Where is Irian Jaya?

Some of you might be a little confused by one of the hints I provided:

Case Study: Way of life of the people living in Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea, compared to the way of life of people living in Singapore* (pgs. 37–41)

Many of you have asked me, "Mr. Kwan, where is Irian Jaya?"

Google is there for a reason. =P

This is a map of the island of New Guinea:



New Guinea is split politically into two roughly equal halves. The eastern half belongs to the independent country of Papua New Guinea (which you would have read about in your textbook). The western half consists of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Now this is the interesting part. Up until very recently, until 2003 at least, Papua and West Papua were a single province, and the entire province was known as Irian Jaya.

(I hope this is one of those moments when a lightbulb goes off in your head)

Even though the two halves of New Guinea belong to two separate political entities, they are very similar. Similar environment, similar lifestyles, the only major thing that separates them is that there is an imaginary line which separates Papua New Guinea from the half formerly known as Irian Jaya.

So basically, when you see a question in the exam asking you about the way of life of tribes in Irian Jaya, just substitute them with the folks living just across the border, in Papua New Guinea. (^_')