There was strong pressure among some MPs to defer the national elections for a further six months to one year, although their powers to do that were highly questionable. The low-lying areas north of the central mountain range are clothed with dense rainforests. All the Australasian lands are home to the Antarctic flora, descended from the flora of southern Gondwana, including the coniferous podocarps and Araucaria pines, and the broad-leafed southern beech (Nothofagus). They were implicated in organised crime, drug syndicates, smuggling firearms, stealing fuel, insurance scams, and even misusing police allowances. Around 40,000 expatriates, mostly from Australia and China, were living in Papua New Guinea in 1975. [63] The declaration of Hela and Jiwaka is a result of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG)[64] project in the country that is situated in both provinces.

Native resentment against Chinese ownership of numerous small businesses and their commercial monopoly in the islands led to the rioting. The founders, however, considered that imperial honours had a cachet. On the Sepik river, there is a tradition of wood carving, often in the form of plants or animals, representing ancestor spirits. The nation established independence from Australia on 16 September 1975, becoming a Commonwealth realm, continuing to share Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. [13] There are 851 known languages in the country, of which 11 now have no known speakers. ", "Report claims secret genocide in Indonesia", "West Papua independence petition is rebuffed at UN", "Médecins Sans Frontières opens Papua New Guinea clinic for abuse victims", "Papua New Guinea: a country suffering spiralling violence", "Prevalence of and factors associated with non-partner rape perpetration: findings from the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific", "UNICEF strives to help Papua New Guinea break cycle of violence", "Stop Violence Against Women and Children in Papua New Guinea", PNG repeals sorcery law and expands death penalty, Papua New Guinea's 'Sorcery Refugees': Women Accused of Witchcraft Flee Homes to Escape Violence, "Papua New Guinea police accused of gun running and drug smuggling by own Minister", "Bougainville referendum not binding - PM", "Bougainville independence vote delayed to October", "Bougainville referendum: PNG region votes overwhelmingly for independence", "Agreement between Australia and Indonesia concerning Certain Boundaries between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia (1974) ATS 26", "Treaty between Australia and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea concerning Sovereignty and Maritime Boundaries in the area between the two Countries, including the area known as Torres Strait, and Related Matters [1985] ATS 4", "New and rare species found in remote PNG", "Satellite images show Papua New Guinea deforestation at critical level", Satellite images uncover rapid PNG deforestation, "Major earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea", "State of Emergency declared as PNG earthquake toll rises to 31", "Review of the status of least-developed countries", "Asia-Pacific: PNG, East Timor grew fastest", https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/PNG/WEO, "Voters in Papua New Guinea head to the polls", "Customary Land Tenure in Papua New Guinea: Status and Prospects", "Facilitating Foreign Investment through Property Lease Options", United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, "Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country", https://www.lonelyplanet.com/papua-new-guinea/background/history/a/nar/4b6acae7-2395-42d7-99f4-9f1f8ca24814/362825, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2212.html, "Seven decades after Independence, many small languages in India face extinction threat", "Languages on Papua vanish without a whisper", "The country with the highest level of language diversity: Papua New Guinea – Pangeanic Translations", "The State of the World's Midwifery – Papua New Guinea", "Papua New Guinea – intangible heritage – Culture Sector – UNESCO", "Three dead in PNG after State of Origin violence", "Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Papua-Neuguinea", "Pacific-first centre of excellence for renewable energy and energy efficiency takes shape", Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds, Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), ASEAN–Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, ASEAN–Australia Development Cooperation Program, Outstanding Scientist and Technologist Award, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence, United Liberation Movement for West Papua, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papua_New_Guinea&oldid=980869101, English-speaking countries and territories, Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, States and territories established in 1975, CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia pages move-protected due to vandalism, Articles containing Tok Pisin-language text, Articles containing Hiri Motu-language text, Pages using infobox country or infobox former country with the symbol caption or type parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2019, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from October 2012, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Articles needing additional references from March 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2011, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests, New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests, Southern New Guinea freshwater swamp forests. [74], On 25 February 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 and depth of 35 kilometres struck the middle of Papua New Guinea. One notable feature in common for the two landmasses is the existence of several species of marsupial mammals, including some kangaroos and possums, which are not found elsewhere.

