West Irian. Why is Irian Jaya a green hell on Earth? Horror and horror in everything and everywhere

Submission by Holland of the western part of the island New Guinea began at the end of the 19th century. By the middle of the XX century. this territory was completely controlled by the Dutch and was included, along with the islands of the Indonesian archipelago, in the colonial possession of the Netherlands India. After the proclamation of Indonesia's independence on August 17, 1945 and the recognition of its sovereignty by the Netherlands in 1949, the western part of New Guinea did not become part of the Indonesian state and remained a colony of Holland. The Indonesian governments launched a struggle for the liberation of West Irian (Irian is the Indonesian name for New Guinea) and its annexation to the Republic of Indonesia on the grounds that an independent Indonesian state should cover the entire former Dutch colony of Netherlands India, and, consequently, the western part of New Guinea. The problem of liberating this territory from colonial status and its further fate were brought up for discussion by the UN. However, since 1961, its Papuan population also joined the struggle for the freedom of this territory. In 1963, by the decision of the UN, the western part of New Guinea was annexed to the Republic of Indonesia as the province of West Irian, later renamed the province of Irian Jaya. But part of the Papuan population continued to fight for independence, now against the Indonesian authorities. In 1964, a separatist organization was created for free papua(OPM). In 1969, at the initiative of the UN, a referendum was held in West Irian, according to the official results of which the population of the province spoke in favor of the final incorporation of the province into the Republic of Indonesia. Nevertheless, the separatists continued their struggle, justifying their demand for independence by claiming that the results of the 1969 referendum had been falsified. The OPM numbered from 30 to 50 thousand people. The main reasons for the dissatisfaction of the population are socio-economic. Irian Jaya province remained the least developed and least controlled area of ​​the country. On a huge territory of 422 thousand square meters. km, covered with rugged forests, swamps and numerous mountain ranges, is home to less than 2 million people, mostly Papuan tribes belonging to the Negroid race, speaking different dialects and often at odds with each other. Many tribes remain at the level of the primitive communal system with the remnants of cannibalism.

During the reign of the military-bureaucratic regime of President Suharto, foreign capital poured into the province in a wide flow, developing the province's enormous natural wealth. The activities of foreign companies caused serious damage to the natural environment. The standard of living of the population remained the lowest in Indonesia. Residents of the province protested against the seizure of their lands by foreign companies, put forward demands for compensation for damage to the natural environment, which is vital for the Papuans, and for the development of health care and education.

The second source of discontent was government-encouraged transmigration, i.e. resettlement to West Irian of residents from other densely populated islands of Indonesia. The rate of transmigration increased especially during the reign of Suhar-to. The number of immigrants by 2000, according to various estimates, from 30% to 50% of the province's population. More educated and experienced settlers - representatives of non-indigenous ethnic groups began to occupy the main positions in the economy and infrastructure of the province, while among the local Papuan population a high level of unemployment remained, as their low level of education and training made them uncompetitive. Migrants were alien to the local population not only ethnically, but also in confessional terms. Most of the Papuans professed either Christianity or traditional local pagan beliefs, and the migrants were predominantly Muslim. In addition, the visitors brought with them a way of life, traditions and customs that were different from the local ones, which was also considered by the Papuan population as an undermining of their own distinctive culture.

The Suharto government unleashed repression on the rebels, as a result of which about 30 thousand fighters for independence, armed mainly with bows and arrows, died, and 20% of civilians forced to flee to the jungle died of starvation. The repression dramatically weakened the forces of the separatists, who acted in disunity and controlled a small area. Their tactics were acts of terror and the taking of hostages, including foreigners, in order to draw the attention of the world community to the Irian problem.

After the resignation of the Suharto government, the Papuan tribal elite began to actively campaign for independence and on November 12, 1999, promulgated the Declaration of Independence of Papua. The new Indonesian authorities put forward the idea of ​​expanding the autonomy of the provinces. Under these conditions, a wing in the separatist movement has grown stronger, advocating the peaceful achievement of self-determination of West Irian through negotiations with the Indonesian administration. An agreement was reached on hanging the Papuan flag "Morning Star". However, a peaceful dialogue with the Irian separatists provoked sharp opposition in the military circles of Indonesia, which have serious economic interests in this province. The army insisted on the armed suppression of the struggle for self-determination, which led to new casualties among local population... In retaliation for the violence, an angry mob of Irians attacked a displaced village in October 2000, killing 30 migrants and shooting an insurgent unit by the Indonesian military. In a number of areas, the Papuans began to attack the workers of logging enterprises, since they consider the forests to be their property. In response to these actions, the military arrested a number of separatist leaders, which, in turn, led to the resumption of scattered armed uprisings and the taking of hostages.

