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Infoplease has everything you need to know about Fiji. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Fiji's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

Facts & Figures

President: Ratu Wiliame Katonivere (2021)

Prime Minister: Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama (2014)

Total area: 7,054 sq mi (18,270 sq km)

Population (2022 est.): 943,737 (growth rate: .44%); birth rate: 16.56/1000; infant mortality rate: 10.06/1000; life expectancy: 74.27

Capital and largest city (2018 est.): Suva (on Viti Levu), 178,000

Monetary unit: Fiji dollar
Current government officials
Languages: English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani

Ethnicity/race: iTaukei 56.8% (predominantly Melanesian with a Polynesian admixture), Indian 37.5%, Rotuman 1.2%, other 4.5% (European, part European, other Pacific Islanders, Chinese)
note: a 2010 law replaces 'Fijian' with 'iTuakei' when referring to the original and native settlers of Fiji (2007 est.)

Religions: Protestant 45% (Methodist 34.6%, Assembly of God 5.7%, Seventh Day Adventist 3.9%, and Anglican 0.8%), Hindu 27.9%, other Christian 10.4%, Roman Catholic 9.1%, Muslim 6.3%, Sikh 0.3%, other 0.3%, none 0.8% (2007 est.)

National Holiday: Independence Day, 2nd Monday of October

Literacy rate: 99.1% (2018 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2020 est.): $9.86 billion; per capita $11,000. Real growth rate: 3%. Inflation: 3.4%. Unemployment: 4.5%. Arable land: 9%. Agriculture: sugarcane, coconuts, cassava (tapioca), rice, sweet potatoes, bananas; cattle, pigs, horses, goats; fish. Labor force: 353,100; agriculture 44.2%, industry 14.3%, services 41.6%. Industries: tourism, sugar, clothing, copra, gold, silver, lumber, small cottage industries. Natural resources: timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential, hydropower. Exports: $1.23 billion (2020): sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish, molasses, coconut oil. Major trading partners (exports): United States 29%, Australia 14%, New Zealand 7%, Japan 6%, Tonga 6% (2019). Imports: $1.97 billion (2020): manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, food, chemicals. Major trading partners (imports): Singapore 18%, Australia 13%, China 13.8%, New Zealand 11%, France 11%, South Korea 8% (2017).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 48,51 (2020); mobile cellular: 991,500. Broadcast media: Fiji TV, a publicly traded company, operates a free-to-air channel as well as Sky Fiji and Sky Pacific multi-channel pay-TV services; state-owned commercial company, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Ltd, operates 6 radio stations - 2 public broadcasters and 4 commercial broadcasters with multiple repeaters; 5 radio stations with repeaters operated by Communications Fiji, Ltd; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2020). Internet hosts: 21,739 (2012). Internet users: 444,978 (2019).

Transportation: Railways: total: 597 km; note: belongs to the government-owned Fiji Sugar (2008). Highways: total: 3,440 km; paved: 1,692 km; unpaved: 1,748 km (2011 est.). Waterways: 203 km; 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges (2012). Ports and harbors: Lambasa, Lautoka, Suva. Airports: 28 (2021).

International disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions

Infoplease has everything you need to know about Fiji. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Fiji's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

Facts & Figures

President: Ratu Wiliame Katonivere (2021)

Prime Minister: Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama (2014)

Total area: 7,054 sq mi (18,270 sq km)

Population (2022 est.): 943,737 (growth rate: .44%); birth rate: 16.56/1000; infant mortality rate: 10.06/1000; life expectancy: 74.27

Capital and largest city (2018 est.): Suva (on Viti Levu), 178,000

Monetary unit: Fiji dollar
Current government officials
Languages: English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani

Ethnicity/race: iTaukei 56.8% (predominantly Melanesian with a Polynesian admixture), Indian 37.5%, Rotuman 1.2%, other 4.5% (European, part European, other Pacific Islanders, Chinese)
note: a 2010 law replaces 'Fijian' with 'iTuakei' when referring to the original and native settlers of Fiji (2007 est.)

Religions: Protestant 45% (Methodist 34.6%, Assembly of God 5.7%, Seventh Day Adventist 3.9%, and Anglican 0.8%), Hindu 27.9%, other Christian 10.4%, Roman Catholic 9.1%, Muslim 6.3%, Sikh 0.3%, other 0.3%, none 0.8% (2007 est.)

National Holiday: Independence Day, 2nd Monday of October

Literacy rate: 99.1% (2018 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2020 est.): $9.86 billion; per capita $11,000. Real growth rate: 3%. Inflation: 3.4%. Unemployment: 4.5%. Arable land: 9%. Agriculture: sugarcane, coconuts, cassava (tapioca), rice, sweet potatoes, bananas; cattle, pigs, horses, goats; fish. Labor force: 353,100; agriculture 44.2%, industry 14.3%, services 41.6%. Industries: tourism, sugar, clothing, copra, gold, silver, lumber, small cottage industries. Natural resources: timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential, hydropower. Exports: $1.23 billion (2020): sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish, molasses, coconut oil. Major trading partners (exports): United States 29%, Australia 14%, New Zealand 7%, Japan 6%, Tonga 6% (2019). Imports: $1.97 billion (2020): manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, food, chemicals. Major trading partners (imports): Singapore 18%, Australia 13%, China 13.8%, New Zealand 11%, France 11%, South Korea 8% (2017).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 48,51 (2020); mobile cellular: 991,500. Broadcast media: Fiji TV, a publicly traded company, operates a free-to-air channel as well as Sky Fiji and Sky Pacific multi-channel pay-TV services; state-owned commercial company, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Ltd, operates 6 radio stations - 2 public broadcasters and 4 commercial broadcasters with multiple repeaters; 5 radio stations with repeaters operated by Communications Fiji, Ltd; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2020). Internet hosts: 21,739 (2012). Internet users: 444,978 (2019).

Transportation: Railways: total: 597 km; note: belongs to the government-owned Fiji Sugar (2008). Highways: total: 3,440 km; paved: 1,692 km; unpaved: 1,748 km (2011 est.). Waterways: 203 km; 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges (2012). Ports and harbors: Lambasa, Lautoka, Suva. Airports: 28 (2021).

International disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions

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Infoplease has everything you need to know about Fiji. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Fiji's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

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Where is Fiji ?

Fiji is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean. Its closet neighbors are Vanuatu to the west, France's New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas, France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north. It has been inhabited since second millennium BC. The main island of the republic is named Viti Levu. The estimated population of the country is 849,000; the total area is 7,056 square miles.

What is the capital of Fiji?

Suva is the capital of Fiji and is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu. Almost half of the population resides in Suva. It has an area of 790.5 square miles and an estimated population of 85,691.

What is the currency of Fiji?

The Fijian dollar is the currency of Fiji. Its ISO 4217 code is FJD. In 1969 Fijian pound was replaced by the Fijian dollar at the rate of 1 pound = 2 dollars.

Which is the largest city of Fiji?

Suva is the largest city of Fiji. It is Fiji's political and administrative capital, with most banks having their Pacific headquarters here. The most notable landmark of the capital is the Suva City Library, built in 1909. Fiji Museum is another famous landmark. It was founded in 1904 and was shifted to its present location in 1954. The museum has the most expensive collection of Fijian artifacts in the world.

What is the official language of Fiji?

The 1997, the constitution established Fijian as an official language, although it is not the "national language" of the country. Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family. Hindustani and English are the two other official languages.

What is the religion of Fiji?

Majority of the population in Fiji is Christian. Christians constitute about 64.5% of the population. The largest Christian denomination is the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. 27.9% of the population is Hindu. They belong mostly to the Sanatan sect. Muslim, Sikh constitute less than 10% of the population.

What is the literacy rate of Fiji?

Fiji has a high literacy rate of 93%. Education is compulsory and free till the age of 16.

Who is the political leader of Fiji?

Since independence, Fiji has seen four major coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006. The twin-coups of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra. The first coup took place on May 14, 1987 and the second coup on September 28. The second coup ended the Fijian monarchy and was soon followed by the proclamation of the republic. Both the coups were led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka. The coup of 2000 overthrew the elected government. The then Prime Minister Chaudhry and other members of the parliament were taken hostage by gunmen. The 2006 coup occurred partly because of the continuation of the pressure building since the unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup. No significant violence or protest occurred during this coup. Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Nailatikau is the current president of Fiji. Commodore Josaia Voreque Bainimarama is the acting prime minister of Fiji.

When is the National Day of Fiji celebrated?

The National Day of Fiji is celebrated on October 10, 1970. The British granted Fiji independence on this day. The democratic process was interrupted by two coups in 1987. The second coup ended the Fijian monarchy and it became a republic on September 28, 1987.

What is the economy of Fiji like?

Fiji experienced a period of rapid growth in 1960s and 1970s, but stagnated in the 1980s. Urbanization and expansion in service sector have contributed to the GDP growth. Sugar export and the tourism industry are major sources of foreign exchange. The estimated GDP of the country is 3.131 billion dollars.

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Where is Fiji ? Fiji is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean. Its closet neighbors are Vanuatu to the west, France's New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas, France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north.

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In the South Pacific, you'll find the Fiji Islands - a group of 333 islands covered with beautiful beaches and rain forests. Great Britain ruled the islands for almost 100 years, but Fiji gained its independence in 1970.

During Great Britain's rule, many people came from India to work in sugar plantations. Today, most of the people living in the Fiji Islands are native Fiji or Indian.

Fun Facts about Fiji Islands for Kids

912,241 people live on the Fiji Islands (data August 2018).

Fiji's islands include 7,095 square miles of land.

The official languages of Fiji Islands include English, Fijian and Hindustani.

Most people's religions are Christian, Hindu or Muslim.

People in Fiji can expect to live 69.9 years.

94 percent of adults can read.

Fijian Dollar is the currency used here.

Suva is the capital of Fiji.

Fiji was built up as volcanic islands thousands of years ago, no eruptions have taken place for several hundred years.

There is over 6,000 square miles of coral reef of the Fijian coast and it is considered the most beautiful reef in the world.

Fiji is home to over 100 bird species, 30 species of reptiles including snakes, iguanas and frogs. You will also see a lot of mongoose around the islands.

Off the coast you can find - sharks, turtles, whales, dolphins and any amount of tropical fish.

Rugby is played throughout the islands.

Fiji Islands Vocabulary

All About The Fiji Islands Video for Kids

Here's the best kids Fiji Islands video you can watch right now to learn more about the Fiji Islands:

Fiji Islands Q&A

Question: Do people live on all 333 islands?

Answer: People occupy only 100 of the islands. The remaining islands are nature preserves.

Map of Fiji Islands

Here's a map of the country of Fiji and all its cities and villages. Zoom in to get into street level or zoom out to see other countries around Fiji! You can see the terrain, but also see the roads, images of the buildings and even take a 3D tour through the streets of the cities of Fiji, as though you are actually there!

Enjoyed the Geography for Kids all about Fiji Islands info? Take the FREE & fun all about Fiji Islands quiz and download FREE all about Fiji Islands worksheet for kids. For lengthy info click here.

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In the South Pacific, you'll find the Fiji Islands - a group of 333 islands covered with beautiful beaches and rain forests. Great Britain ruled the islands for almost 100 years, but Fiji gained its independence in 1970. During Great Britain's rule, many people came from India to work in sugar plantations.

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Fun Fiji Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about Fiji

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Fiji is officially called the Republic of Fiji.

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The Solomon Islands, a collection of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean, is the place offering a variety of opportunities for those who are keen on diving. Many divers from all over the world visit the islands regularly in order to dive underwater and see spectacular views of reefs as well as underwater species in their natural habitat. Due to the big number of diving sites the depth of which vary, all divers are recommended to define the goal of their diving before taking action.

Besides, the islands are also popular among tourists who prefer to spend their holidays lying on a beach, swimming and enjoying wild tropical views. Even though the Solomon Islands stand out as one of the most exotic travel destinations in the world, white beaches and great views are not all that the islands have to entertain visitors. Today, we want to tell our readers a bunch of interesting facts from the culture and history of the islands. Let's see what these facts are...

The Solomon Islands: 8 interesting facts about one of the biggest island countries in the world

1. The Solomon Islands is the place consisting of many islands

2. The islands were discovered in the 16th century

3. The country is multilingual

A fun fact about Solomon Islands is that there are around 74 languages that can be heard on the islands daily. The majority of these languages have been influenced by a variety of the languages spoken in the neighboring countries and native languages of the people living on the islands.

4. The islanders do not have such notions as "breakfast", "lunch" and "dinner"

The diet of an average islander living in rural areas involves yams, taros, seashells, fish, greens and snails. Since the meals are not divided and identified as "breakfast", "lunch" or "dinner", people simply eat what they have at the times when they are hungry. Surprisingly, the meals are not spicy and may be served with a glass of coconut milk. The harvesting season brings changes to the diet of the natives adding nuts as one of the possible meals.

5. The country's natives place value on the habit of gathering together

Nowadays, the tradition of a family gathering together around a table to eat is becoming more and more popular. In the majority of cases, eating meals together is one of the few opportunities for relatives to talk with each other and discuss the news of a day.

The meals of families with a limited budget are different from the meals served at the houses of affluent families. While well-off people can afford tea, coffee, bread and biscuits, members of poor families often have to eat leftovers from previous meals and drink tea.

6. The Solomon Islands' natives have a habit of preparing lots of meals for the celebration of special occasions

The time before a special occasion is used for preparation that takes lots of efforts. One of the most common meals served to guests are dishes where baked pig is the main ingredient, yam, a special pudding and roasted fish. Those who have a big sum of money to spend on preparations order or cook meals with cow meat.

Truth be told, the islanders do not drink alcohol or cocktails containing alcohol. Water is considered to be the main drink, even on special occasions. In some cases, hosts order green coconut drinks to be served after the main course.

7. The islanders had a number of unique wedding traditions

Since in the past natives believed that two people fell in love with each other while living together as a married couple, it was common for marriages to be arranged. As a rule, marriages outside of a clan were the norm, but exceptions were made sometimes. There also existed the tradition of the so-called "bride gift" that was given to compensate "the loss" of a family member.

Many of the traditions of the past do not exist in the realities of the present. Most often, people chose their spouses independently, but with the blessing of their families. The couples that live together without being officially married are regarded with a disapproving eye.

8. The country's standards of maturity and adulthood are not age-based

Regardless of age, a boy is viewed as an adult if he is able to build a house (or canoe) and make a garden, an interesting Solomon Islands fact. As for girls, they are seen as adults if they're able to look after their family members, fetch water and take responsibility for growing a garden of different vegetables and fruits.

Conclusion

Even though being regarded as the place where one can spend an unforgettable vacation, the Solomon Islands often suffer from natural disasters like tsunami, floods and earthquakes. One of the worst floods was that caused by the tropical cyclone in April 2014. If you decide to visit the Solomon Islands, chose the season carefully.

I hope that this article on Solomon Islands facts was helpful. If you are interested, visit the Country Facts Page!

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8 Interesting Facts about Solomon Islands - FactsKing.com

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The Solomon Islands, a collection of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean, is the place offering a variety of opportunities for those who are keen on diving. Many divers from all over the world visit the islands regularly in order to dive underwater and see spectacular views of reefs as well as underwater species in their natural habitat.

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The Solomon Islands consist of around nine hundred islands.

Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomon Islands.

Other important islands include Choiseul, San Cristobal, Santa Isabel, Malaita and New Georgia.

Mount Makarakomburu, on Guadalcanal, is the highest point (2,447 m) in the Solomon Islands.

Kavachi, in the Solomon Islands, is an active underwater volcano.

The Marovo Lagoon, New Georgia, is the world's largest salt water lagoon.

East Rennell is the largest raised coral atoll in the world.

Lake Tegano, a former lagoon, on Rennell, is the largest lake (15,500 hectares) in the South Pacific.

The Arnavon Islands provide an important nesting area for endangered Hawksbill Turtles.

Evidence of early human occupation, dating back to 26000 BC, has been found on the Solomon Islands.

Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra, the Spanish explorer, was the first European to visit the Solomon Islands.

Mendana (1541-1596), the nephew of the Governor of Peru, named the Solomon Islands after King Solomon. He thought the islands were the location of King Solomon's mines as legends told of Incas visiting the islands and returning with gold and silver.

From 1899 until 1976 the United Kingdom governed the Solomon Islands, apart from the war years of 1942 to 1945 when the Japanese occupied the islands.

The Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-3) saw some of the fiercest fighting of World War Two. Many ships were sunk in the sea off Honiara.

The Solomon Islands became an independent country on 7 July 1978.

The Solomon Islands is a member of the Commonwealth.

The monarch of the UK became the Chief of State of the Solomon Islands in 1952 and is represented by a Governor General.

The Melanesian countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands belong to the Melanesian Spearhead Group, a Free Trade Area Agreement.

The Solomon Islands is a member of the University of the South Pacific in Suva (Fiji). Other members are the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Cyclone Zoe devastated the land and destroyed many buildings on the islands of Tikopia and Anuta in December 2002.

In July 2003 civil unrest led to the deployment of Australian-led peacekeeping forces on the Solomon Islands.

A tsunami in April 2007 left thousands homeless in the Solomon Islands. Over thirty people lost their lives.

A national disaster was declared in February 2009 after heavy rain and flooding on Guadalcanal island.

In January 2010 around one thousand were left homeless after landslides. These were caused by a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in the Solomon Islands.

In February 2013 an earthquake caused a tsunami that took the lives of at least nine people.

Over twenty people died in April 2014 when tropical cyclone Ita caused some of the worst flash flooding in the history of the Solomon Islands.

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The Solomon Islands consist of around nine hundred islands. Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomon Islands. Other important islands include Choiseul, San Cristobal, Santa Isabel, Malaita and New Georgia. Mount Makarakomburu, on Guadalcanal, is the highest point (2,447 m) in the Solomon Islands. Kavachi, in the Solomon Islands, is an active underwater volcano.

