papua

noun

1. Papua New Guinea.
2. Gulf of, an inlet of the Coral Sea on the SE coast of New Guinea.

noun

1. Territory of Papua a former territory of Australia, consisting of SE New Guinea and adjacent islands: now part of Papua New GuineaFormer name: (1888–1906) British New Guinea
2. the W part of the island of New Guinea: formerly under Dutch rule, becoming a province of Indonesia in 1963. Capital: Jayapura. Pop: 2 220 934 (2000). Area: 416 990 sq km (161 000 sq miles)Former names (until 1962): Dutch New Guinea, Netherlands New Guinea Former Indonesian names: Irian Barat (1962-1973), Irian Jaya (1973-2001) Former English name: West Irian (translation of Irian Barat)
3. Gulf of Papua an inlet of the Coral Sea in the SE coast of New Guinea

race that inhabits New Guinea, 1610s, from Malay papuah “frizzled.” Related: Papuan.