The rebels are pushing for a referendum on the province's self-determination, investigating cases of human rights violations, and guaranteeing "national leadership" for the province. Indonesian President Ab-Durrahman Wahid was unable to resolve these issues due to the opposition of the country's armed forces.

Having come to power in 2001, President Megawati Sukarnoputri, first of all, asked for forgiveness for the arbitrariness of the army in West Irian, promised to develop projects of expanded autonomy for this province, but threatened that in case of disagreement with these plans of the Indonesian authorities on the part of the separatists, she will give the army a free hand. At the end of 2001, the president announced the introduction, since 2002, of the status of special autonomy in this province, renaming it Papua, with its own anthem and flag. The province should retain 80% of the income from the exploitation of local mineral resources.

However, the separatists did not stop fighting. From time to time in West Irian, there are large attacks by armed rebel groups on towns and airfields, and government agencies. At the same time, Indonesian servicemen are killed, mosques, schools, police stations are destroyed.

Events in the western part of New Guinea are causing complications in Indonesia's relations with neighboring states - Papua New Guinea(PNG), which occupies the eastern half of the island, as well as Australia. Refugees are sent there and separatists persecuted by the authorities are trying to hide there. In the course of their pursuit, Indonesian patrols often violate the APG border, which provokes protests from the government of this country. In turn, Indonesia is unhappy that the rebels are finding shelter in PNG and Australia and support from non-governmental organizations in these countries. As for the official position of PNG and Australia on the West Irian problem, the representatives of the authorities declare respect for the territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia.

The main difficulty of the Irians in the struggle for self-determination lies in the lack of unity among the separatists, disunity among 250 Papuan ethnic groups, as well as the negative attitude of the indigenous people towards the later settlers, who are now also residents of the province and strive to guarantee their rights and freedoms.

Western New Guinea (Irian Jaya, West Irian) - the name of the western part of the island of New Guinea, belonging to Indonesia, which consists of two provinces: Papua and West Irian Jaya. Part of Indonesia in 1969, the west of New Guinea was formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea and West Irian, and in 1973-2000 as Irian Jaya.

The territory of Western New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia in 1969 under the Free Choice Act, the validity of which is not recognized by everyone. In 2003, the Indonesian government announced that the territory of Irian Jaya, which was previously a single province, would be divided into three provinces: Papua, Central Irian Jaya and Western Irian Jaya. However, this decision was met with significant protests among the local population. As a result of the decision of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, the creation of the province of Central Irian Jaya was canceled. Western Irian Jaya had already been created by that time (February 6, 2006), but its future is not yet clear. On February 7, 2007, it was renamed the Province of West Papua (Papua Barat).

Geography

Western new guinea in the north it is washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in the west - by the Keram Sea, in the south - by the Arafura Sea, and in the east it is bordered by Papua New Guinea.

Territory of Irian Jaya - 421,981 sq. km - this is 22% of the entire land area of ​​Indonesia.

Main city- the port of Jayapura.

Flag of Irian Jaya

The province is located south of the equator and is dominated by mountainous terrain. The Maoke Range, which stretches from north to south, divides West Irian into two. Punchak peak height 5030 m is the most high point Indonesia. About 75% of the territory of Irian Jaya is covered with forests, most of which are impenetrable tropical.

Climatepredominantly tropical, humid and hot on the coast; the rainy season lasts from December to March, the dry season from May to October; characteristic slight seasonal fluctuations in temperature. The climate is hot and very humid almost everywhere. Summer temperatures range from +24 ... +32 ° C, in winter +24 ... +28 ° C. In the mountains, the temperature is lower, in some places there are snow fields that never melt. The rains are very heavy, especially in the summer, the level of precipitation is from 1300 to 5000 mm per year. Irian Jaya boasts the longest rivers in Indonesia such as Baliem, Memberamo and Tariku. In the southwest, rivers have created large mangrove swamps and tidal forests.

