Cenderawasih Bay ( id, Teluk Cenderawasih, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay ( id, Teluk Sarera) and formerly Geelvink Bay ( nl, Geelvinkbaai), is a large bay in northern

Province of Papua A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

Central Papua Central Papua, officially the Central Papua Province ( id, Provinsi Papua Tengah) is an Indonesian province located in the central region of Western New Guinea. It was formally established on 11 November 2022 from the former eight western regencie ...

and West Papua,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Geography

''Cenderawasih Bay'' is a large bay to the northwest of the Indonesian province of Papua, north of the province of Central Papua, and east of the province of West Papua, between the

Bird's Head Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

and the mouth of the

Mamberamo River The Mamberamo (''Indonesian: Sungai Mamberamo'') is the second longest river on the island of New Guinea, after Sepik River (1,146 km) and third largest in Oceania by discharge (5,500 m3/s) volume after Fly River (7,500 m3/s) and Sepik (7,000 m3/ ...

. The bay is more than 300 kilometers wide. The coastline from

Manokwari Manokwari is a coastal town and the capital of the Indonesian province of West Papua. It is one of only seven provincial capitals of Indonesia without a city status. It is also the administrative seat of Manokwari Regency. However, under pr ...

, in the northwest of the bay, to Cape d'Urville at the mouth of the

Mamberamo The Mamberamo (''Indonesian: Sungai Mamberamo'') is the second longest river on the island of New Guinea, after Sepik River (1,146 km) and third largest in Oceania by discharge (5,500 m3/s) volume after Fly River (7,500 m3/s) and Sepik (7,000 m3/ ...

is more than 700 kilometers long. To the south, the Wandammen peninsula heads north into the bay. Important places along the coast are Manokwari, Ransiki, Wasior and

Nabire Nabire is a town in the Indonesian province of Central Papua, at the western end of New Guinea. The town is the administrative seat of the Nabire Regency, and has been designated to be the administrative capital of the new province. It is served b ...

. The

Wamma River The Wamma River (Wami River) is a river in northern part of West Papua (region), Western Papua, Papua (province), Papua province, Indonesia.

, Tabai River,

Warenai River The Warenai River is a river in northern New Guinea, Indonesia.Warenai
- Geonames.org. Tributaries include the

, and

Wapoga River The Wapoga River is a river in northern New Guinea, Indonesia. It is a tributary of the Warenai River. The Wapoga River basin and surrounding mountains were surveyed by a team of scientists organized by Conservation International in 1998. The rai ...

empty into the Bay.

History

UB Utrecht - Nova Guinea Vol 4 - Karte 2 - Karte des Geelvink-Busens

The Dutch name of the bay was after the frigate ''De Geelvink'' with which Jacob Weyland sailed through the bay in 1705. The Dutch frigate was named after

Geelvinck Geelvinck (" yellow finch") was a Dutch surname. The family died out in the early 19th century. Some notable members of the family include: * Jan Cornelis Geelvinck, the son of a merchant in beans and peas, and involved in the West India Company. ...

family. The

Tidore Sultanate The Sultanate of Tidore ( Indonesian: كسلطانن تيدوري, ''Kesultanan Tidore'', sometimes ''Kerajaan Tidore'') was a sultanate in Southeast Asia, centered on Tidore in the Maluku Islands (presently in North Maluku Province). It was also ...

had tributary ties with the region. Seafarers from the area used to regularly pay homage to the sultan.Slama, Martin (2015),
Papua as an Islamic Frontier: Preaching in 'the Jungle' and the Multiplicity of Spatio-Temporal Hierarchisations", ''From 'Stone-Age' to 'Real-Time': Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities and Religiosities''
ANU Press, pp. 243–270,

Marine National park

Teluk Cenderawasih National Park Teluk Cenderawasih National Park is the largest marine national park of Indonesia, located in Cenderawasih Bay, south-east of Bird's Head Peninsula. It includes the islands of Mioswaar, Nusrowi Island, Roon, Rumberpon, Anggrameos and Yoop.

is located in the Teluk Cenderawasih. In the Cenderawasih Bay extensive

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

exists. Parts of the area have been declared a protected marine reserve of 1.5 million hectares, the largest natural park in Southeast Asia. The western part of the bay was declared a marine national park in 2002. The Wondiwoi/Wandammen Natural Reserve of 730 km2 protects the great biodiversity of the Wandammen Peninsula.

Islands

In the bay is the archipelago known as the

Schouten Islands The Schouten Islands ( id, Kepulauan Biak, also Biak Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New ...

(also called the Biak Islands, or Geelvink Islands), comprising

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The large ...

, the

Padaido Islands The Padaido Islands, also known as the Padaido Archipelago, is a group of Islands in Indonesia's Papua Province. They lie in Cenderawasih Bay, south and southeast of the island of Biak. The archipelago consists of many small islands and coral reef ...

, Supiori and

Numfor Numfor (also Numfoor, Noemfoor, Noemfoer) is one of the Schouten Islands (also known as the Biak Islands) in Papua province, northeastern Indonesia. It was the site of conflict between Japanese and the Allied forces during World War II, and wa ...

(Numfoor). Further south in the bay is the 140 kilometer long island of

Yapen Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Island ...

(Japen). Smaller islands in the bay are

Mios Num Mios Num (aka: Num, Indonesian language: ''Pulau Mios Num'') is an island of the Yapen Islands group, in Papua Province of Western New Guinea, northeastern Indonesia. It is in Cenderawasih Bay. The Mios Num Strait separates it from Yapen ...

(''Pulau Num''), Rumberpon, Waar (or Meoswaar), Roon and Kurudu. The Mapia Islands lie to the north, and south of

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

West Papua Province

* Auri Islands archipelago (''Kepulauan Auri'') * Meos Waar * Rumberpon *

Roon Island Roon may refer to: People *Albrecht von Roon (1803–1879), Prussian soldier and politician Ships * , a German armored cruiser of World War I * SS ''Roon'', a German passenger steamship launched in 1902 operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeut ...

Meos Angra Meo or Meos may refer to: * MenuetOS, or MeOS, an operating system * Microsomal ethanol oxidizing system, an alternate ethanol metabolic pathway * mEos, a variant of the photoactivatable fluorescent protein Eos * Mati Meos Mati Meos (born 5 Octob ...

Papua Province

Biak Islands Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The large ...

(aka

): **

(''Kepulauan Padaido'') **

** Supiori *

Yapen Islands Yapen Islands Regency is a regency (''kabupaten'') in Papua Province of eastern Indonesia. It covers an area of , and had a population of 82,951 at the 2010 Census and 112,676 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 114,210. It ...

Kurudu Kurudu is an Eastern Yapen language of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, in Papua Province of Western New Guinea, northeastern Indonesia. It is spoken by the people in Kurudu Island, located in Cenderawasih Bay between Serui Island of the Yapen ...

** Ambai Islands (''Kepulauan Ambai'') **

Kuran Islands The Kuran Islands (''Kepulauan Kuran'') are a group of small scattered islands, and part of the Yapen Islands archipelago in Papua Province of Western New Guinea, northeastern Indonesia. They are located off the southwestern coast of Yapen Islan ...

(''Kepulauan Kuran'')

Central Papua Province

* Moora Islands archipelago (''Kepulauan Moora'') * Anggrameos Island

References

{{Authority control Bays of Indonesia Landforms of Western New Guinea Landforms of Papua (province) Landforms of West Papua (province)