Sometimes an important event, such as a legendary battle, is enacted at such a musical festival. [99] Indigenous languages are classified into two large groups, Austronesian languages and non-Austronesian, or Papuan, languages. Most of these cultural groups have their own language. They misused tens of millions of kina allocated for police housing, resources, and welfare. Largest cities and towns in Papua New Guinea. Since its inception in 2013, the programme has developed a master's programme in renewable energy management at the University of Papua New Guinea and helped to establish a Centre of Renewable Energy at the same university. Learn how to create your own. There are approximately 2,000 Muslims in the country. Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta tried to restore integrity to state institutions, stabilise the kina, restore stability to the national budget, privatise public enterprises where appropriate, and ensure ongoing peace on Bougainville following the 1997 agreement which ended Bougainville's secessionist unrest. Although the constitutionality of the division of the province was disputed for some years, Papua and West Irian Jaya were officially recognized as separate entities by Megawati’s successor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. [71] In the Torres Strait it runs close to the mainland of New Guinea, keeping the adjacent North Western Torres Strait Islands (Dauan, Boigu and Saibai) under Australian sovereignty. Orchids and ferns thrive in the rainforests. Although it lies in the Papua region, Port Moresby has a highly diverse population which primarily uses Tok Pisin, and to a lesser extent English, with Motu spoken as the indigenous language in outlying villages. [22] It is a full member of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum (formerly South Pacific Forum)[23] and the Commonwealth of Nations.[24]. Petroleum is also extracted in the area. Transport in Papua New Guinea is heavily limited by the country's mountainous terrain. Papua New Guinea is surrounded by coral reefs which are under close watch, in the interests of preservation. This was later referred to as "Papua New Guinea". Jacksons International Airport is the major international airport in Papua New Guinea, located 8 kilometres (5 mi) from Port Moresby. [87], The Institute of National Affairs, a PNG independent policy think tank, provides a report on the business and investment environment of Papua New Guinea every five years, based upon a survey of large and small, local and overseas companies, highlighting law and order problems and corruption, as the worst impediments, followed by the poor state of transport, power and communications infrastructure. Local developers are handicapped by years of deficient investment in education, health, ICT and access to finance.
[88], The PNG legislature has enacted laws in which a type of tenure called "customary land title" is recognised, meaning that the traditional lands of the indigenous peoples have some legal basis to inalienable tenure.

In May 2019, O'Neill resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced through a vote of Parliament by James Marape. Opposition to Indonesian rule, led by the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM), erupted almost immediately. to amendment #22)", "Papua New Guinea keen to join ASEAN | The Brunei Times", From Primitive to Postcolonial in Melanesia and Anthropology, New report doubles death toll on Bougainville to 20,000, "Bougainville referendum: region votes overwhelmingly for independence from Papua New Guinea", "Looters shot dead amid chaos of Papua New Guinea's anti-Chinese riots", "Papua New Guinea earthquake: UN pulls out aid workers from violence-hit region", "Papua New Guinea earthquake: anger grows among 'forgotten victims, "Can the next #PNG Government do better on West Papua? Local religions are practiced by some of the Papuan communities. PNG's Real GDP growth rate as at 2011 was 8.9%,"[81] and 9.2% for 2012, according to the Asian Development Bank. [82] As of 2019, PNG's real GDP growth rate has dropped to 3.8%, along with an inflation rate of 4.3%[83]. [116] In a nation where communities are far apart and many people live at a minimal subsistence level, rugby league has been described as a replacement for tribal warfare as a way of explaining the local enthusiasm for the game (a matter of life or death). Nine out of ten were also co-authored by scientists from other countries, mainly Australia, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Spain and Switzerland.

The crisis was tense at times, but largely restricted to the political and legal fraternity, plus some police factions. (There is no recent data for this indicator.

The difference in legal status meant that until 1949, Papua and New Guinea had entirely separate administrations, both controlled by Australia.