Papua New Guinea is a country of Oceania. Located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, it is part of Melanesia and consists of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (the western half is Irian Jaya, belonging to Indonesia) and a set of small islands that include the Bismark archipelago and part of the archipelago of the Solomon Islands. It is bathed by the Pacific Ocean and, to the south, the Torres Strait separates it from Australia. It has an area of 462 840 km2.
The main cities in the country are Port Moresby, the capital, with 337 900 residents (2004), Lae (109 800 residents), Madang (36 000 residents), Wewak (28 600 residents) And Goroka (17 900 inhab ). An irregular mountain range runs through the central part of the island, it is a volcanic and seismic zone. Mount Wilhelm, at an altitude of 4509 meters, is the highest peak.
Climate
The climate is humid tropical in most of the territory. In the Northwest, the effect is felt between December and March and, in the Southwest, from May to October.
Economy
The main agricultural and forestry products for export are coffee, cocoa, coconut, banana, rubber and wood. There is some gold and silver exploration, but copper is the main source of mineral wealth in the large mines in Bougainville. Papua New Guinea’s main trading partners are Australia, Japan, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 0.5.
Population
Papua New Guinea had, in 2006, 5 670 544 residents, estimated to reach 8 million people in 2025. The birth and death rates are, respectively, 29.36% and 7.25%. Average life expectancy is 65.28 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.548 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.544 (2001). The official language is English, and Pidgin and Motu are also spoken, natural languages of the Papua. Ethnically, it is composed of two large groups: the Papua (84%) and the Melanesians (15%). Protestantism is followed by 58% of the population and Catholicism represents 33%. The official language is English, and Pidgin and Motu are also spoken, languages of the Papua.
History
The first European settler to live in the territory that today calls Papua New Guinea was a British naval officer, John Hayes, in 1793. Later, in 1828, he joined the German East India Company. After successively belonging to Germans and Englishmen, in 1906 a part of the territory passed into the hands of Australians. With the First World War, the Australian army occupied the Germanic territory of New Guinea and in 1942 the Japanese invaded the country. In 1945 it was recovered by Australia. The German part of New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia in 1969 as the province of Irian Jaya. In December 1973, it became autonomous and achieved complete independence from England in 1975, when it became a member of the Commonwealth. Maintains observer status at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In 1989, Bougainville rebels closed the copper mine, the country’s largest source of wealth.
The country is a constitutional monarchy with a legislative assembly. The Queen of England, Isabel II, is the head of state, being represented by a governor-general.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Papua New Guinea, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Papua New Guinea. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Papua New Guinea
Browse a collection of city, political, shaded relief and historical maps of this island located in the Pacific Ocean. Check out the map of Port Moresby.
