Baliem Valley

The Baliem Valley, known in Indonesian as Lembah Baliem, lies in the Central Highlands of Western New Guinea, within Highland Papua province, Indonesia. It spans about 80 kilometers in length and 20 kilometers in width at an elevation of roughly 1,600 to 1,700 meters, with the Baliem River running past the main town of Wamena. The valley is home to more than 200,000 people from several indigenous groups, including the Dani, Yali, Mek and Nduga peoples, whom residents in 2002 discussions grouped as the Hubula, the Walak in the north and the Lani in the west. The valley was first reported to the Western world by Richard Archbold's third zoological expedition to New Guinea in 1938, though sustained Western contact did not follow until after a plane crash there in 1945.