It is the largest tributary of Mamberamo River with a total length of 808 km (502 mi).

[1] During the Dutch colonial era it was known as the Idenburg River.

The Taritatu River flows generally westward in the basin north of the island's central mountainous cordillera.

[2] The river flows in the northern area of Papua with predominantly tropical rainforest climate (designated as Af in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification).

The warmest month is October, when the average temperature is around 23 °C, and the coldest is March, at 21 °C.