The first well-documented exploratory expedition on this island was carried out by the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company, which encountered a people they called "wig-men".
The first well-documented exploratory expedition on this island was carried out by the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company, which encountered a people they called "wig-men". The city of Fakfak was once a significant port on this island in the region the Nagarakretagama calls Wanin. The Kuk swamp on this island contains some of the earliest evidence for the cultivation of taro and bananas. A company named after this island was founded by Adolph von Hansemann to forward the (*) German colonization of the northeast of this island, which was contemporaneous with Dutch occupation of the western half and British possession of the SE and largest city, Port Moresby. For 10 points, identify this island, the world's second largest, now split between Indonesia in the west and its eponymous country in the east.
The first well-documented exploratory expedition on this island was carried out by the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company, which encountered a people they called "wig-men".
New Guinea (accept Irian; do not accept or prompt on Papua New Guinea or Irian Jaya as those terms only refer to parts of the island)