Today Irian Jaya is considered the most isolated from the rest of the world region. Mangrove swamps make significant parts of the coast impassable, and dense jungle and high mountains(some snow-covered peaks reach a height of 5000 m) completely isolate certain parts of this territory from each other. There are almost no roads and extremely undeveloped air and sea communications, as a result of which it sometimes takes weeks to get to many remote villages through narrow and dangerous paths.

In part, probably due to its territorial fragmentation, this province is distinguished by an incredible diversity of peoples and cultures. Isolated and highly distinctive local tribes - many of whom have barely surpassed the Stone Age - speak more than 100 languages ​​that even their neighbors cannot understand.

Irian Jaya is distinguished by an amazing variety of flora and fauna. Ferns, orchids and climbing plants form a living carpet here, intertwining with the overhanging canopy of the rainforest. These dense thickets are home to over 700 bird species, including the huge flightless cassowary and the famous bird of paradise (Paradisea apoda). In the forests and in open areas overgrown with grass, there are also marsupials - tree and shrub kangaroos, flying squirrels.

After oil was discovered in western New Guinea half a century ago, a port Sorong city(40 thousand inhabitants) with hotels and bars, where workers from other parts of Indonesia began to arrive. From Sorong, it is easy to get by boat to the Raja Empat Island Reserve, where birds of paradise can be observed in the wild.

Jayapura, the administrative center of the province of Irian Jaya and its largest city (50 thousand inhabitants), was founded at one time by the Dutch, who claimed the middle part north coast New Guinea. To the east of Jayapura, on the shore of the Yos-Sudar-so bay, there is nature reserve Jotefa with many beautiful beaches, where you can see the skeletons of several ships that were once sunk during the hostilities at sea. To the east, along the coast of the bay, is the settlement of the Sepik tribe, famous for the primitivist painting of tree bark and the manufacture of carved ancestral figures. In the eastern suburbs of Jayapura is the Chend Ravasih University building with its magnificent Anthropological Museum. The collection of artifacts from the Asmat tribe acquired with a grant from the John D. Rockefeller III Foundation is the most interesting in the museum's exposition. The figures and weapons presented here by the craftsmen of this tribe are distinguished by absolute harmony and aesthetic perfection and are highly appreciated by connoisseurs of primitivist art. Although the Asmat tribe lives on the southern coast of New Guinea, there is a specialty shop for Asmat handicrafts in Jayapura.

Irian Jaya is the name of the western part of the island of New Guinea. The area, formerly Dutch New Guinea, was annexed to Indonesia in 1963 after a short but fierce military campaign by President Sukarno.

Today Irian Jaya is considered the most isolated from the rest of the world region. Mangrove swamps make significant parts of the coast impassable, and dense jungles and high mountains (some snow-covered peaks reach a height of 5,000 m) completely isolate certain parts of this territory from each other. There are almost no roads and extremely undeveloped air and sea links, as a result of which many remote villages sometimes have to travel for weeks along narrow and dangerous paths.

In part, probably due to its territorial fragmentation, this province is distinguished by an incredible diversity of peoples and cultures. Isolated and highly distinctive local tribes - many of whom have barely surpassed the Stone Age - speak more than 100 languages ​​that even their neighbors cannot understand.

Irian Jaya is distinguished by an amazing variety of flora and fauna. Ferns, orchids and climbing plants form a living carpet here, intertwining with the overhanging canopy of the rainforest. These dense thickets are home to over 700 bird species, including the huge flightless cassowary and the famous bird of paradise (Paradisea apoda). In the forests and in open areas overgrown with grass, there are also marsupials - tree and shrub kangaroos, flying squirrels.

After oil was discovered half a century ago in western New Guinea, the port city of Sorong (40,000 inhabitants) grew here with hotels and bars, where workers from other parts of Indonesia began to arrive. From Sorong, it is easy to get by boat to the Raja Empat Island Reserve, where birds of paradise can be observed in the wild.

