Papuans (Topical Term)

Wikipedia, Dec. 29, 2011: Papuan people (Papuan is a cover term for the various indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighboring islands, speakers of so-called Papuan languages. They are often distinguished linguistically from Austronesians, speakers of a language family introduced into New Guinea about three thousand years ago, but this is not always an ethnic distinction, as New Guinea Austronesians are often seen as Papuan in culture.) New Guinea (Anthropologically it is considered part of Melanesia. Politically, the western half of the island comprises two Indonesian provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half forms the mainland of the country of Papua New Guinea; current evidence indicates that the Papuans (who constitute the majority of the island's peoples) are descended from the earliest human inhabitants of New Guinea)

The American Heritage dictionary of the English language, c2000 (Papuan n. 1. A native or inhabitant of Papua New Guinea or New Guinea. 2. A member of any of the indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighboring islands)

Web. 3 (papuan 1 a : a native or inhabitant of the island of Papua. b : a native or inhabitant of the Territory of Papua. 2 : a member of any of the negroid native peoples of New Guinea and adjacent areas of Melanesia; specif : a fuzzy-haired prominent-nosed nonpygmy Oceanic Negroid of New Guinea)