Mamberamo River, also called Tarikaikea, river in northwestern New Guinea, in the Indonesian province of Papua. Formed by the confluence of the Taritatu (Idenburg) and Tariku (Rouffaer) rivers, which converge in a large wild sago swamp, it flows generally northwest and empties into the Pacific Ocean near Cape Narwaku (D’Urville). After flowing placidly for the first 20 miles (32 km), the river cuts through the Van Rees Mountains in a series of rapids and gorges. Including its headstream, the Taritatu, the Mamberamo is about 500 miles (800 km) long and forms the largest drainage system of Indonesian New Guinea. It is navigable for 100 miles (160 km) from its mouth, but the only settlements consist of small villages.
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New Guinea, island of the eastern Malay Archipelago, in the western Pacific Ocean, north of Australia. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Bismarck and Solomon seas to the east, the Coral Sea and Torres Strait to the south, and the Arafura Sea to the southwest.…
Indonesia, country located off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is an archipelago that lies across the Equator and spans a distance equivalent to one-eighth of Earth’s circumference. Its islands can be grouped into the Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra (Sumatera), Java (Jawa),…
Papua, propinsi(or provinsi; province) of Indonesia, spanning roughly the eastern three-fourths of the western half of the island of New Guinea as well as a number of offshore islands—notably, Sorenarwa (Yapen), Yos Sudarso (Dolak), and the Schouten Islands. Papua is…
Sago, food starch prepared from carbohydrate material stored in the trunks of several palms, the main sources being Metroxylon rumphiiand M. sagu,sago palms native to the Indonesian archipelago. Sago palms grow in low marshy areas, usually reaching a height of nearly 9 m…
Pacific Ocean, body of salt water extending from the Antarctic region in the south to the Arctic in the north and lying between the continents of Asia and Australia on the west and North and South America on the east. Of…