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The short stories of American writer O. Henry, born this day in 1862, romanticized the commonplace-in particular the life of ordinary people in New York City. His tales often had surprise endings.

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The short stories of American writer O. Henry, born this day in 1862, romanticized the commonplace-in particular the life of ordinary people in New York City. His tales often had surprise endings.

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SOLOMON ISLANDS LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT [1] TOPOGRAPHY [2] CLIMATE [3] FLORA AND FAUNA [4] ENVIRONMENT [5] POPULATION [6] MIGRATION [7] ETHNIC GROUPS [8] LANGUAGES [9] RELIGIONS [10] TRANSPORTATION [11] HISTORY [12] GOVERNMENT [13] POLITICAL PARTIES [14] LOCAL GOVERNMENT [15] JUDICIAL SYSTEM [16

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National Geographic | Disney Australia & New Zealand - Disney Australia

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National Geographic invites you to live curious through movies that will inspire you to find out more about the people, places and events of our world.

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Infoplease has everything you need to know about Solomon Islands. Check out our countryprofile, full of essential information about Solomon Islands'sgeography, history,government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

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Kids learn about the Geography of Solomon Islands. The history, capital, flag, climate, terrain, people, economy, and population.

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Geographically, Papua New Guinea is considered one of the last strongholds of virginal rainforests in the world. Culturally, it is one of the least explored, even if they are now part of the Commonwealth. The myths of old tribal traditions mixed with the promise of undiscovered territories lure many global explorers and adventurers to this part of the world.

Papua New Guinea Facts

1. It is home to the world's most number of spoken languages estimated to over 850

2. Papua New Guinea has only one-fifth of the population living in urban areas

3. It is a tropical region but has snowfall

4. The world's only poisonous bird, the Pitohui, resides in Papua New Guinea

5. The country features almost 600 airstrips

6. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State of Papua New Guinea.

7. Seashells were once its form of currency and some locals still use it as money

Before 1933, the people of Papua New Guinea regard the shells as means to trade goods and services. The shells will undergo a tedious process of drying and sterilizing before they are hanged in strings. It is an interesting fact about Papua New Guinea that even up to this day when cryptocurrency is fast becoming a trend, some locals particularly that of the indigenous Tolai tribe are still using them to buy goods in their community. Shell money is deeply rooted to their culture such as buying a bride, mourning ceremonies, inheritance gifts, or even settling disputes.

8. Papua New Guinea has the world's largest butterfly

9. Endangered Tree Kangaroos can be found in its tropical rainforest

Largely untouched tropical woods are home to endangered species such as the tree kangaroos. Papua New Guinea's undisturbed rainforest is the perfect habitat for them. An interesting Papua New Guinea fact is that six out of ten species can be found there. They are similar to regular kangaroos except that they also look like lemurs. They have shorter legs and sturdy forelimbs that they can use for climbing.

10. In the past, cannibalism was rampant in remote areas of Papua New Guinea

11. PNG has one of the best diving sites the Coral Triangle has to offer

Many parts of Papua New Guinea are still untouched by modernization. A fascinating experience awaits adventurers here in the 54th largest country in the world that has just a little bit over 7 million residents. Scientific and religious missionary expeditions each year have revealed evidences that Earth has still many secrets waiting to be discovered even in this millennial age.

I hope that this article on Papua New Guinea facts was helpful. If you are interested, visit the Country Facts Page!

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11 Interesting Facts about Papua New Guinea - FactsKing.com

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Geographically, Papua New Guinea is considered one of the last strongholds of virginal rainforests in the world. Culturally, it is one of the least explored, even if they are now part of the Commonwealth. The myths of old tribal traditions mixed with the promise of undiscovered territories lure many global explorers and adventurers to this part of the world.

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Independent State of Papua New Guinea

ANTHEM: O, Arise All You Sons.

MONETARY UNIT: The kina (k) of 100 toea is linked with the Australian dollar. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 toea and 1 kina, and notes of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 kina. k1=us$0.32468 (or us$1=k3.08) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Queen's Birthday, 1st Monday in June; Remembrance Day, 23 July; Independence Day, 16 September; Christmas, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Easter Monday.

TIME: 10 pm=noon GMT.

Situated to the north of Australia, Papua New Guinea has a total land area of 462,840 sq km (178,704 sq mi), including the large islands of New Britain, New Ireland, and Bougainville and hundreds of smaller islands. Comparatively, the area occupied by PNG is slightly larger than the state of California. The country extends 2,082 km (1,294 mi) nne-ssw and 1,156 km (718 mi) ese-wnw. Mainland Papua New Guinea shares the island of New Guinea, the second-largest island in the world, with Irian Jaya, a province of Indonesia. To the n is the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; to the e, the Solomon Islands; to the w, Irian Jaya; and about 160 km (100 mi) to the s, the nearest neighbor, Australia. Papua New Guinea has a total boundary length of 5,972 km (3,711 mi), of which 5,152 km (3,201 mi) is coastline.

Papa New Guinea's capital city, Port Moresby, is located on the country's southern coast.

Papua New Guinea is situated between the stable continental mass of Australia and the deep ocean basin of the Pacific. The largest section is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, which is dominated by a massive central cordillera, or system of mountain ranges, extending from Indonesia's Irian Jaya to East Cape in Papua New Guinea at the termination of the Owen Stanley Range, and including the nation's highest peak, Mt. Wilhelm (4,509 m/14,793 ft). A second mountain chain fringes the north coast and runs parallel to the central cordillera. In the lowlands are many swamps and floodplains. Important rivers are the Sepik, flowing about 1,130 km (700 mi) to the north coast, and the Fly, which is navigable for 800 km (500 mi) in the southwest. The Bougainville-New Ireland area comprises Bougainville and Buka islands, the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, New Ireland, New Hanover, the St. Matthias group, and the Admiralty Islands.

The smaller islands of Papua New Guinea are also areas of extreme topographic contrast and generally feature mountain ranges rising directly from the sea or from narrow coastal plains. Volcanic landforms dominate the northern part of New Britain and Bougainville, and some of the smaller islands are extremely volcanic. An eruption in September 1994 of two volcanoes caused the destruction of half of the town of Rabaul on New Britain Island. The country also experiences periodic high-magnitude earthquakes. On 16 November 2000, the New Ireland region experienced a quake that hit 8.0 on the Richter scale. It was recorded as the largest earthquake of the year worldwide, but fatalities were limited to two people. On 11 March 2003, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the same region, and on 9 September 2005, a 7.7 magnitude quake occurred; both quakes caused some damage but no reported deaths.

The climate of Papua New Guinea is chiefly influenced by altitude and by the monsoons. The northwest or wet monsoon prevails from December to March, and the southeast or dry trade winds from May to October. Annual rainfall varies widely with the monsoon pattern, ranging from as little as 127 cm (50 in) at Port Moresby to an average of 584 cm (230 in) in the western river basin. Most of the lowland and island areas have daily mean temperatures of about 27°c (81°f), while in the highlands temperatures may fall to 4°c (39°f) at night and rise to 32°c (90°f) in the day-time. Relative humidity is uniformly high in the lowlands at about 80% and averages between 65 and 80% in the highlands.

The flora of Papua New Guinea is rich and varied, with habitats ranging from tidal swamps at sea level to alpine conditions. In low-lying coastal areas, various species of mangroves form the main vegetation, together with the beautiful casuarina, sago, and palm. Most of the country is covered by tropical and savanna rain forest, in which valuable trees such as kwila and cedar are found. Orchids, lilies, ferns, and creepers abound in the rain forests. There are large stands of pine at elevations of 910-1,220 m (3,000-4,000 ft). At the highest altitudes, mosses, lichens, and other alpine flora prevail. There are over 11,500 species of plant throughout the country.

Papua New Guinea supports a great diversity of bird life. About 400 species have been recognized. Papua New Guinea is the major center for a number of bird families, particularly the bird of paradise, bower bird, cassowary, kingfisher, and parrot. There are about 214 species of mammals, many nocturnal, of which rodent and marsupial orders predominate. Butterflies of Papua New Guinea are world famous for their size and vivid coloring.

Papua New Guinea's environmental concern includes pollution, global warming, and the loss of the nation's forests. Coastal waters are polluted with sewage and residue from oil spills. The nation has 801 cu km of renewable water resources, of which 49% of the annual withdrawal is used to support farming and 22% for industrial activity. Only 88% of the nation's city dwellers and 32% of the rural population have access to improved water sources. Another significant source of pollution is open-pit mining. The country's cities have produced an average of 0.1 million tons of solid waste per year. Global warming and the resulting rise in sea level are a threat to Papua New Guinea's coastal vegetation and water supply.

The Department of Physical Planning and Environment is responsible for integrating environmental planning and conserving natural resources. In 2003, only about 2.3% of the total land area was protected. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 58 types of mammals, 33 species of birds, 9 types of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians, 31 species of fish, 2 types of mollusks, 10 species of other invertebrates, and 142 species of plants. Threatened species in Papua New Guinea included four species of turtle (green sea, hawksbill, olive ridley, and leatherback) and Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly.

The population of Papua New Guinea in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 5,887,000, which placed it at number 103 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 2% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 40% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 106 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005-10 was expected to be 2.1%, a rate the government viewed as too high, although the fertility rate declined from 5.1 births per woman in 1990 to 4.4 births per woman in 2005. The projected population for the year 2025 was 8,205,000. The population density was 13 per sq km (33 per sq mi), with major concentrations of population in the high-lands and eastern coastal areas of the island of New Guinea.

The UN estimated that 13% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 2.56%. The capital city, Port Moresby, had a population of 275,000 in that year. Other large cities and their estimated populations include Lae, 120,000; Madang, 35,300; Wewak, 25,143; Goroka, 25,000; and Rabaul, on New Britain, 17,855.

The numbers of emigrants and immigrants have been roughly equal. In the 1980s, many came as refugees from Irian Jaya. In 1993, some 3,750 such immigrants were living in a camp in Western Province, while another 6,000 or so had land or kinship ties with Papuan New Guineans and were living near the border. In earlier years, emigration of nonindigenous residents may have been influenced by constitutional provisions that restricted eligibility for naturalization to those with eight years' residency, but limited their tax and business rights to the same status as those of aliens. Many rural dwellers migrated to Port Moresby and other urban centers during the 1970s and 1980s. The number of migrants in 2000 totaled 23,000, including 5,900 refugees. By the end of 2004, there were 7,627 refugees (all of whom were Indonesians), 198 asylum seekers, and 135 others of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

From 1999-2005, the net migration rate was zero. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory. In 2002 residents of Papua New Guinea received $65 million in remittances.

Papua New Guinea has more than 1,000 different ethnic groups. Indigenous Papua New Guineans vary considerably in ethnic origins, physical appearance, and spoken languages. The indigenous people are Melanesians. They are usually classified by language group, with Papuans representing the descendants of the original Australoid migration and Austronesian speakers descended from later migrants. The former are generally found in the highlands and the latter in coastal areas and on the islands other than New Guinea. Other groups with significant populations include Negritos, Micronesians, and Polynesians.

Under the Australian administration of the former Territory of Papua and New Guinea, English became the official language; however, it is only spoken by 1-2% of the population. More widely spoken, there are now two other official languages: Pidgin, a Melanesian lingua franca with roots primarily in English and German, and Hiri Motu, another lingua franca of Papuan derivation. In all, there are more than 700 indigenous languages, most of them spoken by a few hundred to a few thousand people.

Indigenous religions, varying widely in ritual and belief, remain important in tribal societies in Papua New Guinea, with about 34% of the population practicing some form of traditional belief either exclusively or in conjunction with another faith. However, most of the population is nominally Christian. Of these, about 22% are Roman Catholics; 16% are Lutheran; another 8% are Presbyterian, Methodist, or of the London Missionary Society; 5% are Anglican; 4% from the Evangelical Alliance; and 1% Seventh-Day Adventist. Other Protestant sects account for 10% of the population. There are about 40,000 Baha'is and less than 2,000 Muslims. Certain Christian holidays are recognized as national holidays. There is a Council of Churches that serves to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding; members are primarily Christians.

Transportation is a major problem in Papua New Guinea because of the difficult terrain. Major population centers are linked chiefly by air and sea, although road construction has increased to supplement these expensive means of transport. Of some 19,600 km (12,179 mi) of roads in 2002, only 686 km (426 mi) were paved. In 2003, there were 34,468 passenger vehicles and 89,215 commercial vehicles. Papua New Guinea has no railroads. However, there are 10,940 km (6,798 mi) of waterways.

The government operates a fleet of coastal work boats, none more than 9 m (30 ft) long. The principal harbors are Madang, Port Moresby, Lae, and Rabaul. There are international shipping services by refrigerated container ships, other cargo vessels, and some passenger service to Australia, Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries, the US west coast, and Europe. The main shipping lines are government owned. In 2005, the merchant fleet was comprised of 22 ships of 1,000 GRT or more, totaling 47,586 GRT.

Papua New Guinea had an estimated 571 airports in 2004. As of 2005 only 21 were principal airports with paved runways, and there were 2 heliports. Papua New Guinea's national air carrier, Air Niugini, established in 1973, has undertaken most of the services previously provided by Australian lines. In 2003, about 691,000 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international flights.

Papua New Guinea appears to have been settled by 14,000 bc, with migrations first of hunters and later of agriculturists probably coming from the Asian mainland by way of Indonesia. Early communities had little contact with each other because of rough terrain and so maintained their autonomy, as well as their distinct languages and customs.

New Guinea was first sighted by Spanish and Portuguese sailors in the early 16th century and was known prophetically as Isla del Oro (Island of Gold). The western part of the island was claimed by Spain in 1545 and named New Guinea for a fancied resemblance of the people to those on the West African coast. ("Papua" is a Malay word for the typically frizzled quality of Melanesian hair.) Traders began to appear in the islands in the 1850s, and the Germans sought coconut oil available in northern New Guinea about that time. The Dutch and the British had earlier agreed on a division of their interests in the island, and from 1828, the Dutch began to colonize the western portion.

Although the British flag was hoisted on various parts of eastern New Guinea, the British government did not ratify annexation. Some Australian colonists were eager to see New Guinea become a British possession, for trade, labor, gold mining, and missionary reasons. However, it was not until 1884, after an abortive Australian annexation attempt and under fear of German ambitions in the area, that Britain established a protectorate over the southern coast of New Guinea and adjacent islands. The Germans followed by laying claim to three different parts of northern New Guinea. British and German spheres of influence were delineated by the Anglo-German Agreement of 1885. Germany took control of the northeastern portion of the island, as well as New Britain, New Ireland, and Bougainville, while Britain took possession of the southern portion and the adjacent islands.

British New Guinea passed to Australian control in 1902 and was renamed the Territory of Papua in 1906. German New Guinea remained intact until the outbreak of war in 1914, when Australian forces seized it. Although the territories retained their separate identities and status, they were administered jointly by Australia from headquarters at Port Moresby. In 1921, the former German New Guinea was placed under a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia; in 1947, it became the Trust Territory of New Guinea, still administered by Australia but now subject to the surveillance of the UN Trusteeship Council.

Both territories were merged into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949. A Legislative Council, established in 1953, was replaced by the House of Assembly in 1964. Eight years later, the territory was renamed Papua New Guinea, and on 1 December 1973, it was granted self-government. Separatist movements in Papua in 1973 and secessionist activities on the island of Bougainville in 1975 flared briefly and then subsided, though debates over citizenship and land-reform provisions were vigorous until the passage of a constitution in 1975. Papua New Guinea achieved complete independence on 16 September 1975, with Michael Somare as prime minister of a coalition government.

Somare was voted out of office in 1980 but reelected in 1982; subsequently, he put through a constitutional change giving the central government increased authority over the provincial governments. In November 1985, Somare was again voted out of office on a no confidence motion, and replaced by his previous deputy, Paias Wingti. Elections in mid-1987 returned Wingti to office at the head of a shaky five-party coalition, but his government was defeated in a no confidence vote in July 1988, and a coalition government led by Rabbie Namaliu replaced the PDM government.

A secessionist crisis on Bougainville dominated domestic politics during 1990-91. The Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) declared the island of Bougainville to be independent from Papua New Guinea in May 1990, and in response government forces landed on the north of Bougainville in April 1991. Paias Wingti, the leader of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), was reelected prime minister in July 1992 as the leader of a new coalition government with the support of the People's Progress Party, and the League for National Advancement. During 1993 the government continued to extend its control over Bougainville, partly because of popular revulsion against human rights violations by members of the BRA. In September 1994, rebel troops withdrew to the surrounding hills of the Bougainville copper mine allowing government forces to reclaim it. In 1995, the prime minister halted cease-fire talks.

Julius Chan was elected prime minister on 30 August 1994, but stepped aside pending a judicial inquiry into his hiring a group of mercenaries to put down the rebellion in Bougainville. In 1997, reformist premier Bill Skate, governor of Port Moresby, was elected by members of PNG's 109-seat parliament, defeating Michael Somare. Skate represented Julius Chan who lost his seat in the elections but who supported Skate's selection as premier.

Resolution to the Bougainville problem remained elusive until the government of Bill Skate reached a truce with the rebels in 1998. In April 1998, a permanent cease-fire agreement was signed and the reconstruction of war-torn Bougainville commenced. Up to 20,000 people had been killed during nine years of conflict. In 1999, the rebel leaders and the PNG government signed an agreement known as the Matakana and Okataina Understanding which established an agreement to continue discussions about the island's political future. In August 2001, the Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed, which would provide for an autonomous Bougainville government and secure a plan of disarmament. A referendum on independence would be conducted in 10 to 15 years' time.

