Category: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea that is situated in Oceania consists of half of New Guinea and several offshore islands. According to the evidences, the human beings are settled about 50,000 years back. The origin of the ancient people was in Southeast Asia. The country is one among the first landmasses were modern humans settled after Eurasia and Africa. In 1884, Germans took the control of the northern half of the Papua New Guinea which was known as German New Guinea. Australia then took the control of the country during World War I and the Papua New Guinea got independence from Australia in 1975.

The capital of Papua New Guinea is Port Moresby. Papua New Guinea is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy. The head of the state is Queen Elizabeth II and Governor-General represents the Queen. Unlike other Commonwealth nations, selection of Papua New Guinea’s Governors-General is done by legislature. The executive power is vested on the Prime Minister. Economy of the country depends on agriculture as 85 percentage of country’s population earning their livelihood from agriculture. About 72% of the export earnings are from mineral deposits which include copper, gold and oil.

The population of the country is 8.2 million and Papua New Guinea is a culturally diverse country with more than 850 indigenous languages. The two major groups of indigenous languages are Austronesian and Non-Austronesian languages. The official languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu. Hundred of indigenous ethnic groups are there in Papua New Guinea and most of them are called as Papuans. Several remote tribes of Papua have very little contact with outside world. Another major ethnic group is Austronesians and others residing in the country are Europeans, Polynesians, Micronesian, Australians, Chinese and Filipinos. About 96% of the population are Christians and other religious practices are Baha’i’ Faith, Islam and traditional religions like Korowai.

Papua New Guinea has several attractions for tourists such as markets, festivals, culture, surfing, hiking, diving, fishing and sightseeing places. Port Moresby houses Catholic Cathedral, Botanical Gardens and a museum that displays pottery work of all provinces. Lae is a major seaport and commercial center and the botanical gardens located here are the best among the country. Vanimo is a famous surfing destination of the country. Experience the Sepik culture near Sepik River and you can also enjoy the typical carvings of this region. Louisiade Archipelago is a group of beautiful islands famous for yachting and diving.

Madang is a great diving destination and the evening you can find the flights of several bats in this beautiful city. Mount Hagen is a city named after the ancient eroded Mount Hagen volcano. Mount Hagen has cool and Highlands’ weather and culture. Best diving spots of the country are in Tufi, Alotau, Madang, Kavieng, East New Britain/Rabaul and West New Britain/Kimbe Bay. Markets in this country also draw attention of the tourists as they display items of beadworks, traditional carving, both contemporary and traditional painting, serving trays and woven baskets. Some of the popular walking trails are Kokoda Track, Black cat Track and Bulldog Track. Mount Wilhelm is a famous hiking spot.