Early history Archaeological evidence indicates that humans arrived on New Guinea perhaps 60,000 years ago, although this is under debate. They came probably by sea from
Southeast Asia during the
Last Glacial Period, when the sea was lower and distances between islands shorter. The
first inhabitants, from whom the Papuan people are probably descended, adapted to the range of ecologies and, in time, developed one of the earliest known agricultures. Remains of this agricultural system, in the form of ancient irrigation systems in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, are being studied by archaeologists. Research indicates that the highlands were an early and independent center of agriculture, with evidence of irrigation going back at least 10,000 years.
Sugarcane was cultivated in New Guinea around 6000 BCE. The gardens of the
New Guinea Highlands are ancient, intensive
permacultures, adapted to high population densities, very high rainfalls (as high as 10,000 mm per year (400 in/yr)), earthquakes, hilly land, and occasional frost. Complex mulches, crop rotations and tillages are used in rotation on terraces with complex irrigation systems. Western agronomists still do not understand all of the practices, and it has been noted that native gardeners are as, or even more, successful than most scientific farmers in raising certain crops. There is evidence that New Guinea gardeners invented crop rotation well before western Europeans. A unique feature of New Guinea permaculture is the
silviculture of
Casuarina oligodon, a tall, sturdy native
ironwood tree, suited to use for timber and fuel, with root nodules that fix nitrogen.
Pollen studies show that it was adopted during an ancient period of extreme deforestation. In more recent millennia, another wave of people arrived on the shores of New Guinea. These were the
Austronesian people, who had spread down from
Taiwan, through the
South-east Asian archipelago, colonising many of the islands on the way. The Austronesian people had technology and skills extremely well adapted to ocean voyaging and Austronesian language speaking people are present along much of the coastal areas and islands of New Guinea. They also introduced pigs and
dogs. These Austronesian migrants are considered the ancestors of most people in insular Southeast Asia, from
Sumatra and
Java to
Borneo and
Sulawesi, as well as coastal new Guinea.
Precolonial history , photographed during the third South New Guinea expedition in 1912–13 The western part of the island was in contact with kingdoms in other parts of modern-day Indonesia. The
Negarakertagama mentioned the region of Wanin and Sran, in eastern
Nusantara as part of
Majapahit's tributary. This 'Wanin' has been identified with the Onin Peninsula, part of the
Bomberai Peninsula near the city of
Fakfak. while '
Sran' had been identified as region of
Kowiai, just south of Onin peninsula. During Tidore's rule, the main exports of the island during this period were resins, spices, slaves and the highly priced feathers of the
bird-of-paradise. In a period of constant conflict called 'hongi wars', in which rival villages or kingdoms would invoke the name of Tidore Sultan, rightly, for punitive expeditions for not fulfilling their tributary obligations, or opportunitively for competitions over resources and prestige. during his revolt in 1780s. He commanded loyalty from both Moluccan and Papuan chiefs, especially those of
Raja Ampat Islands, from his base in
Gebe. Following Tidore's subjugation as Dutch tributary, much of the territory it claimed in western part of New Guinea came under Dutch rule as part of Dutch East Indies. The first known map of the island was made by F. Hoeiu in 1600 and shows it as 'Nova Guinea'. In 1606,
Luís Vaz de Torres explored the southern coast of New Guinea from
Milne Bay to the
Gulf of Papua including
Orangerie Bay, which he named
Bahía de San Lorenzo. His expedition also discovered
Basilaki Island naming it
Tierra de San Buenaventura, which he claimed for Spain in July 1606. On 18 October, his expedition reached the western part of the island in present-day Indonesia, and also claimed the territory for the King of Spain. controlled the western half of New Guinea,
Germany the north-eastern part, and
Britain (later on
Australia) the south-eastern part. A successive European claim occurred in 1828, when the Netherlands formally claimed the western half of the island as
Dutch New Guinea. Dutch colonial authority built
Fort Du Bus an administrative and trading post established near Lobo, Triton Bay, but by 1835 had been abandoned. Considering that New Guinea had little economic value for them, the Dutch promoted Tidore as suzerain of Papua. By 1849, Tidore's borders had been extended to the proximity of the current international border between Indonesia and
Papua New Guinea, as it formed extensive trade pact and custom of
Uli-Siwa ( federation of nine ). In 1883, following a short-lived French annexation of
New Ireland, the British colony of
Queensland annexed south-eastern New Guinea. However, the Queensland government's superiors in the
United Kingdom revoked the claim, and (formally) assumed direct responsibility in 1884, when
Germany claimed north-eastern New Guinea as the protectorate of
German New Guinea (also called
Kaiser-Wilhelmsland). The first Dutch government posts were established in 1898 and in 1902: Manokwari on the north coast, Fak-Fak in the west and Merauke in the south at the border with
British New Guinea. The German, Dutch and British colonial administrators each attempted to suppress the still-widespread practices of inter-village warfare and
headhunting within their respective territories. On 18 March 1902, the British government transferred some administrative responsibility over southeast New Guinea to Australia (which renamed the area "
Territory of Papua"); and, in 1906, transferred all remaining responsibility to Australia. During
World War I,
Australian forces seized German New Guinea, which in 1920 became the
Territory of New Guinea, to be administered by Australia under a
League of Nations mandate. The territories under Australian administration became collectively known as The Territories of Papua and New Guinea (until February 1942). Before about 1930, European maps showed the highlands as uninhabited forests. When first flown over by aircraft, numerous settlements with agricultural terraces and stockades were observed. The most startling discovery took place on 4 August 1938, when
Richard Archbold discovered the
Grand Valley of the Baliem River, which had 50,000 yet-undiscovered Stone Age farmers living in orderly villages. The people, known as the
Dani, were the last society of its size to make first contact with the rest of the world. A 1930 expedition led by the prospector Michael Lehay also encountered an indigenous group in the highlands. The inhabitants, believing themselves to be the only people in the world and, having never seen Europeans before, initially believed the explorers to be spirits of the dead due to the local belief that a person's skin turned white when they died and crossed into the land of the dead.