Former Prime Minister Michael Somare became prime minister once again on 5 August 2002 when his National Alliance won the parliamentary elections in June that year. The elections were marked by violence and widespread irregularities, including vote-rigging. Somare was elected unopposed by a vote of 88 to 0, with members from Morauta's People's Democratic Movement and a section of the PANGU Party abstaining. Somare immediately set out to halt Morauta's privatization program, stating that the government would need more time to assess state assets. Somare headed a coalition of 13 parties and 20 independent members of parliament. He named a 28-member cabinet, including 19 new members of parliament.

In 2003, the PNG government formally began planning for setting up an autonomous government in Bougainville, with a multinational team in place to monitor the effort. In December 2004, the cabinet gave formal approval to a draft constitution granting the province of Bougainville free elections and an autonomous government. The cabinet also requested the United Nations Security Council to keep its mission in place in Bougainville 6-12 months to oversee elections. In May 2005, elections took place, with 293 candidates competing for 40 assembly seats. One month later, Bougainville elected Joseph Kabui president. Kabui named a caretaker cabinet comprising 10 members, with 8 of the ministries going to members of the ruling Bougainville People's Congress Party.

Following the deadly tsunamis of December 2004, in 2005 the Japanese Meteorological Agency was to begin providing PNG and 5 other western Pacific nations alerts of any tsunamis following earthquakes of 6.5 or greater on the Richter scale.

Papua New Guinea is an independent, parliamentary democracy in the Commonwealth of Nations, with a governor-general representing the British crown.

Under the 1975 constitution, legislative power is vested in the national parliament (formerly the house of assembly) of 109 members, including 20 representing provincial electorates and 89 from open electorates, serving a term of up to five years. Suffrage is universal and voting compulsory for adults at age 18. The government is formed by the party or coalition of parties, that has a majority in the national parliament, and executive power is undertaken by the national executive council, selected from the government parties and chaired by the prime minister.

The government has constitutional authority over the defense force, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, and intelligence organizations.

Political parties in PNG lack ideological conviction and rely almost exclusively on patronage politics, personalism, and regional bases. Generally, party allegiances have been fluid, with regional and tribal politics impacting greatly on political events. More than 40 parties registered to participate in the June 2002 elections. In those elections, Michael Somare's National Alliance Party (NA) took 19 seats, and formed a 13-party coalition. Former Prime Minister Mekere Morauta's People's Democratic Movement (PDM) took 13 seats. Other parties winning seats included the United Resources Party (URP), the People's Progressive Party (PPP), the Papua and Niugini Union (PANGU), the People's Action Party (PAP), and the People's Labor Party (PLP). Next elections were to be held no later than June 2007.

Papua New Guinea is divided into 20 provinces, including the National Capital District. Each province has its own government, headed by a premier. In addition, there are more than 160 locally elected government councils. The local government system went through a process of reform in 1995, when the then-19 provincial governments were replaced by regional authorities. Bougainville presently exercises significant autonomy in its administrative affairs.

The legal system is based on English common law. The Supreme Court is the nation's highest judicial authority and final court of appeal. Other courts are the National Court; district courts, which deal with summary and nonindictable offenses; and local courts, established to deal with minor offenses, including matters regulated by local customs.

The Papua New Guinea government has undertaken a process of legal reform under which village courts have been established to conserve and reactivate traditional legal methods. Special tribunals deal with land titles and with cases involving minors. An Ombudsman Commission has been established to investigate and refer to the public prosecutor cases involving abuse of official authority.

The constitution declares the judiciary independent of executive, political, or military authority. It also provides a number of procedural due process protections including the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the governor-general upon nomination by the national executive council in consultation with the minister for justice. The Judicial and Legal Services Commission appoint other judges.

Papua New Guinea's armed forces in 2005 had a total of 3,100 active personnel. The Army had an estimated 2,500 personnel that consisted of two infantry battalions and one engineering battalion. The country's maritime forces (400) were equipped with four patrol and coastal vessels and two amphibious landing craft. The Air Force (200) had no armed aircraft, only six fixed wing transports, and four utility helicopters. Australia provides a 38-member training unit. The defense budget totaled $26.7 million in 2005.

Papua New Guinea became a member of the United Nations on 10 October 1975 and participates in ESCAP and several UN nonregional specialized agencies, such as the FAO, the World Bank, ILO, UNESCO, UNIDO, and the WHO. It also belongs to the WTO, the ASEAN Regional Forum, APEC, the Colombo Plan, the ACP Group, the Asian Development Bank, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the Commonwealth of Nations, G-77, the Pacific Island Forum, the South Pacific Commission, and the SouthPacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (Sparteca).The country is part of the Nonaligned Movement.

In environmental cooperation, Papua New Guinea is part of the South Pacific Regional Environmental Program, the Antarctic Treaty, the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the London Convention, International Tropical Timber Agreements, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change and Desertification.

Economic growth, which averaged 3.7% in the late 1980s, rose to 9% in 1991, 11.8% in 1992, and 16.6% in 1993. The growth was driven by a mineral and petroleum boom centered in the Highlands region. Growth slowed to 3% in 1994, 2.9% in 1995, and 1.6% in 1996 and 1997 due to an anticipated drop in production from Papua New Guinea's aging mines and oil fields, and a 1997 drought that cut the coffee crop in half. To halt the economic decline, the government awarded a lease to private developers for the $800 million Lihir gold project. In addition, construction projects involving airports, highways, disaster rehabilitation, development of the Gobe oil field, and a petroleum refinery are planned or being implemented. These projects, together with the onset of new production at the mine, generated a slightly improved GDP growth rate of 1.6% in 1998. The economy did not reach the expected 4.5% increase in part because of the Asian financial crisis, and recurring drought. Growth in 1999 was 3.6%, and in 2000 and 2001, the economy experienced small contractions of -0.8% and -3.3%, respectively. Inflation persisted in double digits, averaging just over 10%. In 2002, positive growth returned, but at an anemic 1.2%, while the annual inflation rate rose to 12%.

In 2004, the economy expanded by 2.5%, down from 2.7% in 2003; in 2005, the GDP growth rate was estimated at 2.8%. The inflation rate has decreased from 14.7% in 2003, to 2.1% in 2004, and is not posing problems to the economy anymore. The unemployment rate has been fairly stable, hovering at around 3.3%. Although the country is endowed with natural resources, the poor infrastructure, and the difficult nature of the terrain, hamper exploitation efforts. Subsistence agriculture continues to provide a livelihood for 85% of the population.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $6 million or about $1 per capita and accounted for approximately 0.2% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $221 million or about $40 per capita and accounted for approximately 8.1% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 1990 household consumption in Papua New Guinea totaled $1.9 billion or about $346 per capita based on a GDP of $3.4 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 5.6%. It was estimated that in 2002 about 37% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

The Papua New Guinea labor force numbered an estimated 3.4 million in 2005. Agriculture accounted for 85% of the workforce, particularly in small farming communities and isolated villages. There is no data available on the country's unemployment rate. Legislation covers working conditions and wages, and provides for collective bargaining. The Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress is the main union federation. About one-half of the wage earners were unionized, and there were about 50 trade unions. Unions have the right to organize and bargain collectively but the government may cancel wage agreements if they are deemed to be against "public policy." The right to strike is protected, and it is prohibited to discriminate against union activity. However, there have been some reports of retaliation against union members. Approximately half of the 250,000 wage earners are union members.

The minimum working age is 18, although children may be employed in family-related work as young as 11. However, few children work in any capacity outside of subsistence farming. The minimum weekly wage in urban areas was $9.87 as of 2001. The law provides for minimum occupational health and safety standards; however, due to a shortage of inspectors, workplaces are not inspected regularly but only when a union or worker requests.

Agriculture in Papua New Guinea is divided into a large subsistence sector and a smaller monetary sector for export. Agriculture's importance has steadily declined since 1985, when it made up 34% of GDP-in 2003, agriculture only contributed about 26% to GDP. About 74% of the population engages in subsistence agriculture. Subsistence crops include yams, taro, and other staple vegetables. Cash crops are increasing in rural areas, stimulated by government-financed development programs. Production by small farmers of coffee, copra, cocoa, tea, rubber, and oil palm is important for export, although production on plantations, which are usually foreign owned, is also significant. Such plantations are gradually being sold back to nationals. Principal crops and 2004 output (in tons) included sweet potatoes, 520,000; sugarcane, 442,000; palm oil, 345,000; coconuts, 650,000; coffee, 60,000; cocoa, 42,500; rubber, 4,000; and pyrethrum, 1,000. Papua New Guinea grows very little rice, the staple food for many of its inhabitants. A single Australian company imports over 150,000 tons per year to satisfy demand.

Livestock in 2005 included an estimated 1,750,000 hogs, 7,500 sheep, and 4 million chickens. That same year there were 91,500 head of cattle, and production was being encouraged with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in meat supplies. Local poultry and beef production is sufficient to almost meet domestic demand. Beef imports are subject to quota controls. The farming of crocodiles, whose hides are exported, has also been expanded. Total crocodile production in 2003 was 27,000 tons.

In many coastal parts of Papua New Guinea, fishing is of great economic importance. The government is involved in the development of fishing through supply of freezers and of transport and research facilities. The total catch in 2003 was 188,217 tons, 7% from inland fishing. Fish exports in 2003 were valued at $98.7 million.

Forests and woodlands covered about 67% of the land area in 2000. Exploitable forests account for roughly 40% of the total land area and include a great variety of hardwood and softwood species. The total roundwood production in 2004 was 7.241 million cu m (255.6 million cu ft), as compared with about 7.06 million cu m (249 million cu ft) in 1981. About 76% of all the timber cut in 2004 was used for fuel; production of sawn timber was estimated at 70,000 cu m (2.5 million cu ft). Plywood, hardwoods, and logs are regularly exported to Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.

The mining of gold, silver, and copper were leading industries in Papua New Guinea. The country also produced cement, common clays, sand and gravel, stone, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude petroleum.

Gold output in 2003 was estimated at 70,000 kg, unchanged from 2002. In 1888, gold was discovered on Misima Island, marking the start of mining on Papua New Guinea. Prior to World War II, gold mining contributed 75% of export earnings. This proportion declined greatly in subsequent years, reaching 40% in 1995. Reserves on Lihir Island have been estimated to contain 613 tons of recoverable gold, and deposits at Porgera, near Ok Tedi, in the Star Mountains, were considered to hold another 470 tons. Production of silver in 2003 was estimated at 73,000 kg, unchanged from 2002.

Copper output (metal content) in 2003 was estimated at 204,000 metric tons. All copper came from the Ok Tedi mine, near the Indonesian border. In 1971/72, the Bougainville copper mine, one of the richest in the world, began to export copper ores and concentrates, which totaled 220,000 tons in 1988 and accounted for 44% of all exports in the years the mine operated. The mine closed in 1989 because of civil unrest caused by Bougainville Revolutionary Army militants. Nine years of civil unrest were temporarily halted by a cease-fire in 1997.

Mineral exploration was being expanded. Bauxite was known to exist on Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, and on New Ireland Island. Additionally, lead, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, limestone, and phosphate guano and rock deposits were present. Major deposits of chromite, cobalt, and nickel were believed to be recoverable at a site on the Ramu River, northeast of Ok Tedi. Mineral resources in Papua New Guinea were difficult and expensive to mine, and exploration and mining were hampered by rugged terrain, the nation's poor road infrastructure, and the high cost of developing infrastructure. Ethnic strife has become commonplace, and has had a negative impact on mining exploration and investment. Land disputes have become common as well, because land was communally held and there was no real system of land registration. To revive waning mineral exploration interest, the government announced a major overhaul of the tax system, which has been criticized for making investment in mining too expensive. The new tax regime was applicable only when a project was under way, and included guaranteed fiscal stability for the financing period of a project, the lowering of corporate tax rates, and the reduction of dividend holding tax. Companies were also able to deduct 25% of exploration expenditure against income, and were required to pay an additional profit tax. The mining levy would be phased out within a four-year period.

As of 2002, Papua New Guinea had a total installed electrical capacity of 0.542 million kW, of which conventional thermal plants accounted for 59% of capacity and hydroelectric plants the remainder. Electricity generated in 2002 was 1.538 billion kWh. Of this total, 44% came from fossil fuels and the rest from hydroelectric facilities. Consumption of electricity in 2002 was 1.538 billion kWh.

Papua New Guinea had proven oil reserves estimated at 170 million barrels, as of 2004. In that same year, oil production was estimated at 46,200 barrels per day. However, the country has no refining capacity and in 2002, its production was totally exported. In 2002, imports and domestic demand for refined oil products each averaged 22,040 barrels per day. Proven reserves of natural gas totaled 385.5 billion cu m in 2004. In 2002, the country's gross production of natural gas totaled 4.24 billion cu ft, of which 0.35 billion cubic feet was re-injected. Dry consumption that year totaled 3.88 billion cu ft. The country also imported 1,000 short tons of hard coal in 2002.

The industrial sector, constrained by the small domestic market and the population's low purchasing power, is largely undeveloped. Industries are concentrated in industrial metals, timber processing, machinery, food, drinks, and tobacco. Although industrial production, including construction and the provision of utilities, electricity and water, has increased to about 40% of GDP, the manufacturing component has been decreasing as a percent of GDP, from 9.5% in 1980 to 9% in 1990 to 8.2% in 2001, according to Asian Development Bank statistics. This relative decline is mainly due to double digit growth in the construction sector, a boom led by work on the Lihir gold mine and the Gobe petroleum project. The growth rate in construction peaked in 1997 and 1998, at 21.7% and 25.4%, respectively, but the sector continues strong.

In 2002, a number of construction projects involving housing, airports, highways, disaster rehabilitation, and a petroleum refinery were planned or under way. Handicraft and cottage industries have expanded. A government-sponsored program assists Papua New Guineans in setting up businesses and purchases equity in existing firms. It has also encouraged small-scale import-substitution operations.

In 2005, industry accounted for 38.3% of the GDP, and was seconded by agriculture with 35.2%, and services, with 26.4%. However, 85% of the 3.4 million labor force continues to be engaged in subsistence agriculture.

The Papua New Guinea Scientific Society, founded in 1949 at Boroko, promotes the sciences, exchanges scientific information, preserves scientific collections, and establishes museums. The University of Papua New Guinea, founded in 1965 at Waigani, and the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, founded in 1965 at Lae, provide scientific and technical training. The Lowlands Agricultural Experiment Station, founded in 1928, is in Kerevat. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research was founded in 1968. In 1987-97, science and engineering students accounted for 10% of college enrollments.

In 2002, Papua New Guinea has high technology exports totaling $11 million, or 195 of its manufactured exports.

Trade in rural areas is mostly informal and cash is used in transactions. The local market, particularly in fruit and vegetables, is an important feature of economic and social life. Domestic trade in urban centers is primarily through modern supermarket chains and independent stores. The companies sponsoring supermarkets tend to be in both the importing and wholesale businesses and take responsibility for distribution of goods to outlying villages, which are generally somewhat isolated. Domestic trade is hampered by street gangs that terrorize local and foreign residents and merchants. There are a few Australian-based franchises within the country.

Most stores are open weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm and until noon on Saturdays. Banks are open from 9 am to 2 pm Monday through Thursday and from 9 am to 5 pm on Fridays. Other businesses operate from 8 am to 4:30 pm weekdays. Most businesses and government offices do not open on the weekends.

In 2000, Papua New Guinea's exports totaled $2.4 billion while imports totaled $1 billion, down from $1.1 billion in 1999. Consumer goods accounted for 9.3% of imports; machinery, 17.8%; industrial supplies, 18.3%; transportation equipment, 15.1%; food and beverages, 17.2%; and other imports, 0.3%. Of its natural resources, Papua New Guinea mainly exports crude petroleum (29%), copper ore (8.9%), and coffee (6.1%). Other exports include palm oil (6.0%) and rough wood (1.8%).

Through most of the period when Papua New Guinea was a territory administered by Australia, the two were also major trading partners. In the 1970s, Papua New Guinea's trade with other countries, especially Japan and Germany, increased.

In 2005, exports reached $2.8 billion (FOB-Free on Board), while imports grew to $1.6 billion (FOB). The bulk of exports went to Australia (28%), Japan (5.8%), Germany (4.7%), and China (4.6%). Imports included machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals, and chemicals, and mainly came from Australia (46.4%), Singapore (21.6%), Japan (4.3%), and New Zealand (4.2%).

Papua New Guinea relies heavily on imported goods and services, both for consumption and as inputs for its exports. The country registered deficits on current accounts during the early 1980s, after recording annual surpluses in the late 1970s. In the late 1980s, mine closings, civil unrest, and sustained deterioration in prices for the country's principal agricultural exports severely tested the economy and led to a program of structural adjustment supported by the World Bank and IMF. When the economy rebounded in the early 1990s, however, the government lost interest in the reforms and instituted expansionist fiscal policies that led to a decline in international reserves. To restore foreign exchange levels, the government devalued the currency in 1994. When that failed to solve the problem, the government let the kina float, resulting in a depreciation of about 28% by 1996. In 1995, Papua New Guinea reached an agreement with the World Bank and IMF on a series of economic reforms. The subsequent receipt of approximately $200

million in loans in August 1995 substantially bolstered foreign reserves. Another agreement with the IMF in 2000 brought in an additional $115 million in loans to the country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2001 Papua New Guinea had exports of goods totaling $1.81 billion and imports totaling $932 million. The services credit totaled $285 million and debit $662 million. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported that in 2001 the purchasing power parity of Papua New Guinea's exports was $1.8 billion while imports totaled $1.024 billion resulting in a trade surplus of $776 million.

Exports of goods and services totaled $2.4 billion in 2003, while imports grew to $2.0 billion. The resource balance was consequently positive, at $378 million. The current account balance was fairly stable in 2003 and 2004, hovering around $237 million. Foreign exchange reserves (including gold) increased to $636 million in 2004

The Bank of Papua New Guinea, the country's central bank, was established in 1973, and the currency, the kina, was first issued in April 1975. The kina is backed by a standby arrangement with Australia, and the value of the kina is tied to the Australian dollar.

