The border, which divides the island of New Guinea in half, consists of two straight north–south lines connected by a short section running along the Fly River, totalling 824 km (512 mi).

The border starts in the north at northern coast of New Guinea, immediately west of the Papuan village of Wutung and Mount Bougainville.

The Netherlands began colonising the area of modern Indonesia (then called the Dutch East Indies) in the 17th century, and extended their rule eastwards.

In 1828 they claimed the north-west coast of New Guinea as far as the 140th meridian east in 1828, as part of the traditional lands of the Sultan of Tidore.

[2] In 1895 Britain and the Netherlands signed a border treaty which delimited their common boundary on the island at its current location.