The 2,300 Jair Awyu speakers live in Papua Indonesia. The largest town in the area (Getentiri) is located at the edge of the Digul River and can be reached by motorized or paddled canoe. The Jair Awyu area is often swampy (it is less than 100 meters above sea level). Boat service from Merauke takes about 5 days, but floatplanes can easily land on the Digul River.

The women plant gardens (of vegetables and tubers) and gather food from their surroundings. The men hunt and fish. The main food of the Jair Awyu people is sago. Sago worms, pig meat or hunted game serve to supplement their diet. The Jair Awyu people frequently use machetes, steel axes, bows and arrows. They also make (from wood) and use a tool for getting the sago from the felled sago trees.

Indonesian is the language of instruction in the schools, but at break times the elementary students use both Jair Awyu and Indonesian. A majority of the Jair Awyu people are Catholic as the Roman Catholic church has served in the area for more than 45 years.