The Papua New Guinea Banking Corp. was set up in 1973 to take over the savings and trading business of the former Australian government-owned bank operating in Papua New Guinea. It competes with seven other private commercial banks, three of which are subsidiaries of Australian banks. Liquidity increased over the first six months of 1996, with total liquid assets held by the commercial banks standing at $2.1 billion at the end of 1996. The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits-an aggregate commonly known as M1-were equal to $376.6 million. In that same year, M2-an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds-was $846.1 million. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 11.25%.

There is no securities exchange in Papua New Guinea.

In 1997, there were at least 11 insurance companies operating in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea receives most of its bilateral aid from Australia, which donates about $200 million a year in assistance. Foreign budgetary support was phased out in 2000; aid is now concentrated on project development. Other major sources of aid include Japan, the EU, China, Taiwan, the UN, the Asian Development Bank, the IMF, and the World Bank.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Papua New Guinea's central government took in revenues of approximately $1.3 billion and had expenditures of $1.3 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately $14 million. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 47.1% of GDP. Total external debt was $1.978 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2002, the most recent year for which it had data, central government revenues were k2,666.3 million and expenditures were k3,052.4 million. The value of revenues was us$1,036 million and expenditures us$1,186 million, based on a official exchange rate for 2002 of us$1 = k2.573 as reported by the IMF. Government outlays by function were as follows: general public services, 59.7%; defense, 2.4%; public order and safety, 7.5%; economic affairs, 12.1%; housing and community amenities, 0.4%; health, 5.7%; recreation, culture, and religion, 0.9%; education, 10.0%; and social protection, 1.5%.

Company incomes are taxed at a rate of 25-50%. Additional profits tax is calculated on the net profits of mining and petroleum companies at a rate of 35-50%. In addition, progressive tax rates are applied to individuals' wages and salaries, with taxes automatically withheld from paychecks. Tax rates range from 10-35%. Land and property taxes, estate and death taxes, gift taxes, stamp taxes, excise taxes, and sales taxes are also imposed.

Papua New Guinea acceded to the World Trade Organization in 1996 and has liberalized its trade to conform to WTO standards, removing all nontariff barriers to trade including quotas, bans, and license requirements. The government put a value-added tax (VAT) into effect in 1998 and intends to reduce all nonprotective tariffs to zero using the VAT. There are import duty rates of 5%, 8%, and 11%. The protective tariff is 40% and there are higher rates applied to luxury items such as tobacco and liquor.

The bulk of foreign investment is in the mining and petroleum sector. Statistic on foreign equity holdings for 1995 show that Australia was the largest investor with k1,446 million, followed by the United Kingdom with k160 million and the United States with k91 million. Overall, foreign equity holdings fell from 55% of GDP in 1990 to 33% in 1994, primarily due to the completion of major mining and petroleum projects. In 1995, developers RTZ and Niugini Mining were awarded a lease for the $800 million Lihir gold project raising foreign equity holdings to 37% of GDP.

The Investment Promotion Authority (IPA), established in 1992, facilitates and certifies foreign investment. Corruption, civil unrest, and bureaucratic delays, however, frustrate the process. A number of free trade zones are in the early stages of development.

Foreign investment in Papua New Guinea took on an air of international intrigue when it was revealed that in early 1997 Prime Minister Julius Chan had entered into a $46 million contract with Sandline Incorporated, a mercenary military organization, to retake Bougainville Island and in particular the copper mining complex there that had been occupied by separatists since 1989. Money behind the contract was traced to the British-Australia mining company, RTZ-CRA. The army prevented the use of the mercenaries. Chan lost his parliamentary seat in the 1997 elections, and a peace agreement was signed with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) in 1998.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) was only $87.6 million in 1997 and $109.6 million in 1998. FDI nearly tripled in 1999, however, to $296.5 million, before falling back to $130.7 million in 2000. FDI in 2002 was $178.7 million.

The fundamental purposes of Papua New Guinea's economic strategy have been distilled into the nation's eight aims: a rapid increase in the proportion of the economy under the control of Papua New Guineans; a more equal distribution of economic benefits; decentralization of economic activity; an emphasis on smallscale artisan, service, and business activity; a more self-reliant economy; an increasing capacity for meeting government spending from locally raised revenue; a rapid increase in the equal and active participation of women in the economy; and governmental control and involvement in those sectors where control is necessary to achieve the desired kind of development.

In March 2000, Papua New Guinea's economic reform efforts came under the supervision of an IMF Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) financed by a stand-by credit line of sdr85.54 million (about $120 million) that ran from 29 March 2000 to 29 September 2001. The IMF is critical of policies through which the government has intervened heavily in the economy-through tax incentives, licensing and approval requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs and price controls-to create an economy dominated by a few privately-owned, highly protected, noncompetitive, import substitution enterprises. The SAP called for privatization of the few state owned enterprises, liberalization of trade and investment, reduction in public service employment and the decontrol of prices. In 2002, the government was implementing many of these reforms either as conditionals under the IMF stand-by agreement and/or as requirements for participation in APEC and accession to the WTO.

The annual growth average is supposed to pick up over the rate registered in 2005 (2.9%), as a result of stronger mining and petroleum sectors. The Kainantu and Simberi goldmines will likely be put into operation at the beginning of 2006, boosting gold output, while work on the Hidden Valley gold project and the Ramu nickel-cobalt project could also begin in 2006. However, if the country is to benefit significantly from an export-led growth strategy it needs to carry on serious infrastructure improvements.

A mandatory occupational retirement system covers persons employed by firms with 20 or more workers, providing old age, disability, and survivor benefits. The system is financed by 5% contribution of earnings from employees, and 7% of payroll from employers. Retirement is set at age 55, or at any age with 12 years of contributions. Benefits are provided as a lump sum, and include total contributions plus interest. Workers' compensation is provided by employers through direct provision of benefits or insurance premiums. Medical services, where available, are provided free or at a nominal cost. Rural communities traditionally assume communal obligations to those in need.

The constitution and other laws provide extensive rights for women, however traditional patterns of discrimination still prevail. Women are considered second-class citizens. Village courts tend to enforce these patterns, and intertribal warfare often involves attacks on women. Polygymy is common, and the tradition of paying a bride-price persists. Violence against women is widespread and few victims press charges. Much of the violence is committed by women against another of their husband's wives. The government does not adequately fund programs to protect the rights and welfare of children.

In 2004, human rights violations included excessive use of police force, poor prison conditions, and limits on freedom of assembly.

Government policy is to distribute health services widely and to provide comprehensive medical care, both preventive and curative. Approximately 96% of the population had access to health care services. As of 2004, there were an estimated 5 physicians, 53 nurses, and 2 dentists per 100,000 people. In 2000, 42% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 82% had adequate sanitation. Total health care expenditure was estimated at 3.2% of GDP.

The main health problems are malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and venereal disease. Significant malnutrition occurs in some areas and pneumonia and related respiratory infections are major risks. The increased incidence of malaria has been linked to importation from neighboring islands. Immunization rates for children up to one year old were fairly high: tuberculosis, 91%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 66%; polio, 66%; and measles, 39%. The rates for DPT and measles were, respectively, 56% and 58%. While malnutrition remains a major problem, dramatic changes have occurred in some groups with exposure to more Westernized diets. Diabetes in the highland populations is low but has been documented to be as high as 16% in major cities of Papua New Guinea.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 31.6 and 7.8 per 1,000 people. Approximately 26% of married women (ages 15 to 49) were using contraception. The infant mortality rate decreased from 110 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1974 to 51.45 in 2005. Approximately 16% of all births were low birth weight babies. The maternal mortality rate was 370 per 100,000 live births. Life expectancy was 64.93 years in 2000.

Papua New Guinea had the highest per capita HIV prevalence in the North and South Pacific regions. As of 2004, there were approximately 1,600 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.60 per 100 adults in 2003. There were an estimated 600 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

Coronary heart disease, previously rare or nonexistent, has become more prevalent in past years. Total cholesterol values are higher in urban coastal and periurban subjects than in rural locations.

Traditional housing in rural areas appears to be adequate, but in urban areas there are acute shortages because of migration. In most urban areas, squatter settlements have been established. New housing has generally fallen far short of meeting the demand, especially for medium- and low-cost units. As of 1988, the housing stock totaled 555,000 and the number of people per dwelling averaged 5.8. As of 2000, about 87% of the population lived in rural areas.

The present government aims at upgrading and improving the system and quality of education. Children attend state-run community schools for primary education and provincial and national high schools for secondary education. Primary school covers nine years of schooling, including one year of preschool and grades I to VIII. The provincial secondary schools cover a two-year program, which may be followed by a two-year national high school program. Students choose to enter a two-year technical school for their secondary education. In addition to the national government system, there is an international school system that ends at high school. Fees are considerably higher than the government run schools, and the curriculum is based on the British system. There are also privately run preschools and primary schools. The academic year runs from February to November.

In 2001, about 38% of all six-year-olds were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 74% of age-eligible students; 79% for boys and 69% for girls. In 2001, secondary school enrollment was about 23% of age-eligible students; 25% for boys and 20% for girls. It is estimated that about 52.6% of all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 35:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was about 22:1.

The University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby offers degrees in law, science, medicine and arts. The University of Technology in Lae offers degrees in technical subjects such as engineering, business, architecture, and forestry. The Pacific Adventist College, a privately run university outside Port Moresby, offers courses in education, business, accounting, secretarial studies, and theology. In 1999, about 2% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 57.3%, with 63.4% for men and 50.9% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.3% of GDP, or 17.5% of total government expenditures.

The largest libraries are at the University of Papua New Guinea (440,000 volumes) and at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (130,000). Local libraries are well established in urban centers. The National Library Service in Boroko has 85,000 volumes. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Public Administration in Boroko holds 90,000 volumes.

The Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery, in Boroko, has a good collection of art and general ethnography. The museum is implementing the National Cultural Property Act to protect the country's cultural heritage and to further establish appropriate museums. In 1981 the country opened the Madang Museum, Culture and Tourism Center in Yomba. The J. K. MacCarthy Museum, an ethnological collection, is located in Goroka.

In 2003, there were an estimated 12 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were approximately three mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people. A coastal radio service provides communications between land-based stations and ships at sea.

In 2004, the government-owned National Broadcasting Commission was operating two radio networks with limited range. NBC broadcasts in English, Pidgin, Hiri Motu, and a dozen other vernaculars. EMTV, owned by a private Fijian company, was the only television broadcaster in 2004. There were also two independent local cable companies. The privately owned NAU-FM radio network is based in Port Moresby. In 2003, there were an estimated 86 radios and 23 television sets for every 1,000 people. About 4.2 of every 1,000 people were cable subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 58.7 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 14 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There was one secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.

The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier is published daily in English with a 2002 circulation of about 30,480. The National, another daily, is published on Boroko and had a 2002 circulation of 20,000. Other local news sheets are published, many in Pidgin. Niugini Nius, also in Boroko, is published Tuesday-Friday (circulation 31,000) and also has a weekend edition (16,000).

The constitution provides for free speech and free media, and the government is said to generally respect these rights in practice.

The Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce and Industry is located in Port Moresby. There are some organizations dedicated to the promotion of specific industries, such as the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority and the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.

National youth organizations include the Papua New Guinea National Union of Students, YMCA/YWCA, and the Scout Association of Papua New Guinea. There are several sports associations organizing amateur competitions for such pastimes as cricket, track and field, baseball, lawn tennis, tae kwon do, and squash. Women's organizations include the East Sepik Women and Children's Health Project and the Simbu Women's Resource Center. There are national chapters of the Red Cross Society and Caritas.

The Tourism Promotion Authority of Papua New Guinea works with the government to actively promote tourism as a priority for economic development. There are large-scale resorts and basic lodges to accommodate all travelers. Ecotourism is the main attraction with an abundance of vibrant flora and fauna in the rain forest and national parks. Water sports, golf, tennis, and rock climbing are popular pastimes. Tourists must have a valid passport, onward/return ticket, proof of sufficient funds, and an entry permit. A 60 day visa may be issued upon arrival to visitors from Australia, Cyprus, Japan, Portugal., Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

In 2003, about 56,000 tourists visited Papua New Guinea, over half of whom came from Australia. There were 2,830 rooms in hotels and other establishments with 4,306 beds.

In 2004, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Papua New Guinea at $217.

The best known Papua New Guineans are Michael Thomas Somare (b.1936), chief minister during colonial rule and the nation's first prime minister; Sir Albert Maori Kiki (1931-93), author of Kiki: Ten Thousands Years in a Lifetime ; and Vincent Eri (1936-93), author of The Crocodile.

Papua New Guinea has no territories or colonies.

Lilley, Ian (ed.). Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2006.

Mead, Margaret. Growing Up in New Guinea. Middlesex: Penguin, 1973 (orig. 1930).

Turner, Ann. Historical Dictionary of Papua New Guinea. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2001.

Wanek, Alexander. The State and Its Enemies in Papua New Guinea. Richmond, Surrey, U.K.: Curzon, 1996.

History & Background

Papua New Guinea occupies 462,840 square kilometers of land and water off the coast of Southeast Asia. The island nation, roughly the size of California or Thailand, includes the eastern half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, and about six hundred smaller islands between the Coral Sea and the south Pacific Ocean. Papua New Guinea's 4.9 million people (July 2000 estimate) speak more than 715 different languages. The government recognizes English as the nation's official language, but only between 1 percent and 2 percent of the population speak it. Pidgin, a mixture of English, German, and other languages, is spoken throughout the country.

Papua New Guinea remained fairly isolated from Western influences until the nineteenth century, although infrequent contacts were documented as early as the 1500s. The Dutch annexed the western half of New Guinea between 1828 and 1848. The British and Germans divided the eastern half in 1885; Great Britain took the south and Germany took the north. Great Britain transferred control of the southeastern portion of New Guinea to Australia in 1902, which renamed it Papua. Australia seized the northern region during World War I and assumed complete control of eastern New Guinea under a League of Nations mandate. The Japanese occupied most of the colonized areas of New Guinea during World War II. However, after the war, control of the island reverted to Australia as a United Nations trusteeship. Australia maintained control until Papua New Guinea claimed its independence in 1975. Australia remains one of Papua New Guinea's primary trading partners.

Since independence, Papua New Guinea has functioned as a parliamentary democracy, with a capital in Port Moresby and 19 other administrative provinces. About 15 percent of the population live in major urban areas. The country's national currency is the Kina (K1.00 equals about US$.31 as of February 2001.)

Constitutional & Legal Foundations

Although Papua New Guinea's constitution does not address education directly, the document still provides the base for the nation's educational goals and philosophy. The constitution outlines five national goals and directive principles in its preamble, and the two most applicable to education focus on integral human development and equality and participation. These directives, according to the Department of Education, call for an education system "based on mutual respect and dialogue. . .to promote awareness of our human potential and motivation to achieve our National Goals through self-reliant efforts" (Department of Education 1991, 15). In addition, the constitution guarantees all citizens, regardless of their sex, color, creed, political opinion, or origin, equal access and participation in the country's development. Consequently, under its education philosophy, the government promises to educate all citizens.

Several education laws outline the structure and operation of the system. The Education Act of 1970 integrated the existing church and government education activities. Under the provision, the government assumed control for teacher salaries, staff employment, and curriculum development.

In 1977, the Organic Law on Provincial Government divided education responsibilities between the national and provincial governments. The national government controlled curriculum development, the minimum age for school entrance, the length of the school day and year, language of instruction, maximum pupil-teacher ratio, major exams, teacher conditions of service, teacher training, and the universities. Therefore, the provincial governments controlled preschool education, the location and number of primary and secondary schools, nonformal education, noncore primary curriculum, criteria used to select students for secondary school, and vocational schools.

The Education Act of 1983 established a national education plan and called on provincial governments to develop local plans. However, the government has had problems outlining the national components of the plan, while many provincial plans remain out of date.

Educational SystemOverview

Before the European colonization, the adults in each tribal society in Papua New Guinea educated their children on practical skills, social behavior, and spiritual beliefs. In 1873, the London Missionary Society established the first school to teach islanders to read scripture. After 1884, German and English missionaries established primary schools to teach Western concepts of morality, the German and English languages, arithmetic, and Christian doctrine. During the early 1900s, the British government encouraged missionaries to develop vocational education programs in Papua New Guinea to produce better farmers, crafts people, and skilled laborers. In 1914, Australia took control of the German colony in northeastern New Guinea. With Papua and New Guinea under its reign, Australia established English as the official language of instruction and laid the foundation for modern education in Papua New Guinea.

The Modern System: Papua New Guinea's education system has three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The academic year runs from January to December.

The primary schools, or community schools, provide six years of instruction for children 7-12, although attendance is not compulsory. Most instruction still occurs in English. However, in 1989, the National Department of Education adopted a language and literacy policy designed to encourage communities to start local language literacy preschools, convert first grade into a local language year or a bridging year from local language literacy to English literacy, or have noncore subjects (subjects other than language, math, science, and social studies) taught in the local languages. The 1989 Language and Literacy Policy also supported local language and cultural instruction at secondary and tertiary schools and local language literacy programs for adults.

Since 1993, many provinces have established village schools that focus on local language literacy. The village schools provide a preprimary level for children as young as five years of age that teaches the children in their native language. The schools also encourage the children to become literate in their local language before learning English.

About 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's school-age children receive some formal education, but only two-thirds of those who enter the first grade complete the sixth.

Students who reach the sixth grade must pass a national exam to continue their education. Papua New Guinea maintains two types of secondary schools: the four-year provincial high schools, for grades 7-10, and the two-year national high schools, for grades 11 and 12. Large towns generally have their own secondary schools, but students from rural areas often attend provincial boarding schools. English is the language of instruction at the secondary level.

