Merauke is a large town (kelurahan) and an administrative district (distrik) in Merauke Regency of South Papua Province, Indonesia. It is also the administrative centre of Merauke Regency, and is considered to be the easternmost city in Indonesia, although it currently lacks city status. The town was originally called Ermasoe.
Merauke is next to the Maro River where the Port of Merauke is located. Merauke District covers a land area of 500.41 km<sup>2</sup>, and had a population of 87,634 at the 2010 Census. which at the 2020 Census had increased to 102,351; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 116,864 (comprising 60,068 males and 56,796 females).
Merauke was the capital of the Residency of South New Guinea. The population of Muyu people in the area started growing in the 1930s.
Merauke was the site of an Allied air and naval base, Naval Base Merauke, during World War II and there was ground fighting between Australian and Japanese patrols in the area.
The first Christian church in Merauke was completed in 1940, but it was destroyed in 1942.
On 11 December 1959, Australian ocean rower Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko was washed ashore at Tomerau, near Merauke, in a dugout canoe which he had paddled from Queensland. He intended to continue a further 600 miles to Australian New Guinea, but Dutch authorities in Sydney advised that it would be "suicide" to allow Fomenko to leave the town.
The expression "Sabang to Merauke" is used as shorthand for the territorial extent of Indonesia from west to east, for instance in the name of Sabang Merauke Raya Air Charter. 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".
Merauke District is sub-divided into eleven urban kelurahan and 5 rural villages (desa, idebtified by asterisks in the table below)). These are listed below with their official codes (kode wilayah) and their populations as at mid 2023.
Nasem, Wasur, Bokem and Nggolare villages (desa) are rural areas to the north and east of the urban area.<br> <br>Merauke District is flanked to the west by Semangga District, which forms part of the metropolitan area of Merauke; <br>Semangga District is sub-divided into 10 rural villages (all rated as desa).
Merauke features a tropical savannah climate (Köppen climate classification: Aw)