[4] which at the 2020 Census had increased to 102,351;[5] the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 110,541 (comprising 56,578 males and 53,963 females).

[1] The district is sub-divided into eleven urban kelurahan and 5 rural villages (kampung).

Merauke was established in February 1902 as a military post by the Dutch, to prevent raids by the Marind-anim into neighbouring British New Guinea and the northwest Torres Strait Islands (Boigu, Dauan and Saibai).

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Merauke was used as a transit point between Java, and the Boven-Digoel internment camp where many Indonesian Communist Party members were being sent.

For instance, President Suharto stated in 1968 that "independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity from Sabang to Merauke are for the Indonesian people matters of principle".