About 35 percent of pupils who reach sixth grade ultimately transition to the seventh grade. The low transition rate does not reflect the number of students who achieve the level necessary to move to the provincial high schools; but rather, it reflects the limited number of places available to incoming seventh graders (Department of Education 1991). The provincial high schools base their acceptance on exam scores and provincial quotas and accept an equal number of sixth graders from each primary school. Students who do not attend secondary school can enter two-year vocational schools or continue their education by mail through the government-operated College of Distance Education.

Of those who continue to seventh grade, about 67 percent complete the tenth grade. In the tenth grade students must pass a second national exam to receive a Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Most end their education after tenth grade, but about 20 percent enter one of the four national high schools. The retention rate for the national high schools is about 95 percent. Students who complete twelfth grade face a third national exam that determines which higher educational opportunities go to which students. Regardless, most grade twelve graduates pursue some form of higher education. Students also can enter a two-year vocational or technical school after tenth grade. Those who complete the upper secondary level earn a Sixth Form Certificate or a High School Certificate, depending on the school they attend. A few of the best tenth graders enter a one-year university preparation program at the University of Papua New Guinea, but most students gain university acceptance by passing the National High School Examination at the end of twelfth grade.

As of 1996, a total of 500,000 children were enrolled in primary and secondary schools. About 70 percent of primary school-aged children attended school, but only 12 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled. Enrollment ratios vary widely between provinces and regions. In large cities and towns virtually all children attend school; but, in some remote highland areas, fewer than 7 percent of children receive any formal education. According to the 1990 census, 23 percent of the rural population completed sixth grade, 4 percent of the rural population completed tenth grade, and 24 percent of the rural population could read English. By contrast, the census showed that 56 percent of the urban population completed the sixth grade, 22 percent completed the tenth grade, and 58 percent could read English.

Many children, especially in poor, rural areas, never enroll because their families cannot afford the school fees, which can equal more than 50 percent of some families' earnings. Some primary and most provincial high schools charge fees, while the national high schools and most postsecondary institutions are free or subsidized with government scholarships. In 1993, the national government abolished some of the school fees traditionally paid by parents.

Female Education: Although schooling is open to all citizens, female enrollment lags behind male enrollment at most levels. In 1995, about 80 percent of children between seven and twelve years were enrolled in primary education. But 87 percent of boys in that age group were enrolled compared to 74 percent of girls. That same year, 14 percent of 13-18 year-olds enrolled in some form of secondary education. Enrollment included 17 percent of the boys and 11 percent of the girls in that age bracket. Girls account for about 38 percent of all high school students, but only 29 percent of the national high school students. In 1995, girls represented 32 percent of the students enrolled in all higher education institutions, but only 25 percent of the students in one of the nation's four universities. That same year, women made up 66 percent of the preprimary teaching staff and 36 percent of the primary-level teaching staff. Figures for the secondary and tertiary levels were not available. Literacy rates for women also fall short. About 62 percent of women age 15 and older could read and write in 1995, compared to 81 percent of men.

Private & Religious Schools: The International Education Agency is the largest independent education provider in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1977 to manage the schools operated by the Australian and United Nations administrations before Papua New Guinea's independence.

The agency operates 24 independent schools and serves more than 5,000 students in preschool through the twelfth grade. All schools, except for one, offer preschool through grade six and most continue to grade eight. Only three schools, though, in Lae, Port Moresby, and Mount Hagen, offer ninth through twelfth grades. The schools do not have a religious affiliation, although, at the community's request, some offer nondenominational scripture classes on a voluntary basis.

More than 300 teachers from Papua New Guinea and other parts of the world work for the international schools. The International Education Agency also provides consultant services on school development and review, curriculum development, and professional development.

Tuition ranges from K 3,000 to K 20,000 per year. The amount depends on the training of the teachers at each school, and the general quality of resources. Between 75 and 80 percent of agency students are Papua New Guinea citizens, although percentages range from 50 to 100 percent within individual schools. The remaining students come primarily from Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The National Department of Education estimates that the government provides about 68 percent of lower secondary education services, churches provide 29 percent, and the international schools provide about 3 percent.

Preprimary & Primary Education

Early primary education was based on the Australian primary school curriculum. Missions operated village schools and boarding schools, usually for boys. After World War II, the Australian administration appointed a director of education and took control of the educational system. From 1946 to 1956 an average of 10 administration schools opened each year. All instruction was in English and, during the 1950s, most teachers were Australians or of other Caucasian ethnicities. During the 1960s Papua New Guinea pushed to localize its teaching service, and by 1970 most primary school teachers were Papua New Guineans. The number of primary schools increased after the country's independence in 1975, and the curriculum branch of the Department of Education took steps to make the school curriculum suit local needs.

Modern primary education, which includes grades one to six, focuses on basic skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Seven is the official entrance age, but older children enroll. Some provinces also offer preprimary programs to children as young as five years of age. Primary instruction occurs in English; however, the preprimary programs, and some first grade classes, provide lessons in the students' native languages.

Instructors also teach science, community life, agriculture, health, expressive arts, pastoral care, and physical education. Meanwhile, some education officials want more social, spiritual, ethical, moral, and vocational lessons in primary education. Attempts to integrate practical skills have been hampered by the strict certification and exam process students must complete. Students must pass the sixth grade exam to proceed to secondary school. As a result, teachers rate the importance of any subject taught based on the extent to which it appears on the exam. Consequently, practical skills, which do not appear on the highly academic exam, receive little instructional time.

Since the early 1990s, primary schools have received free textbooks at a rate of one textbook for every two students. However, many teachers do not incorporate them into their teaching styles or cannot access them because of distribution problems. Community schools also lack sufficient reading materials.

In 1995, Papua New Guinea had 2,790 public primary schools and 13,457 teachers serving 516,797 students. That same year, the nation had 29 preprimary schools with 53 teachers and 2,528 children. About 80 percent of primary school-aged children were enrolled.

Universal primary education remains a national goal, but the Department of Education has encountered several problems trying to achieve it. The primary school system suffers from a lack of teachers and funds (Department of Education 1991.) Moreover, not all provinces support the national goal or see the need to provide basic education to all citizens. Consequently, many provinces have focused on expanding their secondary schools and not their primary ones.

Secondary Education

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Australian administration in Papua New Guinea focused on developing the country's primary schools. In the 1960s, however, the policy changed under international pressure to expand the secondary school system, create an education elite, and prepare the country for independence. By 1972 the expansion movement had established lower secondary high schools in all of the provinces. Later, two national high schools, for grades 11 and 12, and two international high schools, mainly for expatriate children, were established. Between 1975 and 1985 Papua New Guinea had 32 provincial high schools and 3 national public high schools. The expansion efforts increased enrollment by 70 percent. Still, less than one-third of the pupils who completed primary school were offered places in a secondary school. In 1992, about 12 percent of children received secondary education, with about twice as many males as females enrolled. In 1995, some 68,818 students receivedgeneral secondary education.

Lower Secondary Education: The provincial high schools educate students in seventh through tenth grades on academic and practical skills. This prepares them for the national grade ten exam, which students must pass to earn a Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Students need a Secondary School Leaving Certificate to proceed to the national high schools, tertiary vocational and technical programs, teacher training colleges, and the preuniversity program at the University of Papua New Guinea.

About 35 percent of grade six students enroll in a provincial high school; provincial quotas limit the number of students accepted. Once they are enrolled, about 67 percent of students complete grade 10. Students are promoted automatically from seventh to eighth grade, but provincial high schools lose the greatest number of pupils between eighth and ninth grades. Female enrollment in the provincial high schools has increased since 1981; however, women still account for only 37 percent of the total enrollment. About 65 percent of girls complete tenth grade, compared to 72 percent of boys. Completion rates for women also vary by province and range from about 55 to 86 percent. Some provinces have seen a decrease in their percentage of women graduates. Papua New Guinea had about 130 provincial high schools in 1991, with 53,494 students. About 10,000 students graduate from tenth grade each year.

Upper Secondary Education: At the national high schools students in grades 11 and 12 receive a general, non- vocational education that prepares them to enter a university, a tertiary institution, or go directly to work. About 95 percent of students who enter the national high schools complete the twelfth grade. Students who reach twelfth grade must complete a national exam that determines which higher educational opportunities students receive. The exam also governs most curriculum decisions. Those who pass earn the National High School Certificate, and most pursue higher education.

The four national high schools enroll about 2,000 pupils and produce about 1,100 graduates each year. About 29 percent of the students enrolled are women. In 1990, the National Executive Council approved the Education Access and Expansion Act with the intent of doubling the number of national high school graduates by 1999. Meanwhile, the National Higher Education Plan of 1990 called for increasing the number of grade twelve graduates to five thousand during the same period. But the limited number of qualified teachers has hampered the expansion. In 1991, the four national high schools had 103 teachers; 58 of them were not Papua New Guineans. To produce 2,000-5,000 graduates each year, the national high schools needed an additional 100, up to 600, teachers. Many education officials believed the goal was unrealistic since the University of Papua New Guinea, the country's only training center for national high school teachers, did not produce enough teachers to meet the expansion demands of the early 1990s.

Alternate Forms of Secondary Education: Students who do not enroll in provincial high schools can continue their education in two-year vocational programs or through the College of Distance Education. Vocational centers provide basic vocational education to those who have left school and have not found employment or secured places in secondary school. In 1996, Papua New Guinea had 114 vocational centers that served more than 11,000 students who left grades six and eight. Many nongovernmental agencies, such as churches, the Young Women's Christian Association, and volunteer groups, also run vocational education programs without government aid. Some reports show that students prefer enrolling in the vocational centers to enrolling in the provincial high schools because they face more employment opportunities after graduation.

The Department of Education created the College of Distance Education in the 1980s to provide an alternate form of secondary education to students who could not attend the provincial high schools because of cost or lack of access. Students in the College of Distance Education complete their work by mail and through regional study centers. Students pay for lesson materials and grading, while the government maintains facilities and equipment. Most courses emphasize academics, although some officials want to include more vocational training. Students have encountered some problems though. Many complain that the material and courses are out of date and not relevant. In addition, they say the grading and processing of exams takes too long, and some papers get lost. Nonetheless, in 1992 the College of Distance Education had 10,469 students. It granted 876 certificates for grade 10 and 622 for lower grades.

Higher Education

Until 1963 the Australian colonial administration neglected higher education, but a visiting United Nations mission criticized the policy and urged the administration to establish institutions for higher education. So, in 1964, the administration created a college to train Papua New Guineans for administrative and clerical jobs. In 1966, the government established the country's first university, the University of Papua New Guinea, in Port Moresby. The first class graduated in 1970. The government also established the Institute of Higher Technical Education in Port Moresby in 1966. However, the university later moved to Lae as a result of public objections to having both of the country's universities in the National Capital District. In 1967, the Institute of Higher Technical Education became the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. The university awarded its first diplomas in 1971 and its first degrees in 1975.

In addition to the two universities, the government also established smaller specialty colleges during the 1960s. By 1970, the country had about a dozen small teachers' colleges, with the most important ones located in Port Moresby, Madang, and Goroka.

The National Higher Education Plan of 1990 sought to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of higher education. The plan proposed merging institutions and transferring programs to reduce duplicate services. Education officials also have pushed for a uniform accreditation policy to require higher education programs to conform to national qualifications.

University of Papua New Guinea: At the University of Papua New Guinea students can study the liberal arts, sciences, commerce, journalism, social work, library and information services, education, health sciences, medicine, law, creative arts, agriculture, business, secretarial services, police studies, and psychology. The university enrolls 2,000 full-time students and 100 part-time students and provides extension services to another 3,000 islanders. Most of the faculty still consists of expatriates, mainly from Australia, Great Britain, and other commonwealth nations; however, they are slowly being replaced by Papua New Guineans.

The university has a main campus and a separate medical campus in Port Moresby. There also are branch campuses at Goroka and Waigani, primarily for teacher training, and 11 extension centers throughout the country. The government offers scholarship support to about twothirds of the students admitted.

Students can earn certificates, diplomas, bachelor's degrees, or postgraduate degrees. Certificate programs, available in the visual and performing arts, require two years of full-time study. Students can enroll in the fine arts program after completing tenth or twelfth grade and demonstrating artistic ability. Students who complete the certificate program can earn a diploma with two additional years of full-time study.

Admission to the bachelor's programs requires a passing score on the National High School Grade Twelve Examination, or the Adult Matriculation Examination. The University's Institute of Distance Learning and Continuing Education, operated through the External Studies Department, administers the Adult Matriculation Exam. The University established the extension studies program in 1976 to provide upper secondary and university-level education to geographically and economically disadvantaged people. Instruction occurs face to face during the university's summer session and by mail at other times. Tutorial sessions at local extension centers supplement the correspondence courses. The extension studies program qualifies a large segment of the population for university entrance and provides in-service students a way to upgrade their skills. A select group of students enroll in the University of Papua New Guinea's preparatory program after the tenth grade. The university also accepts students based on the Australian and New Zealand University Entrance Examination scores.

Students in most bachelor's programs complete one year of foundation studies followed by three years of full-time study in their major. An initial medical degree requires five years of study. In most degree programs, students can earn an honors degree with one additional year of study.

Diplomas and bachelor's degrees in education, as well as in library and information services, are available at the main campus in Port Moresby in cooperation with the Goroka Teachers' College.

The university also offers some master's and doctoral programs. A master's degree takes one to three years of full-time study after earning a bachelor's honors degree. Most master's degrees also require a thesis. Doctorates are available in most fields, and require three to four years of additional study after obtaining a master's degree, in addition to a research thesis. The university does not offer any external or correspondence degrees.

Papua New Guinea University of Technology: The Papua New Guinea University of Technology enrolls 1,500 full-time students and a few part-time students. The university offers a two-year diploma program and four-year bachelor's degrees. The diploma programs include computing, building technology, surveying, and applied sciences. The diploma programs require students to complete tenth or twelfth grade for admission. The bachelor's degree programs include agriculture, architecture, business, engineering, forestry, languages, math, and applied sciences. Admission to the degree programs requires a National High School Certificate. The university also offers some one- and two-year master's programs and three- to five-year doctoral programs. First semester begins in January and goes until June, while the second semester runs from July to November.

Other Higher Education Opportunities: In addition to the four universities, Papua New Guinea also has smaller, specialty colleges that cater to specific fields of study. Most technical colleges accept students after tenth grade. The government provides scholarships to these institutions. Technical colleges train about twenty-three hundred students each year in thirty different trade areas. Most students usually complete one to two years of academic work, followed by an apprenticeship. Higher level certificate and diploma courses also are available.

Papua New Guinea has more than 60 single-purpose institutions that offer training in primary school teaching, nursing, paramedical training, primary industries, technical education, banking, police studies, agriculture, law, and public administration. Several theological schools and seminaries also are available. In 1995, about 14,000 tenth grade graduates and 2,000 twelfth grade graduates applied for places in higher education institutions. Of the applicants, about 2,500 tenth graders and 1,400 twelfth graders were admitted. A total of 13,663 students, 32 percent of whom were women, were enrolled in higher education or pursued it through distance-learning opportunities in 1995. Education was the most popular field of study among the non-distance learners.

Administration, Finance, & Educational Research

Administration: The Ministry of Education oversees the universities, the Commission for Higher Education, the National Department of Education, and the Teaching Service Commission. Papua New Guinea has 20 ministers of education: one at the national level, who also oversees the National Capital District, and one in each of the 19 provinces.

The universities handle their own administration because, unlike other tertiary institutions, they were established by an act of Parliament. They receive funds directly from the national budget, not through the Department of Education, and report to the national government through the Minister for Education. The Commission for Higher Education oversees all other tertiary institutions.

The Department of Education manages education for the entire nation under the direction of the National Education Board. The Department has some responsibility for primary and secondary education, and full responsibility for higher education. Provincial divisions of education and their corresponding education boards manage education at the local level. The Teaching Service Commission oversees all matters related to the terms and conditions of teacher service. Teachers who work for the International Education Agency are not part of the Teaching Service.

Finance: Even though education has been a priority for the Papua New Guinea government, it has suffered historically from a lack of funds. Between 1978 and 1988 education received a 39 percent decrease in real public expenditures. Between 1983 and 1991 education received no increase in funds and the allocation hovered around K 100 million per year, despite increases in student enrollment.

At the end of the twentieth century things seemed to improve. In 1999, the National Charter on Reconstruction and Development outlined five development priorities and primary education topped the list. Meanwhile, the government promised to provide basic education to all citizens, to increase access to higher education, and to improve access for women. The 2001 national budget seemed to reflect these objectives. The Department of Finance and Treasury appropriated K 596.3 million (20 percent of the 2001 budget) to education, more than any other area excluding debt service. The allocation represented an almost 18 percent increase in funding from 1999. The 2001 education budget also included a 9 percent increase in teachers' salaries. The total 2001 budget for Papua New Guinea was K 2.96 billion.

Educational Research: Three institutions conduct most of the educational research in Papua New Guinea: the Research and Evaluation Unit of the National Department of Education, the University of Papua New Guinea, and the National Research Institute. To a lesser degree, research also takes place at the Goroka Teachers' College and other higher education institutions.

The Research and Evaluation Unit, established in 1981, originally evaluated World Bank projects in Papua New Guinea. It expanded in 1984 to include an existing research branch of the Department of Education. Today it provides research and evaluation activities requested by the Department of Education and the provincial divisions of education. Most educational research focuses on curriculum development; staff training and development; planning, management, and administration; literacy; higher education; and vocational and technical education.

Nonformal Education

Nonformal education in Papua New Guinea includes village-based literacy programs for adults and children, agriculture and health programs, provincial and community libraries, and some distance-learning opportunities. Government support for nonformal education has been sporadic and disorganized; however, nongovernmental organizations have supported the effort.

