The Star Mountains (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

(

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

)'': Sterrengebergte'';

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

'': Pegunungan Bintang'') are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in western

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and the eastern end 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 ...

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 ...

, stretching from the eastern end of Indonesia to the

Hindenburg Range The Hindenburg Range is a mountain range in the remote North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, stretching from the Star Mountains to the east. The Hindenburg Wall escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long clif ...

in Papua New Guinea. The Indonesian

Pegunungan Bintang Regency Pegunungan Bintang Regency, or Bintang Mountains Regency is a regency in the Indonesian province of Highland Papua. It covers an area of 15,683 km2, and had a population of 65,434 at the 2010 Census and 77,872 at the 2020 Census. The administ ...

and

Star Mountains Rural LLG Star Mountains Rural LLG is a local-level government situated in the Star Mountains in North Fly District of Western Province of Papua New Guinea. In the year 2000, the LLG had 1691 homes, and a population of 12,114 people. (6776 men and 5338 wome ...

in Papua New Guinea are named after the mountain range.

History

The earlier Western expedition to the mountains was led by Jan Sneep, a Dutch colonial civil servant who operated from the Sibil Valley. The expedition, which started in April 1959, mapped the terrain and collected anthropological data of the people who lived in the area. The expedition used two small Bell helicopters, but the altitudes severely limited their effectiveness and one of them crashed, forcing the expedition to rely more on traditional man power. Climbers from the expedition reached the peak of

Puncak Mandala Puncak Mandala or Mandala Peak (until 1963 Julianatop or Juliana Peak) is a mountain located in Highland Papua, Indonesia. At , it is the highest point of the Jayawijaya (Orange) Range and included in Seven Second Summits. Following Mount Carste ...

on 9 September 1959.

Climate

The Star Mountains have an annual rainfall of more than 10,000 mm/year, and although no official scientific weather station has ever been established it has been claimed to be one of the wettest places on earth.

Languages

In terms of the number of independent

language families A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hi ...

, the Star Mountains are one of the most linguistically diverse regions in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. These language families and

isolates {{About, , the linguistics term dealing with languages unrelated to any other language in the world, Language isolate, other uses, Isolate (disambiguation){{!Isolate Isolates is a term used in developmental psychology and family studies, to describ ...

include: * Pauwasi ** Eastern Pauwasi ** Western Pauwasi (Tebi–Towei) * Kwomtari ** Fas, Baibai ** Guriaso ** Kwomtari, Nai-Biaka **

Pyu Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

* Kaure–Kosare *'' Kapauri'' * Lepki-Murkim * Senagi ( Angor-

Dera Dera, Dero, Daro, Dhoro, Dahar or Dehra is a word in several languages of South Asia, whose meaning is 'camp', 'mound' or 'settlement'. It appears in the names of a number of places. Geography India * Dera, Himachal Pradesh * Dera Bassi, Mohali ...

) * Tofanma-Namla *'' Elseng'' *'' Kembra'' *'' Kimki'' *'' Molof'' *'' Usku'' *'' Yetfa''

References

External links

Photos from Star Mountains

Dutch Star Mountains expedition
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Western New Guinea Mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea