The Baliem River (or Vriendschaps River) is a river in the

Highland Papua Highland Papua () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago (often shortened to La Pago). It covers an area of and had a population of 1,467,050 according to ...

and

South Papua South Papua, officially the South Papua Province (), is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province located in the southern portion of Western New Guinea, Papua, following the borders of the Papuan customary region of Anim Ha. Formally establ ...

provinces of

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

, Indonesia. It is the largest tributary of the

Pulau River The Pulau River (, ) is a major river in South Papua province of Indonesia, with a total length of . Name It was previously known as the Eilanden River based on Dutch colonial expedition maps, and was still shown with this name on some governm ...

, formerly called the Eilanden River. With a total length of .

Hydrology

The river begins as the Baliem Timur (East Baliem) in the northern

Maoke Mountains The Maoke Mountains is a mountain range in the province of Central Papua and Highland Papua. It extends over 692 km and is composed of the Sudirman and Jayawijaya ranges. It is part of the larger New Guinea Highlands The New Guinea Highla ...

(Snow Mountains) at Lake Habbema in Jayawijaya Regency, north of Mount Trikora. The Baliem Timur flows west to meet the Baliem Barat (West Baliem) before turning north. After traveling underground for several kilometers through a sinkhole in an area of Karst limestone geology, it emerges and travels northeast to near Tiom in Lanny Jaya Regency. This section of the river was formerly known as the Noordelijke Baliem (North Baliem) in Dutch. After flowing east through Lanny Jaya, the Baliem turns southeast as it enters the wide, flat Great

Baliem Valley The Baliem Valley (; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea, specifically in the province of Highland Papua, Indonesia. The main town in the valley is Wamena, which ...

. In the center of the valley, it meanders southeast to meet the Uwe River in the town of

Wamena 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 Regency seat, seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in the province of Highland ...

, the capital of Highland Papua province. South of Wamena, the river plunges southeast through a steep gorge with many rapids and waterfalls and is joined by the Mugi and Kwik rivers. 70 kilometers southeast of Wamena the Heluk River enters the Baliem near Holuwon village. From here, the river was called Vriendschaps River at the time of

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

and

Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (, ) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. It contained ...

, before the course of the river was fully explored. Below Holuwon, the river leaves the southern foothills of the Maoke or Jayawijaya Mountains and becomes a braided river heading to the southwest through the lowland rainforest of

. After 100 kilometers, the Baliem, slightly upstream from the village of Kaima, flows into the

(formerly the Eilanden River), which flows into the Arafura Sea about 100 kilometers southwest on the

Casuarina Coast ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...

.The Dugum Dani: A Papuan Culture in the Highlands of West New Guinea, By Karl G. Heider

Ecology

The Baliem River has a length of about 60–80 km with a width of 15–20 m, flowing through the town of Wamena. The water temperature is around 14 to 18 °C. The acidity of the Baliem River is around 6.8–7.5, and the oxygen level is 4.1–4.3 mg/L. The flow rate is 0.09–0.92 m/det.; clarity 17–160 cm and depth 0.60–3.7 meter. The acidity level of the Baliem is considered good for the growth of water organisms, such as fish. In Baliem also lives a kind of animal with high cultural value for the local people; valued as high as yam () and pig (''wam''). It belongs to ''

Cherax ''Cherax'', commonly known as yabby/yabbies in Australia, is the most widespread genus of fully aquatic crayfish in the Southern Hemisphere. Various species of cherax may be found in both still and flowing bodies of freshwater across most of A ...

'' spp which lives in the mud. At night, it rises from the river and stays on the banks, whereas at sunrise, it goes back into the deep river area. Along the banks, there are swamps, with a high tendency of flooding used by the community to let loose their pig herds. The river basin has a high potential for tourism and agriculture.8 Sungai yang terdapat di Papua
Ilmu Geografi.com

Geography

The river flows in the southern area of Papua with a predominantly

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(designated as ''Af'' in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification). The annual average temperature in the area is 21 °C. The warmest month is March, when the average temperature is around 22 °C, and the coldest is July, at 18 °C. The average annual rainfall is 6222 mm. The wettest month is May, with an average of 708 mm rainfall, and the driest is January, with 348 mm rainfall.

References

{{coord, 5, 28, S, 138, 53, E, display=title, region:ID_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Highland Papua Eilanden basin

Hydrology

Ecology

Geography

See also

References