SIL International (formerly the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is the largest nongovernmental organization involved in literacy. Church groups, the Young Women's Christian Association, and the Peace Corps also provide literacy services. In 1990, there were 79 literacy programs with a total of 258 classes. Since the 1990s the number of literacy programs offered in local languages has increased and communities have expressed a greater interest in non-English literacy materials. In 1995, approximately 72 percent of the population age 15 and older could read and write.

Papua New Guinea also has two distance-learning programs. Students can complete their secondary studies for grades 7-10 through the College of Distance Education or pursue upper secondary and university-level courses through the University of Papua New Guinea's Institute of Distance Learning and Continuing Education. Both distance-learning programs operate by mail. The Institute of Distance Learning also offers face-to-face instruction during the University of Papua New Guinea's summer session.

Community schools use radio broadcasts to supplement instruction, but most broadcasts are out of date and unrelated to the modern curriculum. Many areas have poor reception as well, which makes the broadcasts unavailable to a number of schools. In 1998, Papua New Guinea had 8 AM stations, 19 FM stations, and 28 short-wave stations. The country had about 410,000 radios. Television is available, but on a limited basis. The country had three broadcast stations in 1997 and about 42,000 televisions. Schools with access to televisions and video players use educational videos to supplement instruction, but the videos are limited. Papua New Guinea had two Internet service providers in 1999.

Teaching Profession

The lack of qualified, local teachers has limited the expansion of Papua New Guinea's education system. While enrollments in teacher training programs continue to increase, the number of new teachers produced does not meet the number needed to increase student enrollment at the primary and secondary levels. The attrition rate for teachers in 1991 was about 9 percent.

Primary teachers train in community-based teachers' colleges. Students enter after tenth grade and enroll in a three-year training course. In 1991, some 1,419 students were enrolled in one of Papua New Guinea's eight community teachers' colleges. Church organizations operate seven of the colleges, and the government operates one.

Training for secondary education teachers occurs at the Goroka Teachers' College and on the University of Papua New Guinea's Waigani campus. The Goroka Teachers' College is the primary source for provincial high school teachers. Students enroll after tenth or twelfth grade. They complete a three-year training program of general subject knowledge integrated with lessons on teaching skills. The Teachers' College also requires all students to study at least one core discipline (English, social studies, science, or math.) However, many students are uncomfortable with the requirement and ultimately drop out of the program. Graduates earn a diploma in secondary school teaching. The Goroka Teachers' College also offers several university extension programs and in-service training for teachers.

The education program at Waigani prepares teachers for the provincial high schools through a four-year program. During the first three years students study the arts and sciences, working toward a specialization in two subjects. Students spend their fourth year learning educational techniques and reviewing the provincial high school curriculum, teaching methods, and teaching practice. The Teachers' College at Goroka tends to produce teachers with better teaching skills, while the program at Waigani produces teachers with stronger subject knowledge.

The University of Papua New Guinea's Waigani campus also prepares teachers for the national high schools through a one-year postgraduate diploma program. The prospective teachers specialize in one or two subjects of the National High School curriculum and learn about teaching methods. Pre-service teachers at this level also practice their teaching at a national high school.

Prospective secondary high school teachers can also pursue a bachelor of education to meet their training requirements. At the University of Papua New Guinea, a bachelor of education takes four years to complete. Graduates of the program also lecture at teachers' colleges and can serve as school administrators at the national and provincial levels.

The University of Papua New Guinea also offers a bachelor of education in-service and a two-year bachelor's program for experienced teachers who wish to upgrade their skills and subject knowledge. Students also can pursue postgraduate diplomas, master's degrees, and doctorate degrees in education at the university.

Technical and vocational education teachers need a combination of schooling and experience in their field. Teachers for the Pre-Employment Training courses must complete tenth grade and have five years of industrial or commercial experience before enrolling in a one-year teacher training program. Teachers for the technical colleges train at Goroka Teachers' College. Teachers of courses for the Certificate of Higher Technical Education have university degrees or a Certificate of Higher Technical Education and three years of field experience. Teachers at the secondary vocational centers generally are tradesmen with four years of trade experience. They also must complete a one-year pre-service course at the Port Moresby In-Service College. Vocational teachers also come from the secondary teacher education program at Goroka Teachers' College. But, according to the National Department of Education, about half of all vocational instructors are unqualified.

Since the 1970s, the National Department of Education has provided in-service training to teachers at the school level and through National In-Service Training Week. National In-Service Training Week is a compulsory event held at the end of the first school term. Activities address administrative and organizational procedures and professional and curriculum development. Practicing teachers can also pursue education degrees through the University of Papua New Guinea's Extension Department. Secondary teachers who have assumed library responsibilities can pursue an advanced diploma in education studies/teacher librarianship through a two-year part-time summer program offered by the University of Papua New Guinea.

The Papua New Guinea Teachers' Association is the largest "white-collar" union in the country. The association represents about 80 percent of the teachers employed by the Teaching Service Commission. The organization promotes professionalism among its members and assists with educational development in Papua New Guinea. By legislation, the association has representation and voting rights on all national, provincial, and school-level education boards.

Summary

The expansion of Papua New Guinea's education system will not continue until the country produces a greater number of qualified teachers. Still, the nation is working to improve student retention rates, especially in the community schools, and to increase the transition rates into the secondary schools. Providing instruction and literacy materials in the local languages will help the country achieve these goals.

Yet, Papua New Guinea will face several education dilemmas as long as most of its population remains tied to the agricultural economy. Education officials must find ways to provide a relevant education to the 85 percent of students who remain in their rural and semi-rural communities and prepare the remaining 15 percent who find paid employment in government, business, and service industries. In general, the education most children receive does not lead to formal employment; at the same time, it alienates them from the skills they need to contribute in their home communities (Department of Education 1991). But, if the government can maintain its financial commitment to education, then Papua New Guinea's educational system most likely will continue to progress.

Bibliography

Bray, Mark. "Papua New Guinea." Education's Role in National Development Plans: Ten Country Cases, ed. R. Murray Thomas, 197-214. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1992.

Carpenter, Kenneth D. Pacific Islands: Niue, Tonga, Kiribati, Fiji, Papua New Guinea. Country Guide Series. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, 1996.

Morauta, Mekere. "From Recovery to Reconstruction. The presentation of the 2001 budget to Parliament." Papua New Guinea: Department of Finance and Treasury (2000): journal online. Available from: http://budget2001.treasury.gov.pg.

Papua New Guinea Department of Education. Education Sector Review. Vol. 2, Deliberations and Findings. Port Moresby: Department of Education, 1991.

Papua New Guinea Department of Finance and Treasury. The 2001 Budget. Port Moresby: Department of Finance and Treasury, 2001. Available from: http://budget2001.treasury.gov.pg/.

Rannells, Jackson. PNG: A Factbook on Modern Papua New Guinea. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Turner, Ann. Historical Dictionary of Papua New Guinea. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, 1994.

UNESCO. 1998 Statistical Yearbook. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1998.

Waiko, John. State of Higher Education in Papua New Guinea. A statement to the National Parliament. Papua New Guinea: Ministry of Education, 1996.

. State of Technical and Vocational Education in Papua New Guinea. A Statement to the National Parliament. Papua New Guinea: Ministry of Education, 1996.
Kristen Loschert

Culture Name

Papua New Guinean

Alternative Names

Niugini (Pidgin English)

Orientation

Identification. Papua is probably derived from the Malay word papuwah ("fuzzy hair"). In 1545, a Spanish explorer called the island Nueva Guinea.In 1884, the western half of New Guinea was officially recognized as Dutch New Guinea, the northeastern section became German New Guinea, and the southeastern quarter became British New Guinea. In 1905, Australia took over the territory, renaming it the Territory of Papua. After World War II, the British and German territories were combined and jointly administered by Australia as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. In 1975, the country became Papua New Guinea or, officially, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Location and Geography. Papua New Guinea consists of eastern New Guinea along with New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, and six hundred small islands and archipelagoes. The land area is over 178,000 square miles (462,000 square kilometer), with the mainland accounting for 80 percent. The western half of the island is the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya. To the south is Australia, and to the east and southeast are the Solomon Islands and other Melanesian countries. To the north and northwest are the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan.

The central mountain chain extends the length of the island and is covered in tropical rain forest. Upland valleys and the headwaters of fast-flowing rivers descend to the coast through some of the world's largest swamps.

Papua New Guinea has a tropical monsoon climate and is generally hot and humid, although the climate varies from one area to another.

Over 75 percent of the nation is covered in rain forest. Swamp forest is found in the poorly drained lowlands, and sago palm is a staple food of the people living there. Around Port Moresby and in drier areas to the west are grassy plains and savanna woodlands.

Demography. The 1990 census showed a population of 3,761,954. Over half the population was under age 20. With an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent, the population topped four million by 1992 and is expected to grow to more than five million by the year 2000. Around 85 percent of the population lives in small villages and rural outposts; the other 15 percent is concentrated in ten major urban areas where most of the non-Melanesian population of about 25,000 resides. The largest cities are Port Moresby with a population over 220,000, Lae (90,000), Madang (30,000), Mt Hagen (45,000), Wewak (23,000), and Goroka (25,000).

Linguistic Affiliation. Well over one thousand languages are spoken throughout New Guinea. After Colonization, Papua New Guineans needed to communicate with one another and with outsiders. On German (and later Australian) plantations and wherever individuals speaking different languages met, a pidgin language referred to as Neo-Melanesian or Melanesian Pidgin developed. Now known as Tok Pisin ("talk pidgin"), Melanesian Pidgin is spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. While English is taught in school and is the official language of business and government, Tok Pisin is a symbol of national identity and a preferred means of communication. Hiri Motu, a trade language that originated on the south coast in Papua among participants in a traditional trade network, is spoken only in that area.

Symbolism. While preparing for independence and attempting to promote national identity, leaders and artists drew on symbols reflecting the nation's unique cultural and natural diversity and continuing traditions. The national flag is a rectangle divided diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right. The upper triangle is red with a yellow bird of paradise; the lower triangle is black with five white stars representing the Southern Cross. Black, red, and yellow are traditional colors in many Papua New Guinean societies. Items of traditional exchange ( kina shells, pigs) are prominent on the currency. The Southern Cross symbolizes the country's close relations with other South Pacific nations. The national song, "O Arise All You Sons," reflects a commitment to Christianity in its references to God and the "Lord".

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation. Before colonization, an individual's identity was grounded in his or her kin group and rarely extended beyond the kin groups of close relatives and in-laws. While an individual may have shared a language and culture with tens of thousands of persons, only leaders and other unusual individuals spent time outside the villages nearest to his or her "place." After colonization, Papua New Guineans experienced political, social, and economic integration. Missionaries and administrators suppressed "tribal" warfare to allow freedom of movement and integrated villagers into the colonial economy as plantation workers and mission helpers. Missionary activities also led to the spread of Christianity and Western education; the building of roads, airstrips, and radio stations; and the shared experience of racial prejudice directed at local peoples by many whites.

Colonization and change were uneven, with island and coastal areas colonized before the interior and some groups resisting change for decades. Outsiders did not visit the highlands until the 1930s, and some areas were first contacted as late as the 1970s. Differences in education and economic development contributed to ethnic and class differences.

National Identity. In the 1960s, Australia moved toward liberating Papua New Guinea by establishing self-government and a House of Assembly and building institutions of higher learning to train an educated elite to serve the country.

The focus on higher education was matched by efforts to foster closeness and national pride among the students that would cut across ties with wantoks (those in the same language group) and flow outward to the rest of the country. Students were taught to express their experiences in poetry, music, stories, and art that dealt with the "beauty of village life," the opposite sex, pride in their cultures, and the question of how they could lead the country into the modern world without becoming selfish. Regardless of this soul-searching, class differences are emerging as educated parents with good jobs provide for their children's future, and there is increasing intermarriage between persons of different cultural background who mingle in school and at work. Communicating in English or Tok Pisin, many couples fail to pass on their mother tongues to their children, alienating their village kin.

Ethnic Relations. Before independence on 16 September 1975, a number of micronationalist movements threatened secession from a nation that many felt was a colonial invention. Papua Besena emerged in 1973 under the leadership of Josephine Abaijah. Its objective was to free Papua from Australian colonial rule and unification with the more heavily populated New Guinea. In March 1975, Papua Besena declared Papuan independence but did not go beyond that symbolic act.

In 1964, the discovery of copper in Bougainville resulted in the construction of a giant copper mine. It was argued that the profits from the mine would benefit all of Papua New Guinea. Bougainvilleans were suspicious of the motives of the Australians and the expatriate company and resentful of the mainland Papua New Guineans who were brought in to build the mine. In November 1988, a guerilla operation began that became the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). The conflict continued throughout the 1990s and has been difficult for the police and defense forces that have been pitted against fellow citizens.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

Before European settlement, there were no towns. Thousands of villages and hamlets were connected by narrow paths, customs, and networks of marriage and trade partners. Bush material houses were temporary as people moved with their new gardens and as alliances dissolved and re-formed. Men spent their nights with other men and boys in elaborate men's houses, while their wives and female relatives slept and ate in smaller women's houses. Most villages were home to more than one kin group. With colonization, dispersed settlements were combined into larger villages for easier administration and the provision of education and health care. The first towns grew up around mission and administrative centers, near airstrips, or on hillsides overlooking good harbors. Towns were small, and homes and nonresidential structures were simple one-story buildings. The first Papua New Guineans to live in towns were men. Many workers were chosen from nearby villages to which they were expected to return at night, but some lived in servants' quarters ( boi haus ) or company barracks. The exclusion of New Guineans from areas of European settlement was maintained almost up until independence. After World War II, there was an expansion of economic opportunities for both colonizers and local peoples, resulting in a rapid growth of towns and an increase in urban migration as men, and later their wives and children, came to town seeking employment, education, and excitement. The Australians tried to control the influx by building company housing for workers and their families and denying residency rights to other migrants, but that policy was only partly successful. "Squatter" settlements became stepping-stones for migrants who came to test the waters in town and migrants who wanted to save money to invest in their villages. They have become islands of safety in crime-filled towns as wantoks band together, apart from other groups.

In preparing for independence, colonial and Papua New Guinean officials built institutions such as the National Arts School, where students and other artists and architects used traditional and modern elements in designs for buildings in the capital and elsewhere.

Papua New Guineans continue to be ambivalent about the expense and violence of town life. Markets, parks, and shopping centers draw thousands of visitors every day, most of whom are interested in observing the spectacle and meeting up with wantoks to gossip or plan group events. Airports are crowded with travelers' friends and families, onlookers, and unemployed youths observing the movements of people from around the world.

Food and Economy

Food in Daily Life. Staples include starchy vegetables (wild sago, breadfruit, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, and rice) complemented by wild greens, several varieties of bananas, and coconuts, mango, and other fruits. Domestication of animals and hunting provide fowl, pork, and meat from birds, marsupials, turtles, and cassowaries. In riverine and coastal areas, fish and shellfish may form a significant part of the diet. Villagers cook two meals a day, boiling or roasting the food. Earth ovens are dug on ceremonial grounds for special occasions. Leftovers, sugarcane, and coconut milk are consumed while people work in their gardens. Tea is drunk at all times. Urban restaurants provide international cuisine to those who can afford it. Kai bars (fast-food stands) are popular. Food taboos vary and are often temporary, as with restrictions on pregnant women and initiates. Others are totemic, involving plants or animals that are symbolic of kin groups. Still others are relational; for example, a son-in-law may not consume food in the presence of his mother-in-law.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Papua New Guinea is renowned for ceremonial occasions at which hundreds of pigs or other valuables are distributed to guests. Competitive feasting ("fighting with food") between big men and chiefs features oratory, dancing, singing, drumming, and feasting that go on for days, along with the payment of bride-prices and other exchanges. Special drinks were rarely part of such ceremonies in the past, but now beer and alcohol are often part of major exchanges. Papua New Guineans celebrate nontraditional holidays such as Christmas and Easter, but rarely with the exuberance or expense involved in a traditional feast.

Basic Economy. Villagers produce most of their own food, and many townspeople plant gardens and rely on open-air markets for fruits and vegetables sold by village women using kina for currency. Urban supermarkets import an array of expensive foods and other items. Most residents rely on small trade stores for rice, sugar, tea, and tinned fish, as well as soap, clothing, blankets, kerosene lanterns, and matches.

Land Tenure and Property. Most land is vested in kin groups and allocated according to need. Individual land ownership is not common; individuals may own a grove of banana trees but not the land they grow on. While land normally passes from father or mother's brother to children or nieces and nephews, the intended recipients provide much assistance and gifts to the "owners" before the land passes to their care. Migrants who fail to participate in village exchanges risk being "dispossessed" in favor of people who have supported local landowners.

Commercial Activities. Commerce is centered in the towns. Papua New Guinea developed its own television station in the late 1980s, and radio news and entertainment shows reach most villages. Tourism brings forty thousand visitors a year, mostly to the Sepik River and Trobriands. The road system is limited. Port Moresby is cut off from the rest of the country except by air and ship. With most places being difficult to reach, there are many undeveloped areas and labor migration is high.

Major Industries. The major industries are extractive. In addition to gold mining and oil drilling, major industries include coffee, copra, cocoa, cattle, oil palm, timber and wood-chip mills, and tuna canneries.

Trade. Traditional artifacts and carvings are sold throughout the world but provide only a small income. Important exports are copper, gold, coffee, cocoa, copra, coconut oil, and timber. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, food and live animals, manufactured goods, and pharmaceuticals.