Jayapura, the administrative center of the province of Irian Jaya and its largest city (50 thousand inhabitants), was founded at one time by the Dutch, who claimed the middle part of the northern coast of New Guinea. To the east of Jayapura, on the shores of Yos Sudar-so Bay, is the Yotefa Nature Reserve with many beautiful beaches, where you can see the skeletons of several ships that were once sunk during the hostilities at sea. To the east, along the coast of the bay, is the settlement of the Sepik tribe, famous for the primitivist painting of tree bark and the manufacture of carved ancestral figures. In the eastern suburbs of Jayapura is the Chend Ravasih University building with its magnificent Anthropological Museum. The collection of artifacts from the Asmat tribe acquired with a grant from the John D. Rockefeller III Foundation is the most interesting in the museum's exposition. The figures and weapons presented here by the craftsmen of this tribe are distinguished by absolute harmony and aesthetic perfection and are highly appreciated by connoisseurs of primitivist art. Although the Asmat tribe lives on the southern coast of New Guinea, there is a specialty shop for Asmat handicrafts in Jayapura.

Of the highland regions of the province of Irian Jaya, the most extensive and accessible is the Grand Baliem valley located in its central part - a 72-kilometer stone corridor along which the Baliem River flows. More than 100 thousand people from the Dani tribe live here in small villages scattered throughout this wide valley. You can only get here and get out of here by air. Trails and an ever-increasing number of car tracks connect the center of the Wamenu Valley with the rest of the villages. Don't forget to bring warm clothing, sturdy shoes and a backpack. Porters and guides can be hired from the hotel in Wamena.

Having crossed the river, many tourists make a three-hour hike to the village of Akim, where the local headman shows the mummified body of his deceased grandfather for a small fee.

Eric Oei
Guide: Window to the World, Southeast Asia.

Irian Jaya - Western New Guinea - is distinguished by an amazing variety of flora and fauna, with extraordinary species that are not found anywhere on Earth. The deepest and longest rivers in Indonesia, also filled with mysterious inhabitants, flow through West Irian.

And this vast land - the west of the huge island of Papua New Guinea, starting from a few kilometers from the coast, still remains a mysterious land - the area of ​​"terra incognita". And first of all, not only because of the inaccessibility ...

Horror and horror in everything and everywhere

Even local residents very rarely, for big money, dare to hire a guide and take researchers to local humid equatorial forests - a virgin jungle, still marked on maps: "unexplored zone".

And again, mainly, not because of the natural horrors listed above, but because of the local representatives of our species, homo sapiens. After all, an unusual people live here, stopped in development at the level of the Stone Age.

These intelligent people from the Kuku-Koko, Yali and Asmat tribes are cannibalistic Papuans, hunters for human heads. They never succeed in civilizing them, all attempts to civilize this people or at least their representatives ended in the best case - to no avail, and in most attempts - deplorable. "

Even today, when humanity is about to explore Mars, New Guinea is as full of mysteries as it was centuries ago, - points out the researcher of exotic tribes - a very knowledgeable person - Roy Berser. “There is a real terra incognita here. And for many more decades, Irian Jaya will remain an unexplored corner, which is distinguished by a murderous environment for everyone except the Papuans and a semi-savage population that is not amenable to civilization, practicing cannibalism and the most terrible bloody orgies ... "

Underworld in the selva

The Asmat took the life of a young English scientist John Priestley. In the middle of the 20th century, with an expedition and guides, he undertook a journey on pies deep into Irian Jai and sank there forever.

In the same places, already close to our time - in November 1961 - the 23-year-old anthropologist Michael Rock-Feller, a representative of the famous clan of American billionaires, died.

A terrible death overtook Missionaries Philippe Masters and Stanley Dale several years later. The Papuans showered them with a hail of arrows, and then lit a huge fire and threw them into the fire while still alive. After frying, they immediately ate and arranged wild dancing over the gnawed bones.

There was also fragmentary information about the deaths of two other missionaries and an entire research expedition, which included three women. And all the little things happened ...

Is it possible to stay alive and get out?

The most bloodthirsty tribes are the Kuku-Koko, Yali and Asmat. These people eat human flesh not only at ritual celebrations or after winning endless wars. If there is such prey, then they will immediately eat it with great joy.

