Merauke

About Merauke

Indonesians describe the reach of their country as running from Sabang to Merauke, and this low, sunny town on the Maro River is the eastern end of that phrase. The capital of Merauke Regency in South Papua began as a Dutch post called Ermasoe, served as an Allied base in the Second World War and is now home to more than 100,000 people, mixing Marind and other Papuan communities with settlers from Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra.

The landscape looks more like northern Australia than the mountainous Papua of postcards. Flat savanna, swamps and slow rivers stretch to the horizon, and the giant termite mounds called musamus, some up to five metres tall, have become the symbol of the region.

Wasur National Park lies a short drive from town, with Rawa Biru Lake, wallabies and hundreds of bird species, and the road through it continues to the Papua New Guinea border at Sota. In town, the Catholic cathedral and the grand mosque reflect the mix of faiths, and Lampu Satu Beach on the Arafura Sea is where people gather at sunset. Flights land at Mopah Airport.