Wamena
Coordinates: 4 ° 6 ′ S , 138 ° 57 ′ E
Wamena is a city in the Papua Province in the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea (formerly in Indonesian : Irian Jaya ).
Geographical location
The city has 31,724 inhabitants (as of 2010). It is often referred to as the last supply station before "the wilderness". Wamena is translated as place of the pigs . The Baliem Valley , in which Wamena is located, is a high valley at around 1900 m above sea level. It extends over 12 km wide and about 50 km in length. The surrounding area has a high mountain character with peaks of over 4000 m.
About 50,000 inhabitants, mostly Dani , Lani and Yali, settle in the valley and about 15 times as many mountain papuas of other tribes are scattered in the surrounding highlands. Wamena is the starting point for expeditions to the tribes of the region.
City history
Wamena is a young city. This settlement point was first noticed in 1958 when the Dutch began their first missionary activities in the Baliem Valley. Until the early 1980s, Wamena was a small Dani hamlet. The Baliem Valley was first accessible via an airfield created near Wamena. As a result, the population was no longer solely dependent on the meager agricultural yields that the highlands yielded. Salt and sugar were now flown in as well as building materials (glass, cement) and living materials (furniture, corrugated iron), cars and petrol.
economy
Mainly agricultural and handicraft products from the area are offered at the market. In addition, the members of the tribes and clans use it as an intelligence service. Dani mainly sell fruit, vegetables and other natural products. sulawesische Makassari dealers are specialists in art and nutzgewerblichen products, such as stone axes , bracelets and Penisfutterale , Noken and bow and arrow . With a lack of engineering and heavy industry, Wamena is still quite isolated.
tourism
After the Baliem Valley was discovered in 1938, centers like Wamena are seeing growth today, which attracts hiking tourism in particular. Excursions to Sinatma (a small village with a lianas suspension bridge), Jiwika ( salt spring ), Akima ( mummy show ), Kontilola Cave ( karst caves ) or Danau Habbema (high plateau lake, mountain panorama) are among the excursion destinations.
literature
- Matthiessen, Peter (1962). Under the Mountain Wall. New York; London; Victoria; Toronto; Aukland; Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-025270-3 . English: The hidden valley - Chronicle of a journey into the Stone Age. Munich; Zurich: Droemer Knaur 1964
- Heinrich Harrer : I come from the Stone Age. Pinguin Verlag, Innsbruck 1976
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Astrid Roenig, To the land of the bird pig : West papua. Time travel on your own p.44
- ↑ Wamena 1958
- ↑ West Papua - Part 3, about fat Russian women who are hunted by cannibals (for fun) and chain smokers ... Persona non grata ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