Division of Labor. Outside the cities there is little specialization. The village division of labor is by age and gender, with men and women cooperating to feed their families from gardening and other subsistence activities and children and older persons assisting in a variety of ways. Cash crops generally are owned by men, but men and women tend and harvest them. Urban specialization is served by local schools, and few residents are educated abroad.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes. There are no castes and only recent evidence of the slow emergence of classes. Economic inequality, however, cuts across ethnic and cultural boundaries. The common perception is of a country divided into "elites" and "grassroots," with the grassroots including most villagers and low-income earners in town and the elites being educated, higher-income persons, "coffee millionaires," and other entrepreneurs. Social interaction is intense as elites attend clan affairs and are expected to open their homes to wantoks at any hour.

There is evidence of growing disparities in the lifestyles and opportunities of elites versus grassroots and of the emergence of a middle class. Most villagers are not poor. Daily life is simple with few of the expenses of urban life. Villagers invest their cash income and traditional wealth in the social and political relations that maintain their place in village society. The elites and the middle class, however, must balance the expenses of living in town with investments in larger kin groups. While the demands of wantoks can act as a powerful leveling force, higher-income families are investing in productive businesses and ensuring that their children have the same class privileges they do.

Symbols of Social Stratification. There are many expensive restaurants and night spots in Port Moresby and other big cities, and the highways are jammed with imported cars. While some elites dress down for work and social occasions in clothes bought at secondhand stores or wear the grassroots fashion for women, the laplap and the meri blouse, many buy their clothes from fashionable boutiques and department stores or overseas. Wealthy citizens have invested in properties outside the country in anticipation of retirement or a people's revolution.

Political Life

Government. Papua New Guinea is an independent Commonwealth nation that achieved independence on 16 September 1975 from the Australian-administered United Nations trusteeship. It is a parliamentary democracy with a governor general representing the British Crown, a prime minister and cabinet, and a 109-member unicameral, popularly elected parliament. The legal system is based on English common law. There is a Supreme Court in which the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the National Executive Council. Other judges are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission. There is universal suffrage, and the voting age is 18 years. In 1977, the Organic Law on Provincial Government resulted in decentralization. There are nineteen provinces (former colonial districts), each with an elected assembly, premier, and cabinet. There is also a National Capital District. At the local level there are local government councils that lost power as provincial governments gained government resources and funds. Corruption and other difficulties led to the abolition of provincial governments in 1995 and their replacement with a local government structure headed by governors in each province.

Leadership and Political Officials. Most traditional leaders achieved influence by building extensive networks of exchange partners and supporters. The characteristic "big man" was hardworking, skilled in oratory, personable, intelligent, generous, and the husband of more than one wife. Big men still exist, but their influence has lessened because they cannot control the global forces affecting their communities. Candidates for higher office must build multiple local power bases, an expensive and delicate political operation that often results in questionable campaign practices and eventual electoral disappointment and single terms of office. There are many political parties, and prime ministers must forge coalitions. Parties are unstable and hard to distinguish on the basis of substantive issues. Prime ministers rarely stay in office for the full five years, and parliament members switch parties frequently.

Social Problems and Control. There are both village and national court systems. Village courts use custom rather than English law, a situation that sometimes results in injustice from the point of view of the larger society. A chief ombudsman can resolve some conflicts between the two systems, but his reach rarely extends beyond Port Moresby. Policing a large and thinly populated country is difficult, and many citizens fear the police. Rural police sometimes compensate for inadequate manpower by using excessive force with lawbreakers; and urban police can be equally brutal. Crimes go unreported because citizens fear police brutality or prefer to handle the offenders, who are often kin, themselves. The police have been known to take the law into their own hands, as has the Papua New Guinea Defense Force. The nation's "law and order" problem is multifaceted, but the depredations of youthful gangs, outbreaks of rioting and looting, and the resurgence of tribal warfare are major sources of disorder and misery.

Military Activity. The nation's only major military action has been the ongoing conflict with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. In the late 1970s and 1980s, there were fears of an Indonesian invasion across the border with Irian Jaya. A small guerilla freedom movement of no more than four hundred men used the sparsely populated border area to stage attacks against the Indonesian army and then flee to the Papua New Guinea side. Unwilling to contemplate war with the much larger Indonesia, Papua New Guinea used its armed forces to send refugees back across the border and capture rebels.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

Nongovernmental organizations and voluntary associations help residents confront rapid social and economic changes. Organizations with multiple aid programs include the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Red Cross. AIDAB's Women in Development Fund targets women as beneficiaries of financial and educational support, teaching business and management training, giving women start-up funds, and encouraging family planning and women's political involvement. The UNDP office in Port Moresby officially opened in 1975.

Voluntary organizations include Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the U.S. Peace Corps, and British Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Community Aid Abroad (Australia) and Ecological Enterprises support or enhance the work of the Papua New Guinea Integral Human Development Trust, a literacy and awareness resource group with twenty-three member organization that is involved in programs for progressive social change. It has trained over two thousand young men and women as village literacy teachers and runs an AIDS awareness program and the Cross-Cultural Awareness Program for immigrant workers and volunteers.

Gender Roles and Statuses

Division of Labor by Gender. Village subsistence centers on horticulture, with men clearing forests and bush so that their wives can plant gardens and tend pigs. Some crops, such as bananas, sugarcane, and cash crops (such as coffee and cocoa) are planted and tended by men. While women often help pick cash crops, most of the income goes to men. Men build houses and fences, while women make grass skirts and net bags ( bilums ). Women do the daily cooking, while men butcher pigs for feasts. Both men and women look after small children, with a father tending his infant while the mother weeds her gardens. In town, most women do domestic chores and child care while their husbands are at work. Women with jobs employ extended kin to do chores. In both towns and villages, men who do women's work are stigmatized as "rubbish men." Working women do not experience the same stigma, although they suffer prejudice and sexual harassment if they appear too independent and assertive.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. Trobriand chiefs and others who go on open seas Kula (exchange) expeditions and give away yam harvests at the annual yam festival gain authority and privilege, and a chief may have many wives and expect commoners to bow in his presence. However, without female relatives to participate in female exchange events and redeem matrilineage lands and honor, those men's power would evaporate. Among the Gende and many other societies, big men achieve their positions by investing in feasts, bride-prices, and other exchange needs of their partners and followers. To do this, big men need many wives and female helpers to raise food and pigs to give away. Hardworking women are a man's most valuable asset, and husbands who do not consider their wives' interests risk losing them to other men. Women's procreative power induces men to go to great lengths in initiation and other rituals to strengthen themselves for contact with women and achieve a balance or edge in gender relations. In the towns, men and women are redefining their relations. With less education and fewer job opportunities, women do not contribute much income to urban households and as a consequence suffer the infidelities and physical abuses of men who feel burdened by the demands of family and the high expectations extended kin place on employed men, especially those who earn high salaries. Village women help pay back their own bride-prices and assist men in raising cash crops. Some rural women earn money by selling vegetables in urban markets.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage. The choice of a marriage partner is rarely left to the individual. After initiation into adult society, young men and women spend time with the opposite sex in supervised courtship sessions. Ideal marriage partners are hardworking and attractive. Clan exogamy is a must, and parents hope their daughters will marry prosperous suitors whose kin pay large bride-prices and who will be good allies in exchange and war. Women pressed into incompatible marriages can return home or threaten suicide. If those strategies fail, young women may run away with lovers or commit suicide.

Men are more likely to be unmarried, as polygyny is practiced and big men attract a greater share of wives. In Gende society, as many as 10 percent of adult males are polygynous at some time. Divorce occurs even in areas where Catholicism is practiced. Often it is the women who initiate it, as men are loath to lose a female worker. After divorce, most adults remarry unless they are very old and living with children or grandchildren.

As Papua New Guineans become more involved in the cash economy and urbanization, marriage patterns are being transformed. Bride-price inflation is one response to economic inequality. The practice of women competing for men rather than men trying to attract women is having an impact on marital politics throughout the nation. Women are in an insecure position, especially urban women who must tolerate domestic abuse and infidelity to hold on to their husbands.

Domestic Unit. The basic village household consists of a husband, a wife, their unmarried children, and perhaps the husband's parents. Extended families live in adjacent houses, gathering frequently for meals, companionship, work parties, and ceremonies. Men's houses are no longer common, although young men may live with other bachelors. Household decisions involve consensus between able-bodied adults, although young wives defer to older members. Residence is usually patrilocal. Less common is matrilocality and avunculocality. Neolocality occurs only in towns. Even then, a couple may be joined by their parents and other kin.

Inheritance. Land and property rights generally pass from parents to children or from uncles to nieces and nephews. These kin relations are extended to other members in an individual's kin group. All these persons have an interest in the prosperity of the kin group, and those of the younger generation who contribute the most to that prosperity are likely to receive the most. Reciprocity is a key element, and nonkin can become "sons" and "daughters" of a group if they contribute generously to group affairs. While women generally do not use clan or lineage lands, they retain the option to do so by contributing to group exchanges.

Kin Groups. The important kin groups are patrilineal and matrilineal lineages and clans, Clan members do not necessarily live on clan land. Women marry out, and migrants move far from their ancestral territories to find wage employment and other benefits in town. All the members of a kin group, however, must participate in clan affairs, contributing to bride-prices and other exchanges and helping with initiation and mortuary ceremonies. Clans and lineages can shrink and disappear through deaths and indifference. Persons join other clans, allying themselves with their wives' clans or being adopted as children. An important asset is the land a clan's members hold in common. Land is valuable and a way of life for 85 percent of the population. It is also a form of social security for persons living in towns, most of whom actively engage in kin group affairs to maintain their rural option.

Socialization

Infant Care. Most babies are born outside the village in a birth hut or garden house, where mother and child spend the first few days or weeks after the birth in relative isolation, gathering strength and hiding from malevolent forces. For the next several years, mothers nurse their babies, and the babies are carried everywhere and played with by adoring relatives. In many societies, there is a small feast when the baby, especially a first child, is around a year old to celebrate its existence and let the parents show their appreciation to all those who made its birth possible, including the mother's family and the bride-price supporters.

Child Rearing and Education. Child rearing is indulgent until age five or six for girls and a few years older for boys. Children explore their environment and run free most of the day. Corporal punishment is rare as people believe a child's spirit may leave its body if the child is hit or frightened. A troublesome child is left alone or ignored. If necessary, such children may be taken to the bush or a garden house to act out or sulk. Children are taught by example. Little girls follow in their mothers' and older sisters' footsteps, at first doing child minding or running errands, and later helping in the gardens. Boys spend a longer time playing with other boys but eventually collect firewood and carry water and, later, clear bush and hunt or fish with their fathers. Older boys and girls may go through separate initiation or puberty ceremonies to prepare them for marriage and adulthood. Rituals and taboos are elaborate, arduous, and sometimes terrifying. Young men and women are taught the meanings and responsibilities of their genders to prepare them for social responsibilities and marriage, including sexuality. Badness in children is not something parents blame themselves for; evil spirits may cause a child to be selfish and cruel, in which case, the parents hire a medium.

Higher Education. Higher education is a goal of many parents, especially for their sons. Many parents worry about the physical dangers urban life holds for women. The urban job market is competitive, and some parents are not impressed with the value of a high school or college education, knowing that education does not guarantee a job. Many school leavers and unemployed graduates cause trouble in towns and villages. Parents spend their education dollars on only the brightest, most socially responsible children.

Etiquette

In village society, etiquette centers on reciprocity and being hospitable to guests and unexpected visitors, Feasting exchange partners has an urban equivalent in parties where workmates and wantoks are welcome along with their spouses and children. Reciprocity is expected but is not always possible, putting barriers between individuals of different income levels. One custom that everyone can participate in is sharing betel nut ( buai ). Relations between older and younger and male and female are relaxed. On meeting, men and women of different ages clasp hands or clasp one another around the waist. Couples do not openly express affection in public, but friends of the same sex may hold hands while walking. It is not rude to stare or for persons to crowd one another at counters or stand very close. In chiefly societies, commoners must bow before chiefs and are prohibited from eating foods reserved for the chief and his family.

Religion

Religious Beliefs. The first mission in eastern New Guinea was the London Missionary Society, which in 1871 set up mission teachers from the Loyalty Islands on islands adjacent to and on the Papuan mainland. Some New Guineans resisted the changes missionaries represented, while others accepted opportunities for new forms of wealth, power, and age and gender relations. Working for the mission sometimes provided young men with an income that allowed them to support and choose brides. Schooled in Christian ethics, young women often refused to have bride-prices paid for them. More often, Papua New Guineans have sought to blend old and new religions. Cargo cults aimed at acquiring the wealth and power of outsiders through blends of Christian and local rituals have been common. Today, indigenized forms of Christianity seek to control the human condition in a period of insistent and significant change.

Most societies have stories telling how superhuman beings created the natural world and society, inventing food plants, pigs and pig exchanges, male and female cults, sorcery, and other aspects of culture. In some societies, such deities are important in male and female cults; in others, they have little to do with present fortunes. Instead, sorcerers and witches, the spirits of deceased ancestors, nonhuman forest spirits, and monsters command the attention of the living. Another common belief is that the physical and nonphysical worlds are intertwined and that the well-being of living humans is directly related to the maintenance of proper social ties, adherence to taboos, and the propitiation of spirits. Except in the case of infants and the very old, death is not natural but results from wrongdoing or oversights on the part of the living.

Religious Practitioners. The pragmatic focus of their religions and the absence of a hierarchy is reflected in the intense involvement of Papua New Guineans in the ritual maintenance of their own spiritual and physical well-being. Only in a few chiefly societies do hereditary chiefs and their henchmen act as religious specialists. More generally, it is expected that all adults will acquire magic spells used in gardening, healing or preventing minor illnesses, and love magic. Many people possess a knowledge of sorcery or witchcraft. Big men often purport to be powerful spirit mediums and to possess both healing powers and deadly war sorcery. Witches are deviant or marginalized individuals who are suspected of using their relations with spirits and other cosmic forces to harm members of their own groups.

Rituals and Holy Places. Many rituals focus on health and fertility, such as male and female initiation rituals. Aimed at bringing about the maturation and future success of the initiates, initiation involves seclusion in the forest or a menstrual hut, fasting and food taboos, and body mutilation. Initiates seek contact with spirit guides who will help them throughout their lives and even marry spirit women on occasion. Initiation and other ceremonies focus on eliciting the help of ancestors and the living and are accompanied by the exchange of valuables and food. In preparation for war or in compensation for war deaths, a group may sacrifice hundreds of pigs to call forth the aid of the ancestors. Cannibalism and head-hunting-not universally practiced-were often aimed at rejuvenation or acquiring the bravery and good characteristics of the deceased, with wives eating a portion of their husbands' dead bodies to incorporate their virility and young warriors displaying enemies' heads as symbols of their own magic and efficacy.

Death and the Afterlife. When a person is near death or has died suddenly, mediums are called in to discover the causes and the identity of the sorcerer or witch who may have been involved. Appropriate rituals and sacrifices are performed to prevent death or free the deceased's spirit. Once death has occurred, relatives gather to express their sorrow, wailing and sometimes chopping off fingers, pulling teeth, shaving hair, or pulling out facial hairs. Burial is now common. In the past a corpse might be cremated, thrown in a river or buried at sea, or left in a tree to rot. The dry bones might be buried under a house floor to provide protection to the living with the jawbone worn around the neck of a relative or leader. Rituals believed to help the deceased accommodate to their new state occur at the funeral and at later mortuary ceremonies. Spirits may be encouraged to stay near the living. Some are sent off to a "place of spirits" not far from the living, on mountaintops or in the forest. Funerals and mortuary ceremonies are times to pay off the deceased's debts, recognize his or her accomplishments, and restore friendly relations among the living by exchanging wealth.

Medicine and Health Care

Along with plant medicines and traditional therapies for treating physical symptoms, patients and caregivers use rituals designed to overcome or ascertain the causes of sickness and mental illness, such as ruptured social relations, sorcerers, and ghost attacks. People make use of both Western and traditional treatments in dealing with symptoms while turning to traditional medicine to cure the underlying social and cultural causes of illness. Urban areas have adequate medical staffing in hospitals and clinics. Rural areas are serviced by a thinly spread system of aid posts and small health centers. Aid post workers have only the barest knowledge of first aid. Some village women are trained in midwifery and community-based family-planning services. Trained nurses and paramedics are rare, and doctors even more so. In 1992, there was one doctor for every six thousand persons. In rural areas, health care focuses on first aid and treating chronic diseases such as malaria and pneumonia. Attempts are made to deal with the special health concerns of women and children, including family planning, pregnancy and childbirth, and nutrition and growth. Infant and child mortality rates have dropped, with the most recent figures showing sixty-seven of every one thousand infants dying before the age of twelve months, but women's nutritional needs are not as well met. In many areas, women and girls are fed significantly less than men and boys, resulting in weight loss, anemia, osteoporosis, and greater susceptibility to illness. AIDS, gonorrhea, and syphilis are spreading. Urban use of alcohol, tobacco, sugar, and fatty foods has resulted in increased rates of disease. Medical, sports, and nutrition services and exercise classes are springing up in towns.

Secular Celebrations

The Arts and Humanities

Support for the Arts. In 1972, the government established the Creative Arts Centre (CAC) to train and support individuals, stage exhibitions, and commission work for national and private projects. In 1976, the CAC became the National Arts School. After Independence, the government supported the arts to promote a national culture. The completion of the parliament building in 1984 marked the apex of national artistic culture.

Literature. After the 1960s, historians and others took a greater interest in oral history and folklore. Oral traditions relating to clan genealogies, initiation and mortuary chants, magic and sorcery, and the teaching of children about their cultures were collected and analyzed, and some were published. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was also an interest in modern Papua New Guinea writing in English. Publishing outlets include the journals Bikmaus, Ondobondo, and The PNG Writer. Autobiographies have been published by overseas companies and by the National Research Institute.

