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Asmat Swamp is a wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
 on the southern coast of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
, located within what is now the Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
n province of Papua
Papua (Indonesian province)

Papua is the largest Provinces of Indonesia of Indonesia, comprising a majority part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands ....
. It is sometimes claimed to be the largest alluvial swamp in the world, being said to have an area of around 30,000 kmē. It is crossed by numerous rivers and streams, and large areas are underwater at high tide
Tide

Tides are the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuary water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation ....
.

Ecologically, the swamp is diverse. The muddy coastal areas are dominated by mangrove
Mangrove

Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in saline water coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses: most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, to refer to all trees and...
s and nipah palms. Inland, where the swamp is freshwater
Freshwater

Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
, other sorts of vegetation become more common — herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 vegetation, grasses, and forest.






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Asmat Swamp is a wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
 on the southern coast of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
, located within what is now the Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
n province of Papua
Papua (Indonesian province)

Papua is the largest Provinces of Indonesia of Indonesia, comprising a majority part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands ....
. It is sometimes claimed to be the largest alluvial swamp in the world, being said to have an area of around 30,000 kmē. It is crossed by numerous rivers and streams, and large areas are underwater at high tide
Tide

Tides are the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuary water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation ....
.

Ecologically, the swamp is diverse. The muddy coastal areas are dominated by mangrove
Mangrove

Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in saline water coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses: most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, to refer to all trees and...
s and nipah palms. Inland, where the swamp is freshwater
Freshwater

Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
, other sorts of vegetation become more common — herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 vegetation, grasses, and forest. A significant portion of the swamp is peatland
Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation biological tissue. Peat forms in wetlands or peatlands, variously called bogs, Moorland, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests....
. It is home to a wide variety of animals, including freshwater fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
s, lobster
Lobster

Clawed lobsters compose a family of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets United States dollar1.8 billion in trade annually....
s, shrimp
Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, Decapoda crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh water and seawater. Adult shrimp are Filter feeder benthic animals living close to the bottom....
, crocodile
Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia: i.e....
s, sea snake
Sea snake

Sea snakes, or seasnakes, are venomous snake Elapidae snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. Though they evolved from terrestrial ancestors, most are extensively adapted to a fully aquatic life and are unable to even move on land, except for the genus Laticauda, which retain ancestral characteristics...
s, and pigeons. Also inhabiting the swamp are large monitor lizard
Monitor lizard

Monitor lizards or biawak are members of the family Varanidae, a group of carnivorous lizard which includes the heaviest living lizard, the Komodo dragon, with the crocodile monitor being the longest in the world....
s, of which Varanus salvadorii is longer (although not as heavy) as the more famous Komodo Dragon
Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon is a species of lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo , Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang in Indonesia. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the Largest organisms#Reptiles , growing to an average length of and weighing around ....
.

The swamp takes its name from the Asmat
Asmat people

The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the Papua province of Indonesia. Possessing one of the most well-known and vibrant wood carving traditions in the Pacific, their art is sought by collectors worldwide....
 people, who inhabit it. The difficult terrain of the swamp meant that the Asmat did not have regular contact with outsiders until the 1950s, and the swamp still remains isolated. The swamp forms part of Indonesia's Lorentz National Park
Lorentz National Park

Lorentz National Park is located in the Indonesian province of Papua , formerly known as Irian Jaya . With an area of 25,056 km? , it is the largest national park in South-East Asia....
.

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