Kepala Burung, Doberai Peninsula | |
|---|---|
 Bird's Head Peninsula seen from space (false color) | |
  Bird's Head Peninsula  Bird's Head Peninsula  Bird's Head Peninsula | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Southwest Papua andWest Papua, Indonesia |
| Coordinates | 1°30′S132°30′E / 1.5°S 132.5°E /-1.5; 132.5 |
| Adjacent to | |
| Area | 55,604 km2 (21,469 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 2,955 m (9695 ft) |
| Highest point | Pegunungan Arfak |
| Administration | |
| Province |  Southwest Papua West Papua |
| Largest settlement | Sorong |
TheBird's Head Peninsula (Indonesian:Kepala Burung,Dutch:Vogelkop, meaning Bird's Head in Indonesian and Dutch) orDoberai Peninsula (Indonesian:Semenanjung Doberai) is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island ofNew Guinea, comprising theIndonesian provinces ofSouthwest Papua andWest Papua. It is often referred to as The Vogelkop, and is so named because its shape looks like a bird's head on the island of New Guinea. The peninsula at the opposite end of the island (inPapua New Guinea) is called theBird's Tail Peninsula. The peninsula just to the south is called theBomberai Peninsula.
The Bird's Head Peninsula is at the northwestern end of the island ofNew Guinea. It is bounded byCenderawasih Bay to the east,Bintuni Bay to the south, and theDampier Strait to the west. Across the strait isWaigeo, an island in theRaja Ampat archipelago.Batanta island lies just off the peninsula’s northwest tip. Another peninsula,Bomberai Peninsula, lies to the south, across Bintuni Bay.
The peninsula is around 200 by 300 kilometers, and is bio-geographically diverse, containing coastal plains to the south. TheArfak Mountains are a 2900-meter-high mountain range that is found in the east. Slightly lower than the Arfak Mountains, theTamrau Mountains are found in the north.Bon Irau is the highest mountain in the Tamrau Mountains, at 2,501 meters (8,205 feet). The highest mountain on the Bird's Head Peninsula isMount Arfak. It is 2,955 meters (9,695 feet) high and is located 21 miles southwest of Manokwari. Both of the mountain ranges have a diverse mix of sandstone, limestone, and volcanic rock. A large basin called theKebar Valley divides the two mountain ranges.[1]
The peninsula is part of threeecoregions. The lowlands and foothills are in theVogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests ecoregion. TheNew Guinea mangroves ecoregion includes coastal mangrove forests. The mountains of the peninsula above 1000 meters elevation constitute theVogelkop montane rain forests ecoregion. The montane rain forests include an area of more than 22,000 km2. Over 50% of the montane forests are located within protected areas. There are over 300 bird species on the peninsula, of which at least 20 are unique to the ecoregion, and some live only in very restricted areas. These include thegrey-banded munia,Vogelkop bowerbird, and theking bird-of-paradise.[2]
Road construction,illegal logging, commercialagricultural expansion and ranching potentially threaten the integrity of the ecoregion.[2] The south-eastern coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula forms part of theTeluk Cenderawasih National Park.[3]
Archaeological findings indicate that local settlement dates back at least 26,000 years BP.[1] Today, most people live in villages along the coast, with small concentrations inland. Villagers practisesubsistence farming byshifting cultivation ofcopra,rice,maize andpeanuts, as well as hunting.[2] There are more than 80 villages scattered around the peninsula. There are about 18 main settlements that are the principal towns of the five regencies found on the peninsula. These cities includeBintuni,Teminabuan,Sorong,Aimas, andManokwari. The largest settlements are the city ofSorong on the west coast andManokwari on the east coast. Manokwari is the largest city with as of 2010 a population of 135,000 and, within the metropolitan area, a population of 155,000. The city of Sorong has a population of 125,000 and, within the metropolitan area, a population of 170,000. This city also has the largest metropolitan area.
Papuan Malay is the locallingua franca spoken in the Bird's Head Peninsula. The official language isIndonesian.[4]
TheAustronesian languages spoken on the Bird's Head Peninsula mostly belong to theSouth Halmahera–West New Guinea (SHWNG) group.[4]
There are various non-AustronesianPapuan languages native to the peninsula, which are classified asSouth Bird's Head languages,East Bird's Head languages,West Bird's Head, orlanguage isolates.[4]
Papuan language families:
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
