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Papua New Guinea
AUSTRALASIA & OCEANIA
FACTFILE
OFFICIAL NAME: Independent State of
Papua New Guinea
DATE OF FORMATION: 1975
CAPITAL: Port Moresby
POPULATION: 6.73 million
TOTAL AREA: 178,703 sq. miles
(462,840 sq. km)
DENSITY: 39 people per sq. mile
LANGUAGES: Pidgin English, Papuan, English*,
Motu, c.800 native languages
RELIGIONS: Protestant 60%, Roman
Catholic 37%, other 3%
ETHNIC MIX: Melanesian and mixed 100%
GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary system
CURRENCY: Kina = 100 toea
A former Australian colony, Papua New Guinea (PNG)
occupies the eastern section of the island of New Guinea and
several other island groups. Much of the country is isolated.
GEOGRAPHY
Mountainous and forested
mainland, with broad, swampy river
valleys. 40 active volcanoes in the north.
Around 600 outer islands.
CLIMATE
Hot and humid in lowlands, cooling
toward highlands, where snow can fall on
highest peaks.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY
Around 800 language groups and
even more tribes. The main social
distinction is between lowlanders, who
have frequent contact with the outside
world, and the very isolated, but
increasingly threatened, highlanders.
Great tensions exist between highland
tribes, and vendettas can often last
several generations. The island of
Bougainville has been granted autonomy
and promised an eventual referendum
on independence.
THE ECONOMY
Minerals: significant quantities of
gold, copper, oil, and natural gas. High
government spending almost led to
national bankruptcy in 2002.
INSIGHT: PNG is home to the only
known poisonous birds; contact with
the feathers of some species of pitohui
produces skin blisters
3000m/9843ft
2000m/6562ft
1000m/3281ft
500m/1640ft
200m/656ft
Sea Level200 km200 miles00INDONESIASolomon
SeaBismarck
SeaCoral SeaPACIFIC OCEANNew BritainNew GuineaNew IrelandAdmiralty Is.Kiriwina Is.Bougainville I.Louisiade
ArchipelagoBism
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Ra
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Rabaul
Madang
Wewak
Lorengau
Popondetta
Mount
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Aitape
Kieta
PORT
MORESBY