (Dauwa). Meanwhile, the southern coast of Central Papua is Mimika Regency, which is inhabited by the Kamoro and Sempan tribes.
