South Papua is a province in Papua. Tito Karnavian, as Minister of Home Affairs Indonesia has stated that South Papua is ready to become a new province. The districts that joined the new province candidates consisted of 4 districts and 1 municipality (under the expansion plan).[1][2][3] It was created on 11 November 2022.
South Papua has been struggling to become a separate province since 2002 and was again proposed to be a province in 2020. This is because the Government of Indonesia wants the people of Papua to progress.[4][5] The expansion of South Papua Province was originally planned to consist of five regencies, namely Asmat Regency, Boven Digoel Regency, Mappi Regency, Bintang Bintang Regency, and Merauke Regency . However, based on regional considerations, Bintang Mountains Regency then chose to resign due to the closer distance to Jayapura City.[6]
The candidate for the provincial capital is City of Merauke.[7] Districts that may join this province include: