It is one of the major tributary of Mamberamo River with a total length of 488 km (303 mi).

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

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

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.