Papua

American  

[pap-yoo-uh, pah-poo-ah] / ˈpæp yu ə, ˈpɑ puˌɑ /

noun

1. Papua New Guinea.

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

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Papua British  

/ ˈpæpjʊə /

noun

1. Former name: British New Guinea.  a former territory of Australia, consisting of SE New Guinea and adjacent islands: now part of Papua New Guinea

2. Former names (until 1962): Dutch New Guinea.   Netherlands New Guinea.  Former Indonesian names: Irian Barat.   Irian Jaya.  Former English name: West Irian.  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)

3. an inlet of the Coral Sea in the SE coast of New Guinea

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Example Sentences

West Papua reveals two species that we thought were extinct.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026

And there is no sign yet that other projects linked to large-scale deforestation, including a food and energy plantation plan in South Papua, will be halted in this drive.

From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026

The company has secured a 15-year bareboat charter to provide a floating storage and offloading unit in Papua New Guinea, the country’s first offshore floating facility, it notes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

England's opening pool match at the tournament is against Tonga in Perth on 17 October, with games against France and Papua New Guinea to follow.

From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026

So I ate a little while Mom and Dad talked about this earthquake that had just happened in Papua New Guinea.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green