Wamena is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the capital of the Indonesian province of

Highland Papua Highland Papua ( id, Papua Pegunungan) is a province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago, shortened to La Pago. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,408,641 according to the official es ...

. It also serves as the seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in Indonesian Papua's highlands, in the

Baliem Valley The Baliem Valley ( id, Lembah Baliem; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea. Specifically in Highland Papua, Indonesia, which is inhabited mainly by the Dani peopl ...

and had a population of 64,967 at the 2020 Census. 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 a number of related ethnic groups, the most prominent of which are Dani, Lani and Yali. The town is also home to the

Persiwa Wamena Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Wamena, commonly known as Persiwa Wamena is an Indonesian football club based in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia. They play in the Liga 3. History Although they became the runners-up in the 2014 Liga Indonesia Premier ...

football team, who play in Indonesia's premier league.

History

As far as the outside world was concerned, the discovery of the

, where Wamena is located, and the unexpected presence of its large agricultural population was made by Richard Archbold’s third zoological expedition to

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 ...

in 1938. On 21 June an aerial reconnaissance flight southwards from Hollandia (now Jayapura) found what the expedition called the ‘Grand Valley’. Since it was almost completely cut off from the outside world, the area was spared by the fightings for the control of New Guinea during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The town itself was founded by the Dutch in 1956, as one of the last town founded during their presence in

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

. Since then the valley has gradually been opened up to a limited amount of tourism. In 2003, during what would be called afterward the Wamena incident, an unidentified mob led by the

Free Papua Movement "Free Papua Movement" ( id, Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM, tpi, Fri Wes Papua Grup) is an umbrella term for the independence movement established during 1965 in the West Papuan or West New Guinea territory which is currently being administrat ...

raided the Indonesian Army's armoury of the town, killing two Indonesian soldiers and stealing several assault rifles. Reprisals were harsh, affecting 25 villagers, displacing around 7,000 villagers and killing 50 in the process, torture and destruction of properties by the Indonesian army was also reported. During the

2019 Papua protests The 2019 Papua protests were a series of protests by Papuans in Indonesia that began on 19 August 2019 and mainly took place across Indonesian Papua region in response to the arrests of 43 Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java for alleged disre ...

, several government buildings were destroyed by angry mob, the police and the military retaliated, leaving 16 civilians killed and 65 injured. According to local authorities, the particular set of protests was triggered by a separate racism incident within the city. A ''

Kompas ''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper from Jakarta which was founded on 28 June 1965. The paper is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is a part of Kompas Gramedia Group. Its head office is located at the Kompas Multime ...

'' correspondent in Wamena reported that gunshots sounded across the city and that civilians were taking shelter in police stations and military bases. Out of the 16 civilians killed, 13 had come from outside the province, and most deaths occurred as they were trapped in buildings torched by the angry mob. Responding to the protests, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology reactivated the internet blackout in Wamena. Owing to the rioting and unrest, around 15,000 civilians were evacuated from Wamena, with a further 1,726 internally displaced within the town in early October. Going the opposite direction, around 2,000 Papuan students returned from other cities across Indonesia to their home towns and cities, reporting a feeling of intimidation and danger.

Climate

Wamena features a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Af''), albeit a relatively mild version due to its high altitude.

Economy

Wamena claims a broader variety of fresh fruits and vegetables than other regions in Papua. On early 6 June 2013, a modern market was built in the town center to allow traditional farmers to sell their harvests at a proper price.

Transport

Because of its relatively isolated location, the main form of access to the area is air travel. The town and the surrounding valley are served by the only Wamena Airport, which can accommodate the TNI's Hercules airplanes. Dimonim Air, Trigana Air, Aviastar Mandiri,

Susi Air PT ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation, operating as Susi Air, is a scheduled and charter airline based in Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia. Sixty percent of the airline's operation serves commercial regular routes and pioneer routes while the rest is ch ...

, Merpati and Wings Air serve the airport. The airport was razed by fire on 26 September 2011; all buildings including the departure and arrival terminals were engulfed by fire. Parts of

Trans-Papua Highway The Trans-Papua Highway ( Indonesian: ''Jalan Raya Trans-Papua'') refers to 12 road segments, some under construction, across Western New Guinea in Indonesia, located in the island of New Guinea. The roads stretch from Sorong to Merauke with a tot ...

is passing Wamena, linking the town by road with cities across Papua such as Jayapura.

Health

The largely Papuan town is densely settled and has extreme rates of HIV infection, with a claim of 5,100 cases recorded by Antara. On 16 June 2015, Jayawijaya regional secretary Yohanis Walilo rectified the total

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

cases to 4,521 HIV cases.

References

External links

{{Provincial capitals in Indonesia Populated places in Highland Papua Districts of Highland Papua Regency seats of Highland Papua