Papua New Guinea

The Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the 54th largest country of the world is located in Oceania, comprising the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and other islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is situated to the east of Indonesia. Port Moresby is the capital of Papua New Guenea.

HISTORY:- Before the European exploration in the 16th century, the Papuan, Melanesian, and Negrito tribes inhabited in the island. Spanish and Portuguese explorers landed on the island in the mid-16th century. In 1828, the western part of the island was captured by the Dutch. In 1885, the northern coasts were possesses by the Germens whilst the southern coasts were occupied by the British. In 1906, the power of British New Guinea was transferred to Australia with a new name of the Territory of Papua. During the World War I, Australia seized the power of the German New Guinea under a League of Nations mandate. During the World War II, the islands of New Guinea and Papua were invaded by Japan in 1942. In 1945, Australian troops resisted the Japanese force and the region became a United Nations trusteeship, governed by Australia. The islands of the territory were merged to form the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (PNG). In 1951, limited home rule was granted to the territory whereas in 1960 the territory gained autonomy in internal affairs. In 1975, Papua New Guinea achieved full independence.

GEOGRAPHY:- Papua New Guinea is located at 6 00 S, 147 00 E in Oceania. The archipelago occupies total 462,840 sq km area in which 452,860 sq km and 9,980 sq km are covered with landmass and internal waters respectively. The archipelago comprises eastern half of New Guinea Island, New Ireland, New Britain, Manus, Bougainville and other smaller islands. The coastline is 5,152 km long bordering the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean. The lowest point is Pacific Ocean (0 m) and the highest point is Mount Wilhelm (4,509 m). The archipelago is mostly composed of mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills.

CLIMATE:- The climate of Papua New Guinea is tropical with little seasonal temperature variation. The northwest monsoon is responsible for the rains from December to March while the southeast monsoon is responsible for the rains from May to October.

GOVERNMENT:- Papua New Guinea has a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The constitution was adopted on 16th September 1975. The legal system is based on the English common law. The three principal departments of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the Queen (chief of state), the governor general, the Prime minister (head of government), the Deputy Prime Minister, and the National Executive Council. The Queen is represented by the governor general. The governor general is nominated by the parliament and appointed by the Queen. The governor general generally appoints the leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition as the prime minister. The National Executive Council is appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister.

Legislative branch comprises the unicameral National Parliament (109 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court.

 National Alliance (NA), People's Progress Party (PPP), United Resources Party (URP), and PNG Party (PNGP) are the major political parties of the country. Suffrage is universal at 18.

Queen                             Elizabeth II

Governor General           Sir Paulias Matane

Prime Minister                 Sir Michael Somare

Deputy Prime Minister     Puka Temu

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Papua New Guinea is divided into 20 provinces.

CULTURE:- Every cultural group has its unique art, dance, weaponry, costumes, singing, music, and architecture in Papua New Guinea. Rugby league is the most popular sport of the nation.

ECONOMY:- Almost 85% population depends upon agriculture. The country is rich in natural resources.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $11.94 billion; per capita $2,000.

Real growth rate: 6.2%.

Inflation: 1.7%.

Unemployment: 1.9% to 80% in urban areas (2005).

Arable land: 0.5%.

Agriculture: Coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, vanilla; shell fish, poultry, pork.

Labor force: 3.557 million (2007 est).

Budget:  

Revenues: $2.347 billion

Expenditures: $2.153 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 42% of GDP (2007 est.)

Debt - external: $1.595 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Industries: Copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood-chip production; mining of gold, silver, and copper; crude oil production, petroleum refining; construction, tourism.

Natural resources: Gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries.

Exports: $4.553 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish, prawns.

Imports: $2.269 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals.

Major trading partners: Australia, Japan, China, Singapore (2006).

Monetary unit: Kina

LANGUAGE:- English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu are the official languages of Papua New Guinea. There are 820 indigenous languages spoken in the country.

CITIES:- The capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby is the largest city of the country as well. Other large cities are Lae, Mt. Hagen.

POPULATION:- The estimated population of the country is 5,795,887 with a growth rate of 2.2%.

Density per sq mi: 33

Literacy rate: 66% (2003 est.).

RACE:- Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian peoples dwell in the country.

RELIGION:-

Roman Catholic 27%

Evangelical Lutheran 19.5%

United Church 11.5%

Seventh-Day Adventist 10%

Pentecostal 8.6%

Evangelical Alliance 5.2%

Anglican 3.2%

Baptist 2.5%

Other Protestant 8.9%

Bahai 0.3%

Indigenous beliefs and other 3.3% (2000)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 28.14 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 46.67 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 66 years

Total fertility rate: 3.71 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 600 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 172

UNICEF:- The country is polio free since 2000. 44% pregnant women received tetanus toxoid immunization. UNICEF’s major focuses in the country include nutrition, childhood development, HIV prevention, children protection, juvenile justice and girls’ education.

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: 0 km.

Highways: total: 19,600 km; paved: 686 km; unpaved: 18,914 km (1996 est.). Waterways: 11,000 km (2006).

Ports and harbors: Kieta, Lae, Madang, Port Moresby, Rabaul.

Airports: 578 (2007).