Irian Jaya is a hot humid island rising from the sea with some of the most impenetrable jungles in the world and yet also has snow caps covering 5000 meter high mountain peaks towering over glacier lakes. Irian Jaya is Indonesia's largest and easternmost province and covers western half of the world's second largest island. It is a land exceptional natural grandeur with beautiful scenic beaches immense stretches of marshlands cool grassy meadows and powerful rivers carvinf gorges and tunnels through dark and dense primeval forest. The most heavily populated and cultivated parts of the island are the Paniai Lakes district and the Baliem Valley to the east.