World War II s of New Guinea while en route to the front line Netherlands New Guinea and the Australian territories (the eastern half ) were invaded in 1942 by the
Japanese. The Netherlands were defeated by that stage and did not put up a fight, and the western section was not of any strategic value to either side, so they did not battle there. The Japanese invaded the north shore of the Australia territories and were aiming to move south and take the southern shore too. The highlands, northern and eastern parts of the island became key battlefields in the
South West Pacific Theatre of
World War II. Notable battles were for
Port Moresby (the naval battle is known as the
Battle of the Coral Sea),
Milne Bay and for the
Kokoda track. Papuans often gave vital assistance to the
Allies, fighting alongside Australian troops, and carrying equipment and injured men across New Guinea. Approximately 216,000 Japanese, Australian and U.S. soldiers, sailors and airmen died during the New Guinea Campaign.
Since World War II Following the return to civil administration after World War II, the Australian section was known as the Territory of Papua-New Guinea from 1945 to 1949 and then as
Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Although the rest of the Dutch East Indies achieved independence as Indonesia on 27 December 1949, the Netherlands regained control of western New Guinea. During the 1950s, the Dutch government began to prepare Netherlands New Guinea for full independence and allowed elections in 1959; the partial elected
New Guinea Council took office on 5 April 1961. The Council decided on the name of West Papua (
Papua Barat) for the territory, along with an emblem,
flag, and
anthem to complement those of the Netherlands. On 1 October 1962, after
some military interventions and negotiations, the Dutch handed over the territory to the
United Nations Temporary Executive Authority, until 1 May 1963, when Indonesia took control. The territory was renamed West Irian () and then Irian Jaya. In 1969, Indonesia, under the 1962
New York Agreement, organised a referendum named the
Act of Free Choice, in which the military hand picked Papuan tribal elders to vote for integration with Indonesia. There has been significant reported resistance to Indonesian integration and occupation, both through civil disobedience (such as publicly raising the Morning Star flag) and via the formation of the
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM, or Free Papua Movement) in 1965.
Amnesty International has estimated more than 100,000 Papuans, one-sixth of the population, have died as a result of government-sponsored violence against West Papuans. Reports published by
TRT World and
De Gruyter Oldenbourg have put the number of killed Papuans since the start of the conflict at roughly 500,000. was formally annexed by Indonesia in 1969. From 1971, the name Papua New Guinea was used for the Australian territory. On 16 September 1975, Australia granted full independence to Papua New Guinea. In 2000, Irian Jaya was formally renamed "The Province of Papua" and a Law on Special Autonomy was passed in 2001. The Law established a (MRP) with representatives of the different indigenous cultures of Papua. The MRP was empowered to protect the rights of Papuans, raise the status of women in Papua, and to ease religious tensions in Papua;
block grants were given for the implementation of the Law as much as $266 million in 2004. The
Indonesian courts' enforcement of the Law on Special Autonomy blocked further creation of subdivisions of Papua: although President
Megawati Sukarnoputri was able to create a separate West Papua province in 2003 as a
fait accompli, plans for a third province on western New Guinea were blocked by the courts. Critics argue that the Indonesian government has been reluctant to establish or issue various government implementing regulations so that the legal provisions of special autonomy could be put into practice, and as a result special autonomy in Papua has "failed". In 2022, the Indonesian government split Papua Province into four provinces. In addition to
Papua Province proper (capital
Jayapura), the three new provinces are
South Papua (capital
Merauke),
Central Papua (capital
Nabire) and
Highland Papua (capital
Jayawijaya). Furthermore,
Southwest Papua (capital
Sorong) was split from
West Papua (capital
Manokwari). The culture of
inter-tribal warfare and animosity between neighbouring tribes persists in New Guinea. == Notes ==