New Guinea is a hot, humid island rising from the sea with some of the most impenetrable jungles in the world and yet also has snow caps covering almost 5,000 metres - high mountain peaks, towering over glacier lakes, island is full of mysterious rivers, birds of paradise, endless swamps and impassable rainforests. New Guinea is now divided into two parts: the eastern part is called Papua New Guinea, independent state, and western part, formerly known as Irian Jaya, now called West Papua. West Papua is Indonesia's largest ( 421,981 km2, representing 22% of total Indonesia's area ) and easternmost province and covers the western half of the world's second largest island ( after Greenland ). It is the least populated, least visited and most remote province of Indonesia. It is a land of outstanding natural splendour, with stunning scenic beaches, huge stretches of marshlands, cool grassy meadows and powerful rivers carving gorges and tunnels through dark and dense primeval forests. More than 75 percent of the land is covered by dense tropical forests, with only about 1.5 million people, with an average population density of 2.8 persons per square kilometer, the lowest in Indonesia. The most heavily populated and cultivated parts of the island are the Paniai Lakes district and the Baliem Valley to the east. The people of the island can be divided into more than 250 sub-groups, which are closely related to the islands along the southern rim of the Pacific and include among others, the Marindanim, Yah'ray, Asmat, Mandobo, Dani and Afyat. Those in the central highlands still maintain their customs and traditions and because of the terrain have virtually been untouched by outside influences. Communications hove always been difficult here and different tribes have lived, for the most part, in isolation even of each other, resulting in an incredibly diverse mixture of cultures. The flatter coastal regions of West Papua, however, were visited as early as the 7th century by traders from Sriwijaya. European traders began arriving in the early 16th century, looking for spices and have left historical footprints in the area with names such as Bougainville, Cape d'Urville and the Torres Straits, named after Luis Baez de Torres, a Spanish navigator from the early 17th.It was the Dutch who made the most lasting impact on the island, who in 1828, formally made Papua a Dutch Territory which was not released until 1962. The Provincial capital of Jayapura is built on hills which slope down to the sea and is accessible by boat and place. It was here that General MacArthur assembled his fleet for the invasion of the Philippines during the Second World War.