Wamena

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Capital of Jayawijaya Regency, Indonesia

title: "Wamena" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-highland-papua", "districts-of-highland-papua", "regency-seats-of-highland-papua", "provincial-capitals-in-indonesia"] description: "Capital of Jayawijaya Regency, Indonesia" topic_path: "geography/indonesia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wamena" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Capital of Jayawijaya Regency, Indonesia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Wamena
settlement_type	Town (District) and regency seat
image_skyline	Wamena, Papua, Indonesia 2019 09.jpg
image_caption	Wamena in 2019
pushpin_map	Indonesia Highland Papua#Indonesia Western New Guinea#Indonesia
pushpin_label_position	left
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Highland Papua##Location in Indonesian Papua##Location in Indonesia
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Indonesia
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_type2	Regency
subdivision_name1	Highland Papua
subdivision_name2	Jayawijaya Regency
population_as_of	mid 2023 estimate
population_note
population_total	66080
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	12
::

Wamena, also known as the District of Wamena (Distrik Wamena), is a large town in the Western New Guinea region of Indonesia. It also serves as the seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in the province of Highland Papua, located in the Baliem Valley and had a population of 64,967 in the 2020 Census; the official estimate in mid 2023 was 66,080. Wamena is the urban centre of a rural area housing Highland Papua's highest concentration of population, with over 300,000 people inhabiting the Baliem Valley and surrounding areas. These people belong to several related ethnic groups, the most prominent of which are the Dani, Lani, and Yali.

The town is also home to the Persiwa Wamena football team, which played in the Indonesian Super League until the early 2010s.

History

As far as the outside world was concerned, the discovery of the Baliem Valley, where Wamena is located, and the unexpected presence of its large agricultural population was made by Richard Archbold's third zoological expedition to New Guinea in 1938. On 21 June an aerial reconnaissance flight southwards from Hollandia (now Jayapura) found what the expedition called the ‘Grand Valley’. Since it was almost completely cut off from the outside world, the area was spared by the fighting for the control of New Guinea during World War II. The town itself was founded by the Dutch in 1956, as one of the last towns founded during their presence in Western New Guinea. Since then the valley has gradually been opened up to a limited amount of tourism.

In 2003, during what would be called afterward the Wamena incident, an unidentified mob led by the Free Papua Movement raided the Indonesian Army's armoury of the town, killing two Indonesian soldiers and stealing several assault rifles. Reprisals were harsh, affecting 25 villages, displacing around 7,000 villagers, and killing 50 in the process, torture and destruction of properties by the Indonesian army were also reported.

During the 2019 Papua protests, several government buildings were destroyed by an angry mob, after which the police and the military retaliated, leaving 16 civilians killed and 65 injured. According to local authorities, the particular set of protests was triggered by a separate racism incident within the city. A Kompas correspondent in Wamena reported that gunshots sounded across the city and that civilians primarily migrants were taking shelter in police stations, military bases, local Papuan homes, and churches. Out of the 16 civilians killed, 13 had come from outside the province, and most deaths occurred as they were trapped in buildings torched by the angry mob. Later independence investigation by The Jakarta Post and local media Tabloid Jubi, revealed civilian victims were likely to be higher than official counts. Perpetrators were likely not local Wamenan and were too old to be students even though wearing high school uniforms. Racism incidents that were claimed to have happened in Wamena and spread through social media are also likely to be misinformation or even disinformation.

Responding to the protests, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology reactivated the internet blackout in Wamena. Owing to the rioting and unrest, around 15,000 civilians were evacuated from Wamena, with a further 1,726 internally displaced within the town in early October. Going the opposite direction, around 2,000 Papuan students returned from other cities across Indonesia to their home towns and cities, reporting a feeling of intimidation and danger.

On 23 February 2023, around ten civilians were killed in a riot arising from a kidnapping accusation.

Climate

Wamena features a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cfb), due to its high altitude and position near the equator.

|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Wamena (2004–2020) |Jan high C = 26.0 |Feb high C = 25.9 |Mar high C = 26.1 |Apr high C = 26.0 |May high C = 26.3 |Jun high C = 25.5 |Jul high C = 24.9 |Aug high C = 25.5 |Sep high C = 25.7 |Oct high C = 26.3 |Nov high C = 26.2 |Dec high C = 26.3 |Jan low C = 15.9 |Feb low C = 16.2 |Mar low C = 15.8 |Apr low C = 16.1 |May low C = 15.9 |Jun low C = 15.3 |Jul low C = 15.0 |Aug low C = 14.7 |Sep low C = 15.1 |Oct low C = 15.5 |Nov low C = 15.7 |Dec low C = 16.0 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 178.7 |Feb precipitation mm = 178.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 213.3 |Apr precipitation mm = 249.8 |May precipitation mm = 122.9 |Jun precipitation mm = 133.5 |Jul precipitation mm = 117.1 |Aug precipitation mm = 110.3 |Sep precipitation mm = 138.1 |Oct precipitation mm = 143.0 |Nov precipitation mm = 162.9 |Dec precipitation mm = 166.5 |Jan precipitation days = 15.6 |Feb precipitation days = 15.7 |Mar precipitation days = 18.4 |Apr precipitation days = 18.9 |May precipitation days = 13.5 |Jun precipitation days = 15.1 |Jul precipitation days = 14.6 |Aug precipitation days = 13.8 |Sep precipitation days = 15.3 |Oct precipitation days = 15.4 |Nov precipitation days = 15.6 |Dec precipitation days = 17.2 |source 1 = Meteomanz{{cite web | url = http://www.meteomanz.com/sy3?l=1&cou=5410&ind=97686&m1=01&y1=2004&m2=12&y2=2020 | title = SYNOP/BUFR observations. Data by months | publisher = Meteomanz | access-date = 21 March 2024}}

Economy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Pasar_Wamena.jpg" caption="A market in Wamena."] ::

Wamena claims a broader variety of fresh fruits and vegetables than other regions in Papua. On early 6 June 2013, a modern market was built in the town center to allow traditional farmers to sell their harvests at a proper price.

Transport

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/WMX_Wamena_Airport.jpg" caption="[[Wamena Airport]] old building."] ::

Because of its relatively isolated location, the main form of access to the area is air travel. The town and the surrounding valley are served by the only Wamena Airport, which can accommodate the TNI's (Indonesian National Armed Forces) Hercules airplanes. Dimonim Air, Trigana Air, Aviastar Mandiri, Susi Air, Merpati and Wings Air serve the airport. The airport was razed by fire on 26 September 2011; all buildings including the departure and arrival terminals were engulfed by fire.

Parts of Trans-Papua Highway is passing Wamena, linking the town by road with cities across Papua such as Jayapura.

Health

The largely Papuan town is densely settled and has extreme rates of HIV infection, with a claim of 5,100 cases recorded by Antara. On 16 June 2015, Jayawijaya regional secretary Yohanis Walilo rectified the total HIV cases to 4,521 HIV cases.

References

Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Jayawijaya Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.9501)
Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.
Martin Gostelow, James Hardy (2002). ''This Way, Indonesia''. Hunter Publishing. p.48. {{ISBN. 2-8845-2096-1
(9 August 2004). "West Papua: Police, Military involved in Papua Abuses". [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]].
(2 September 2004). "Komnas HAM Temukan Pelanggaran HAM Berat di Papua". Tempo.
(8 November 2017). "Gov't Must Address Policy Miscalculations on Papua: Report". Jakarta Globe.
(2006). "Dynamics of Conflict and Displacement in Papua, Indonesia". [[Refugee Studies Centre]].
Suwandi, Dhias. (23 September 2019). "16 Warga Tewas dan 65 Terluka Saat Kerusuhan Pecah di Wamena, Papua Halaman all". KOMPAS.
(23 September 2019). "Violent Protests in Papua Leave at Least 20 Dead". The New York Times.
(26 November 2019). "Wamena investigation: What the government is not telling us". The Jakarta Post.
(23 September 2019). "Rusuh Wamena, Kominfo Kembali Blokir Akses Internet di Papua". CNN Indonesia.
(8 October 2019). "Wamena disebut mulai pulih, sejumlah pengungsi 'enggan kembali'". BBC.
(26 September 2019). "Ribuan mahasiswa Papua eksodus: 'Kami pulang bukan untuk kembali'". BBC.
(24 February 2023). "Indonesia tightens security in Papua after nine killed in riot". Reuters.
Bustami, Rizal. (24 June 2013). "John Wempi Wetipo Resmikan Wamena Mall".
(26 September 2011). "Fire razes Wamena Airport".
"5,100 HIV/AIDS cases detected in Wamena {{!".
"Jayawijaya regency clarifies high HIV prevalence".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::