Boven Digoel Regency is an inland

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

(''kabupaten'') in the northeastern part of the Indonesian

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

South Papua South Papua, officially the South Papua Province (), is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province located in the southern portion of Western New Guinea, Papua, following the borders of the Papuan customary region of Anim Ha. Formally establ ...

. It was split off from

Merauke Regency Merauke Regency is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency in the far south of the Indonesian province of South Papua. It covers an area of 45,013.35 km2, and had a population of 195,716 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2 ...

(of which it used to be a part) on 12 November 2002. It is bordered to the south by the residual Merauke Regency, to the west by Mappi Regency, and to the north by the province of

Highland Papua Highland Papua () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago (often shortened to La Pago). It covers an area of and had a population of 1,467,050 according to ...

. At the same time, to the east lies the international border with

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. The regency covers an area of , and the total population was 55,784 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 64,285 at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as of mid-2024 was 71,997 (comprising 38,130 males and 33,867 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Boven Digoel Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.9413) The administrative centre is the town of Tanah Merah (or Persatuan ''kampung'') in the Mandobo District.

Administrative districts

The regency comprises twenty

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(''distrik''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 Census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as of mid-2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Boven Digoel Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.9413) The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of

administrative village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

s (''kampung'') in each district, and their postcode.

History

In the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

era, the present Boven Digoel Regency was known as ''Digul Atas'' (Upper Digul), located on the banks of the Digul River. Boven-Digoel was a Dutch prison camp in the Dutch East Indies at the headwaters of the Digul River, where Indonesian nationalists and communists were interned between 1928 and 1942. Initially set to accommodate prisoners of the 1926 revolt led by the Communist Party of Indonesia, Boven-Digoel later was used as an exile for the national movement figures with a recorded number of prisoners of 1,308 people. Among the figures exiled, were

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta ( ; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first Vice President of Indonesia, vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as ...

Sutan Sjahrir Sutan Sjahrir (5 March 1909 – 9 April 1966) was an Indonesian statesman and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of Indonesia, prime minister of Indonesia from 1945 until 1947. He played a key role during the Indonesian Na ...

, Sayuti Melik, and Marco Kartodikromo. Tugu Muhammad Hatta Boven Digoel

When the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

broke out and Japan occupied Indonesia, Boven-Digoel prisoners were evacuated by the Dutch to Australia. The transfer was based on concerns that the prisoners would rebel if they remained at Boven-Digoel. It was hoped that the Indonesians brought to Australia would help the Dutch. It turned out that these political prisoners influenced the Australian trade union to boycott the Dutch ships that landed in the country. After the Allies won, the prisoners were returned to their original places in Indonesia. The camp was reused to imprison Indonesian nationalists from Papua during the West New Guinea dispute such as J.A. Dimara, Petrus Korwa, and Hanoch Rumbrar.

References

External links

Statistics publications from Statistics Indonesia (BPS)
* {{Authority control Regencies of South Papua Eilanden basin