A hundred years ago, they went on a real hunt for people, attacking coastal settlements, drove away prisoners and devoured them after ritual torture.

Kuku-koko gouged out their eyes, chopped off limbs and ripped open the lives of the prisoners. The human-eaters, cleared of the insides of the body, were stuffed with fragrant herbs and sweet potato tubers. Such stuffed human carcasses were baked entirely on coals by cannibals.

Cannibals also often hung prisoners by their legs and slit their throats to release the blood. They collected it and drank it as a sign of their military prowess and success.

Only a few researchers still managed not only to visit Irian Jaya, but were even lucky to stay alive and return. In the 1980s, Jack Crosby filmed the terrifying documentary Chronicle of a Green Hell, of course about killing and devouring people.

Among the savage cannibals

And the same Roy Berser wrote in 1999 an amazing book "Cannibals - My Friends", which immediately became a bestseller.

“They noticed us a long time ago and followed us,” the researcher writes. - The temperature in the jungle did not drop below 45 ° C, and the humidity reached 98%. Only the keen eye of our guide Kama discerns the path. But the space is littered with thick branches that cut off the path. The rotten air shuddered from a heartbreaking howl, around from the thickets not even savages appear, but just some devils: naked black creatures, painted with chalk, blood, soot and clay. Devils with a howl surround us, huge fangs and bones are threaded in their noses and ears, in their hands are the terrible weapons of the primitives - stone axes, huge knives made from the bones of the relict cassowary bird. Some have long spears, hanging on to them, hanging by their hair, dried human heads ...

God alone knows that the savages were quick to kill: maybe our submissive appearance or bright gifts thrown out of the ryuk-zak, Berser continues to tell about his horror and luck. - The guide convinces the Papuans that we are harmless and want friendship. We got "friendship". Having led us to the settlement (a dozen huts made of trunks and huge leaves), the Papuans stripped us down to Adam's costumes and painted us with clay, fresh boar blood and whitewash. In the evening darkness, by the light of the fires, it was absolutely impossible to distinguish us from the Papuans ...

Learning to wield a savage weapon was not easy, but interesting. We were shown how to make fire with a chair and a wooden stick, knock down fruits from trees with a bo-merang, and climb palm trees. I learned the technology of making dried human heads the size of a fist. Bright crystals are inserted instead of eyes - and a creepy fetish is ready! We avoided using a war spear, making human heads; excessive disgust could not make us participate in some rituals ... "

Cannibalism - as a defensive tactic?

Several years ago, a scientist who visited Irian Jaya, Karl Bloss formulated the following theory about cannibals: “Papuan cannibals began to eat a person, not because it is pleasant and tasty, but because it is terrible and disgusting. Not because it pleases the gods, but because ferocity and cruelty strike even idols. Intimidating enemies is the main goal of the cannibalistic cult. Many cases are described when one of the victims managed to escape, having witnessed the terrible death of comrades in unhappiness.

Can anyone really believe that an alien, against the wishes of the savages born and living in the jungle, can run away and hide from them ?! The fact is that if he does not run away, then the whole ritual of cannibalism will become meaningless. How then will the world know about the terrible danger that threatens uninvited guests? 2004 - the last case of the death of three travelers from Switzerland, when the fourth managed to "escape", horrified the world community. The territory was declared a special reserve without the right to visit. The cannibals method has worked! "

Scientists write, discuss, argue and put forward new versions ... The Papuan tribes of the Kuku-Koko, Yali and Asmat in Irian Jaya also hunt people and dance around the fires when they are full ...

Irian Jaya - this is the name of the western part of the island of New Guinea or Western New Guinea. This territory, formerly known as Netherlands New Guinea or West Irian, was annexed to Indonesia in 1969 as a result of a campaign to expand its national borders by President Sukarno. Since 1973, West Irian began to be called Irian-Jaya ("Victory Irian"). In turn, Irian-Jaya on this moment is divided into two provinces - Papua and West Papua (Papua Barat).
Western Irian (Irian Jaya) is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the north, the Keram Sea in the west, the Arafura Sea in the south, and borders with Papua New Guinea in the east. Territory of Irian Jaya - 421,981 sq. km. This is 22% of the entire land area of ​​Indonesia. The main city of West Irian is the port of Jayapura. Irian Jaya is located south of the equator and is dominated by mountainous terrain. The Maoke Range, which stretches from north to south, divides West Irian into two. Punchak Peak with a height of 5,030 m is the highest point in Indonesia. About 75% of the territory of Irian Jaya is covered with forests, most of which are impenetrable tropical.

