Netherlands New Guinea was the official name of western New Guinea while it was a colonial possession of the Netherlands. It was commonly known as Dutch New Guinea. It is now a province of Indonesia known as Papua.

From 1898 to 1949 Dutch New Guinea was governed as part of the Dutch East Indies.

In 1949, when the rest of the Dutch East Indies became fully independent as Indonesia, the Dutch retained sovereignty over western New Guinea, and took steps to prepare it for independence as a separate country. Some five thousand teachers were flown there. The Dutch put an emphasis upon political, business, and civic skills. The first local naval cadets graduated in 1955 and the first army brigade become operational in 1956.

Elections were held across Dutch New Guinea in 1959 and an elected council officially took office on April 5 1961 to prepare for full independence by the end of that decade. The Dutch endorsed the council's selection of a new national name ('West Papua'), national anthem, and the Morning Star as the new national flag on December 1 1961.

Indonesia invaded the region on December 18 1961. After an armed conflict the territory was placed under United Nations administration in October 1962 before being transferred to Indonesia in May 1963. The territory was formally annexed by Indonesia in 1969 after a controversial plebiscite was conducted by the Indonesian military.

See also: Papua (Indonesian province); Western New Guinea