The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea ) lies west of the Pacific Ocean , overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea .
15-1060: Arafura refers to the name of the Arafura Sea , and by extension to adjoining areas or associated events: Animals Arafura catfish , Netuma proxima Arafura fantail , Rhipidura dryas Arafura file snake, Acrochordus arafurae Arafura large-footed bat, Myotis moluccarum Arafura shrikethrush , Colluricincla megarhyncha Places Arafura Jungles , north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia Arafura Sea , located between northern Australia and New Guinea Arafura Swamp , north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia Electoral division of Arafura , in Australia's Northern Territory Other Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel Arafura Games , international multi-sport event drawing competitors from Australasia and Asia Arafura Resources , Australian mineral exploration company Topics referred to by
30-602: A large, flat, land bridge that connected Australia and New Guinea and eased the migration of humans from Asia into Australia. The combined landmass formed the continent of Sahul . The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) categorizes the Arafura Sea as one of the bodies of water of the East Indian Archipelago . The IHO defines its limits as follows: On the North. The Southeastern limit of
45-633: A line to the Northeast point of Fordata, through this island and across to the Northeast point of Larat, Tanimbar Islands ( 7°06′S 131°55′E / 7.100°S 131.917°E / -7.100; 131.917 ), down the East coast of Jamdena [ Yamdena ] Island to its Southern point, thence through Anggarmasa to the North point of Selaroe and through this island to Tg Aro Oesoe its Southern point ( 8°21′S 130°45′E / 8.350°S 130.750°E / -8.350; 130.750 )]. On
60-458: A time when many marine ecosystems and fish stocks around the world are diminished or collapsing, the Arafura Sea stands out as among the richest marine fisheries on Earth. However, the natural resources of the Arafura have been under increased pressure from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities. The Arafura and Timor Seas Expert Forum (ATSEF) was established in 2002 to promote
75-637: Is 1,290 kilometres (800 mi) long and 560 kilometres (350 mi) wide. The depth of the sea is 50–80 m (160–260 ft) in most places, with the depth increasing to the west. The sea lies over the Arafura Shelf, which is a section of the Sahul Shelf . When sea levels were low during the last glacial maximum , the Arafura Shelf, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Torres Strait formed
90-699: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea is bordered by the Gulf of Carpentaria and the continent of Australia to the south, the Timor Sea to the west, the Banda and Seram seas to the northwest, and the Torres Strait to the east. (Just across the strait, farther to the east, lies the Coral Sea ). The Arafura Sea
105-696: The Ceram Sea [A line from Karoefa, New Guinea, to the Southeastern extreme of Adi Island , thence to Tg. Borang, the Northern point of Noehoe Tjoet [ Kai Besar ] ( 5°17′S 133°09′E / 5.283°S 133.150°E / -5.283; 133.150 )] and the Eastern limit of the Banda Sea [From Tg Borang, the Northern point of Noehoe Tjoet, through this island to its Southern point, thence
120-555: The Dutch National Archives , has this explanation for the name of the sea: "The inhabitants of the Moluccas called themselves 'haraforas', translating 'Anak anak gunung' as 'children of the mountains'." The Arafura Sea is a rich fishery resource, particularly for shrimp and demersal fish. Economically important species include Barramundi , grouper , Penaeid shrimp, and Nemipteridae fishes, among others. At
135-531: The 1830s. Thomas Forrest sailed through the Moluccas ( Maluku Islands ) in 1775, and documented that there were people who called themselves the "Harafora" living in the western end of New Guinea , in subordination to the "Papuas". He also reported their presence in Magindano ( Mindanao ). The geographer Conrad Malte-Brun repeated Forrest's reports of a race of "Haraforas" in 1804, and added Borneo to
150-639: The Arafura Sea , which he compiled from the narratives of Lieutenants Kolff and Modera of the Royal Netherlands Navy . Although it has been suggested that Arafura derives from the Portuguese word "Alfours", meaning "free men", it seems more likely that sea is named after the Harrafora, the indigenous name for "the people of mountains" in the Moluccas (part of Indonesia), which was the explanation recorded by Lieutenants Kolff and Modera in
165-694: The East. The Southwest coast of New Guinea from Karoefa (133°27'E) to the entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01'E), and thence a line to the Northwest extreme of York Peninsula , Australia ( 11°05′S 142°03′E / 11.083°S 142.050°E / -11.083; 142.050 ). On the South. By the North coast of Australia from the Northwest extreme of York Peninsula to Cape Don ( 11°19′S 131°46′E / 11.317°S 131.767°E / -11.317; 131.767 ). On
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#1732765702509180-685: The West. A line from Cape Don to Tanjong Aro Oesoe, the Southern point of Selaroe ( Tanimbar Islands ). European use of the name "Arafura Sea" dates back to at least 1663, when Joan Blaeu recorded in the text on his wall map of the East Indies ("Archipelagus Orientalis, sive Asiaticus") that the inland inhabitants of the Moluccas call themselves "Alfores". The name also appeared in George Windsor Earl 's 1837 Sailing Directions for
195-536: The economically and environmentally sustainable management of those seas. Adi Island Adi (or Adi Island , Indonesian : Pulau Adi ) is an Indonesian island . Adi is located approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) south of the equator in the Seram Sea off the western coast of New Guinea . It is severed from the Bomberai Peninsula by Nautilus Strait , the narrowest width of which
210-543: The list of places this group inhabited. The ethnologist James C. Prichard described the Haraforas as head-hunters. John Coulter, in his account of a sojourn in the interior of south-west New Guinea in 1835, referred to the tribespeople there as the "Horrafora", and had the impression that Papuans and Horraforans were two distinct groups in New Guinea. AJ van der Aa's 1939 Toponymic Dictionary, recently rediscovered in
225-411: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Arafura . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arafura&oldid=1155259711 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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