Sorong

The origin of Sorong's name comes from the word Soren, which means "deep and wavy ocean" in the Biak language. The name was first used by the Biak-Numfor people who sailed to different islands before they finally decided to settle down in Raja Ampat Islands. When the Biak-Numfor people came to the place called "Daratan Maladum", they decided to call it Soren. After centuries of contact with Chinese merchants, European missionaries, and people from Maluku and Sangihe-Talaud, the name underwent further change into Sorong.[4]

At the 2010 Census, the city comprised six districts (distrik), but the number has subsequently been increased to ten by the splitting of existing districts. These are tabulated below with their populations at the 2010 Census,[5] together with the latest estimates for mid-2019.[6] The table also includes the number of administrative villages (desa and kelurahan, 41 in total) in each district and its post code.

Note: (a) Sorong Kepulauan district includes 25 offshore islands within the city limits, including Doom, Soop, Raam and Umbre Islands.
(b) the populations as at 2010 of the four new districts established after 2010 are included in the figures for the districts from which they were split off.

Sorong experiences the tropical rainforest climate (Af), as there is no real dry season throughout the year. The wettest month is June, with a total precipitation of 373 millimetres (14.7 in), while the driest month is February, with a total precipitation of 180 millimetres (7.1 in). The excessive precipitation is caused by the monsoon. The temperature variation remains constant throughout the year. The temperature difference between the hottest month and the coolest month is 1.2 °C (2.2 °F). The hottest month is November, with an average temperature of 27.8 °C (82.0 °F), while the coolest month is July, with an average temperature of 26.6 °C (79.9 °F).

A container port is to be built in Sorong with an annual container-handling capacity of 500,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and cost Rp.800 billion (US$93.6 million). Construction began in early 2012 and was expected to be complete in mid-2013,[9] but was delayed.

The phrase "Sorong to Samarai" sometimes be voiced from Papuan independence activists in reference to Papuan unification, with Sorong being on the westernmost extremity of the Papuan island, and Samarai being one of the easternmost point located in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. In 2016, the ARIA Music Awards-nominated Papua New Guinean-Australian musician Airileke released a single title "Sorong Samarai".[10]