Western Province is a coastal province in southwestern Papua New Guinea, bordering the Indonesian province of Papua. The provincial capital is Daru, on the islands of Daru. Western Province covers 99,300 km2 and is the largest province in Papua New Guinea by area. There are 153,304 inhabitants (2000 census). There are several large rivers that run through the province including the Fly River and its tributaries including the Strickland and Ok Tedi rivers, the larget lake in Papua New Guinea Lake Murray is also in Western Province. The provincial government has purported to change the name of the province to the Fly River Province but this remains unofficial as names of provinces are set out in the Constitution of Papua New Guinea and changes must be made according to the constitutional amending process.
In the province is the only part of Papua New Guinea which is west of the 141°E line that divides it from Indonesian Western New Guinea. This is a small section of territory to the east of the Fly River.
The major economic activity in the province is constituted by the Ok Tedi mine, initially established by BHP and the subject of considerable litigation by traditional landowners both in respect of environmental degradation and disputes over royalties.