Today Irian Jaya is considered the most isolated from the rest of the world region. Mangrove swamps make large parts of the coast impassable, while dense jungles and high mountains (some of the snow-covered peaks reach 5,000 m) completely isolate parts of this territory from each other. There are almost no roads and extremely undeveloped air and sea links, as a result of which many remote villages sometimes have to travel for weeks along narrow and dangerous paths. In part, probably due to its territorial fragmentation, this province is distinguished by an incredible diversity of peoples and cultures. Isolated and very peculiar local tribes, many of which barely surpassed the level of the Stone Age. The most famous of the Irian Jai tribes today is the Asmat tribe, head-hunters. This tribe gained fame in 1961, when all the newspapers of the world were full of reports of the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, the son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who went to Irian Jaya to find household items of the Asmat tribe.

West Irian is the least populated territory of Indonesia, its population is approximately 1.56 million inhabitants, which gives an average density of 4 people. for 1 sq. km. More than 3/4 of the population lives in rural areas in small, scattered groups. All settlements, as a rule, are located in the coastal zone or in several fertile valleys, there are also several border towns within the province. Large areas within the province are uninhabited. People move between cities by plane or by sea. The main settlements are Jayapura (population 149,618), Mankovari, Sorong, Merauke and Biak. Jayapura, the administrative center of the province of Irian Jaya and its largest city, was founded at one time by the Dutch, who claimed the middle part of the northern coast of New Guinea. In West Irian, about 300 languages ​​are spoken, most of which are dissimilar and incomprehensible even to neighboring tribes. Bahasa Indonesia (the official language of Indonesia), along with local dialects, is used as a common language.

Climate Irian Jaya is predominantly tropical, humid and hot on the coast; the rainy season lasts from December to March, the dry season from May to October. The climate is hot and very humid almost everywhere. Summer temperatures range from + 24-32 ° C, in winter + 24-28 ° C. In the mountains, the temperature is lower, in some places there are snow fields that never melt. The rains are very heavy, especially in summer, the level of precipitation is from 1,300 to 5,000 mm per year. Irian Jaya boasts the longest rivers in Indonesia such as Baliem, Memberamo and Tariku. In the southwest, rivers have created large mangrove swamps and tidal forests.

Flora and fauna. Western New Guinea is considered a natural haven. It has an amazing variety of flora and fauna. The flora of Irian Jai is a variety of representatives of mountains, meadows, marshes and bogs, tropical, tidal, deciduous and coniferous forests, in which you can find an endless variety of grasses, ferns, moss, lianas, flowers and trees. The fauna of the province is also very diverse. Various plants form a living carpet here, intertwining with the overhanging canopy of the rainforest. Irian Jaya is known for its variety of butterflies. The dense thickets are home to over 700 bird species, 80 species of the famous Paradisea apoda and a huge flightless cassowary. Freshwater and terrestrial vertebrates are almost indistinguishable from animals found in Australia, including the marsupial family, among which are tree and shrub kangaroos, flying squirrels. In the forests and grassy open meadows, you can find many species of snakes, turtles, anteaters, porcupines, possums, bats and rats (including the world's largest water rats that can climb trees), as well as giant lizards, kangaroos, tree-dwelling and marsupial cats.

In coastal waters you can find sea turtles and sea cows. To the east of Jayapura, on the shores of the Yos Sudar-so Bay, is the Yotefa Nature Reserve with many beautiful beaches, with the skeletons of several ships that were once sunk during the hostilities at sea. In the inner valley of the Foja ridge, several hundred kilometers from the Bird's head, many new species of animals and plants, previously unknown to science, have been discovered: giant flowers and a rare tree kangaroo; orange honey badger: the first new bird species found on the giant island in over 60 years. The Foja Ridge and the Bird's Head waters are considered some of the most biodiversity-unique regions on the planet.