Graphic Arts. The National Arts School offers courses in graphic design, textile design, fine arts, and music. Students are encouraged to generate contacts and income for themselves and the school. In addition to helping with large-scale projects such as the National Parliament, the National Museum, and the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation building in Port Moresby, students have been involved in designing publicity for the Port Moresby Show, and making murals, carved screens, and sculptures for shopping centers. Pottery is enjoying a renaissance as potters combine modern techniques with traditional designs. Tourists buy replicas or actual artifacts in local markets and several shops in Port Moresby. Tourism and the international art market fuel cottage industry production of wood carvings. Colorful string bags are produced and sold by women.

Performance Arts. In 1975, the National Cultural Council funded the Raun Raun Theatre, a popular theater movement that attempts to transpose traditional cultural forms into contemporary theater and address the concerns of rural society.

The State of the Physical and Social Sciences

With the development of institutions such as the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), the National Research Institute (formerly the Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research), and the PNG Institute of Medical Research in the 1960s and 1970s, Papua New Guinea has become a place where local and foreign scientists and academics engage in long-term interdisciplinary research. Perhaps the social science that has gained the most has been anthropology. Other subjects taught at UPNG include biology, business and economics, education, law, and medicine. In recent years, the UPNG's law faculty, the Law Reform Commission, NRI, and other national bodies and visiting researchers have focused on a number of pressing law and order issues, including violence against women, rioting and political corruption, the resurgence of tribal fighting, gangs, and conflicts over compensation for resource development. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research in Goroka and Madang sponsors research on a range of topics, including sexuality, STDs, nutrition, growth and development, infant mortality, and the epidemiology of health and disease.

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-Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi

Basic Data

Background & General Characteristics

The independent state of Papua New Guinea enjoys some of the Pacific region's liveliest media coverage. Though its two daily newspapers are foreign owned, the private press reports vigorously on corruption and political issues.

Comprising the eastern half of the Pacific's largest noncontinental island and over 600 smaller islands, Papua New Guinea is located some 93 miles north of Australia. Its citizens are predominantly Melanesians and Papuan with some Negrito, Micronesians, and Polynesians. Official languages are English, Tok Pisin (the widely spoken Melanesian Pidgin), and Hiri Motu, but 867 indigenous languages are spoken among 1,000 tribes throughout the country. Interaction between regions has been largely restricted due to the topography of the land and the diversity of the languages. Its government is a federal parliamentary system, with periodic free and fair elections, and an independent judiciary.

Europeans first sighted Papua New Guinea in 1512. The country was divided between the Dutch, Germans, and British towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1905 Australia took over the British sector naming it "the territory of Papua" and then captured the German sector during World War I. A member of the British Commonwealth, the country became fully independent in 1975.

Since independence Papua New Guinea has enjoyed strong media growth. In 1975 Papua New Guinea's major media consisted of one daily newspaper and one radio network. There was no television, and universities did not offer journalism training. By 2002, the region boasted two competing daily newspapers, a weekly English language newspaper, a television station, multiple radio stations, cable and satellite service, two university journalism programs, and several independent Web sites devoted to news and media analysis.

The nation's two daily newspapers, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (circulation 33,500) and The National (circulation 23,500), are both in English, with 15 copies per 1,000 people. The two weeklies, Wantok Niuspepa (published in Tok Pisin) and The Independent (English-language), have an aggregate circulation of 24,000. Of these four papers, all but Wantok Niuspepa also publish on the Internet. They compete aggressively in Port Moresby, but have limited circulation in other urban areas. Another English-language newspaper, the biweekly Eastern Star, is published in the city of Alotau, while the monthly, Hiri Nius, prints government news in all three official languages, with a circulation of 5,000. Newspaper circulation has increased steadily. In 1982 aggregate daily newspaper circulation was 39,000; by 1997 it had increased by 53 percent to 60,000. But the number of major daily newspapers has not increased since 1980.

In addition to Christian and national radio networks, the National Broadcasting Corporation has three networks: the Karai Service (English), Kalang FM, and the Kundu Service, which includes 19 provincial stations. The latter broadcast in an array of languages spoken in their respective regions. Some 650 of these languages have been identified, yet only 200 are related, and all are grammatically complex. A few hundred to a few thousand people speak each language. One native language, Enga, is spoken by some 130,000 people, and Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca.

The PNG FM company includes two commercial stations Nau FM (English) and Yumi FM (Tok Pisin). In 2000 a Motu-language station, FM Central, was launched. Listeners also receive Radio Australia's Papua New Guinea service broadcasts in Tok Pisin. There are two cable services with access to overseas channels and one local television station. Satellite broadcasting had become available by 2000.

The nature of media coverage in Papua New Guinea is strongly linked to the isolation of many of its peoples. The country's population is divided; some 85 percent live in remote villages, retaining ancient cultures and tongues, with little contact with the modern world. Few publications or televisions signals reach its rugged interior, where a multiplicity of tribal languages fragments communication. In addition to the absence of a common language, Papua New Guinea's literacy rate complicates the country's publishing climate; some 50 percent of its citizens cannot read and own no books aside from a Bible or hymnal. At the same time a literate, cosmopolitan culture of Australian expatriates bustles in the capital city of Port Moresby, where nearly all major print media are published. In a nation of geographically disparate peoples the majority of New Guineans count on radio as their primary news source rather than television, print, or online media.

The limited influence of Papua New Guinea's print media as a tool of political discourse was demonstrated during the pre-independence 1964 elections. Although the Australian government donated thousands of pamphlets and hundreds of tape recorders, loudspeakers, drawings, projectors, filmstrips, and flipcharts to local candidates, these materials went largely unused. Political advertising of election coverage and controversial correspondence were absent; not one candidate accepted a newspaper's offer of free publicity.

Most print publications in Papua New Guinea represent expatriates and the military, rather than natives. In 1888 its first newspapers represented white settlers, with the four-page weekly Torres Straits Pilot and New Guinea Gazette, as well as papers launched in 1917 and 1925. When the nation's three commercial newspapers ceased publication during World War II, mimeographed weekly news sheets appeared. Two tabloids appeared after World War II: The South Pacific Post reported Australian and overseas news from its offices in Port Moresby from 1951, followed by the New Guinea Times in 1959, published in the city of Lae. The two papers merged into the Post-Courier in 1969.

Newspapers targeting natives have been published irregularly. In 1962 the South Pacific Post launched the free, weekly Nu Gini Toktok published in Pidgin English with a special writing style explaining every word longer than two syllables. The paper specialized in self-help, health, housing, market reports on current prices for copra (dried coconut meat from which coconut oil is derived) and cocoa, comics, and radio listings; stories and photos were solicited from readers.

Nu Gini Toktok carried little international news except for stories about the United Nations or the South Pacific Commission, both of which have responsibilities in Papua New Guinea. Many stories were translations of Australian news inappropriate for the target audience; inconsistencies between readership and management ultimately killed the paper. Nu Gini Toktok's circulation never exceeded 4,000, and it closed in 1970. The church-owned secularly oriented Wantok, whose circulation of 10,000 includes distribution to all primary schools, replaced it.

Since Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975, several provinces have started their own newspapers. Niugini News, now closed, was started in 1979 and provided national and Australian news in simple English. Produced in Lae and distributed nationwide, Niugini News filled a gap for print media in some remote areas. Wantok Publications branched out to a more urban, educated audience with its 1980 acquisition of The Times of Papua New Guinea. This, plus the launch of the regional Arawa Bulletin, signaled a trend toward more local reporting.

As political parties evolved in Papua New Guinea, so did party newspapers. Pangu Nius was launched in 1970 as a monthly in English and Pidgin; the United Party also published a trilingual paper. Both had little success attracting advertisers. In addition to political papers nine church missions publish newspapers, some in three languages.

With the country's largest circulation, the Post-Courier is Papua New Guinea's most influential publication, followed by The Independent, which is distributed to a remote audience the urban Post Courier does not reach. The third most influential newspaper is Wantok, which serves the populace who speak Pidgin.

Australian media chains, religious organizations, cultural groups, or the government's Office of Information operate print publications in Papua New Guinea. For example, an Australian media conglomerate owns the Post-Courier. Papua New Guinea's Summer Institute of Linguistics publishes education materials in local languages, often developing a periodical geared toward interests of each individual region. In addition, religious denominations in Papua New Guinea operate their own publishing houses.

Economic Framework

Since indigenous peoples settled Papua New Guinea some 50,000 years ago, its population has relied on agriculture for subsistence. In the twenty-first century agriculture accounts for 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and supports more than 80 percent of the population. Generating a GDP of US $10.7 billion in 1996, Papua New Guinea's workforce numbers 1.941 million. Cash crops include coffee, oil, cocoa, copra, tea, rubber, and sugar. The timber industry was not active in 1998, due to low world prices, but rebounded in 1999. About 40 percent of the country is covered with trees, and a domestic woodworking industry has been slow to develop. Top industries are coconut oil, plywood, wood chips, gold, and silver- the country is rich in copper, gold, silver, and natural gas. Its annual $2.7 billion exports include gold, copper, coffee, palm oil, copra, timber, lobster, while the country imports $1.3 billion in food, machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals, and consumer goods. Papua New Guinea's major trading partners are Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, South Korea, and Germany.

Manufacturing is limited, making up 9 percent of the GDP. Small industries produce beer, soap, concrete products, clothing, paper products, matches, ice cream, canned meat, fruit juices, furniture, plywood, and paint. U.S. companies are developing Papua New Guinea's mining and petroleum sectors; an American-financed oil refinery project estimated to produce 30,000-40,000 barrels-per-day is under development in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in 1993 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1996. Australia is the largest aid donor to Papua New Guinea, offering about $200 million per year in assistance. It is followed by Japan, the European Union, the People's Republic of China, the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. International volunteers provide education, health, and development assistance throughout the country.

By 1999 Papua New Guinea's economy was troubled, as its foreign currency earnings suffered from low world mineral and petroleum prices. The resulting foreign exchange earnings-in tandem with government mismanagement-caused the currency (the kina) to plummet. Economic activity decreased in most sectors; imports of all kinds shrank, and inflation, which had been over 21 percent in 1998, slowed to an estimated annual rate of 8 percent in 1999. Papua New Guinea received emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Nearly all major media outlets in Papua New Guinea are foreign owned. Although the country enjoys a free press, critics fear the media could become a tool to influence popular support in favor of foreign investment.

The largest-circulation South Pacific daily, the Australian-owned Post-Courier, lists Rupert Murdoch's News, Ltd. as its majority shareholder, though private Papua New Guinea investors own one-third. Its coverage of Papua New Guinea and international news, sports, and business is published Monday through Friday and uses Australian Associated Press (AAP) news feed. The Post-Courier's circulation reached a peak of 41,000 in 1994, but it dropped after a rival daily newspaper, the Malaysian-owned National, was launched. Since 1998 the Post-Courier began publishing two magazines targeting the high-income sector; the weekly, general-interest Papua New Guinea (PNG) Magazine and Newagewoman, a monthly women's magazine mixing fashion with serious issues of domestic violence and sexual health. The Post-Courier also publishes the region's first Braille newspaper, The South Pacific Braille News, with an initial circulation of 400 upon its 2002 launch.

The Post-Courier's competing daily, The National, is owned by a Malaysian logging concern. It publishes little on the controversial subjects of logging and forestry, but is generally independent and unbiased on other issues. The first Pacific region daily to publish an online edition (1996), The National uses wire from Agence France-Presse. Both newspapers have shied away from using a six-day week publishing formula because of doubt that there is sufficient weekend market.

The weekly Independent is a product of the church-owned Word Publishing Co., which also prints the monthly PNG Business and the weekly, Tok-Pisin-language Wantok Niuspepa, with a circulation of 15,000. The Independent replaced The Times of Papua New Guinea in 1995. The government-owned monthly newspaper Hiri Nius had suspended publication in 2002.

Signals from the independently owned television broadcasting company, EM-TV, do not reach far outside Port Moresby. The government-owned National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) owns two radio networks that potentially could reach the entire country, but the networks are limited by poor funding and outdated equipment. A privately owned radio network in Port Moresby, NAU-FM, is expanding into other areas of the country.

Press Laws

The Papua New Guinean Constitution provides for free speech, including freedom of the media, and the government generally respects this freedom in practice. Specific acts of Parliament regarding defamation, commercial advertising, court evidence, and personal correspondence narrow the constitutional press freedom somewhat, while the Printers and Newspapers Act requires printer's and publisher's names to appear in the newspaper. The law neither authorizes nor restricts press freedom, but it does support circulation of the news. This is achieved through directives regarding all citizens' rights to participate in national development and the inclusion of native culture in this process.

The media provides independent coverage and analysis of major controversies, including the legal problems of government and opposition politicians. Since freedom of expression includes citizens and non-citizens relaying ideas, opinions, and information and refuting false statements through the press, an act of Parliament may enable access to mass media.

In 1994 Parliament approved the National Policy on Information and Communication of Papua New Guinea (NPIC). The comprehensive document regulates traditional media and new technology, including satellite broadcasting, information technology, cable television, print media, audiovisual media, advertising, and a code of ethics.

Censorship

Papua New Guinea's Customs Act prohibits the importation of printed matter, film, or slides considered blasphemous, obscene, depraved, or containing contents including sex, violence, or crime. The courts occasionally tried citizens and foreigners under provisions of the Censorship Act banning the import, broadcast, or publication of materials deemed pornographic according to Papua New Guinea's Censorship Code. The usual sentence for violations is confiscation and destruction of restricted goods, although the courts can legally impose a fine of US $17 or more, or a prison sentence of up to 2 years. Cosmopolitan and Cleo magazines were banned in 1995 for indecency in several of their issues.

Radio broadcast operators are required to maintain a high standard of programming. In this regard, radio programs that are morally acceptable to Papua New Guinean audiences are approved, with special attention paid to children's programs. Additionally, all programs must conform to the standards laid down and specified in the 1989 Censorship Act and administered by the Censorship Board of Papua New Guinea.

State-Press Relations

The government has been acutely sensitive to media criticism on several occasions. In 1997 the prime minister attacked as "totally unfounded" and "damaging to the country" a media report-later confirmed-relating to strained meetings between a World Bank team and the government. The prime minister has tried to block journalists from reporting on Parliament. The forestry minister admitted to an unsuccessful attempt in September to convince EM-TV management to stop showing a documentary while it was being broadcast, saying the program was not in the people's interest. Such government sensitivities have apparently affected reporting. The editor of a Port Moresby newspaper has stated publicly that the media have deliberately chosen not to report on certain areas that would be open subjects in Western societies, such as the private lives of political leaders and allegations of corruption.

Foreign-owned news media rather than government are the greater threat to content diversity in the Papua New Guinea press. Both daily newspapers are foreign owned, as is the only television channel. There are three government-owned radio stations and one private locally owned radio outlet. The private press, including weeklies and monthlies, vigorously reports on corruption and other sensitive matters. The state-run radio news is generally balanced.

According to the Information Services Review Committee, a developing country's communications should be given top priority. In Papua New Guinea the Office of Information operates under the prime minister's department but is responsible to the minister of the media. The Office of Information has five divisions. The Information Division provides national and provincial government news, national and overseas publicity, government public relations, and technical assistance to departments using mass media. The Government Liaison Division implements and evaluates national communication projects. The Policy Secretariat Division formulates national communication policy. There is also a Division of Management Services Staff Development and Training. The Production Division is the largest of the five divisions. It designs artwork for publications and has the capacity to translate materials into two native languages. The division produces films and video, and publishes print materials including a free trilingual national government newspaper.

Government intervention with the commercial media started in 1942, when the Australian army closed one newspaper on censorship grounds. After World War II, native riots and other events underscored the need for improved communications between the government and people.

In 1997 the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), a parliamentary body, began a review of ways to make the media "more accountable" and to ensure that persons "aggrieved by media abuses have accessible redress." However, media and general public representatives reacted strongly, viewing the CRC effort as an attempt to control the media. The CRC initially reported that no new restrictions needed to be enacted and recommended instead that an independent media commission be established charged with self-regulation, an approach that the media representatives supported. However, media representatives again became concerned when the CRC chairman stated in October that the CRC had been directed to draft legislation to make the media more accountable and to establish an independent body, in addition to the media commission, that would look into complaints against the media.

The resulting Media Council is composed of representatives from most of Port Moresby's media outlets. One of its tasks is to regulate the media practice, and receive complaints and concerns raised by the public including the government and any person concerned with the media. Its mission is to develop media professionalism and to ensure Papuan New Guineans are protected by a responsible, active, free media.

Papua New Guinea's Media Council has created a Code of Ethics constructed to maintain public trust, retain their freedom of speech, freedom of press, and do nothing that will erode the credibility of their news media. It covers such issues as accuracy and balance, conflict of interest, privacy, children and juveniles, taste and decency, victims of sexual offenses, purchase of information, subterfuge and misinformation. The British High Commission in Port Moresby also funded a complaints tribunal.

Still, clashes between government and press occur. In 2001 students at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby conducted a sit-in outside government offices to protest the privatization of public utilities and foreign influence over the country's economic policies. After five days, police broke up the peaceful demonstrations by opening fire and killing four protesters. An EM-TV film crew was threatened during the violence, and their car was set on fire. Two Post-Courier reporters were also punched and kicked by protesters while reporting at a hospital. The same year the director of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was fired soon after the prime minister accused NBC of acting irresponsibly in airing "incorrect and inflammatory statements" about the military standoff. Despite his termination, the director told the daily National that "The government does not control [NBC's] program and editorial output despite its 100 percent ownership. It is the people's radio and it must remain that way." Later that year NBC suspended a news director over his coverage of the military and student protests, saying his broadcasts "threatened national security."

At the end of 2001, the government granted autonomy to the island of Bougainville, ending the province's 10-year struggle for independence, which killed some 20,000 people and has been called the bloodiest conflict in the Pacific since World War II. As part of the peace deal Bougainville is receiving funding to establish and develop local media, currently limited to one radio station broadcasting from Radio Australia.

Attitude toward Foreign Media

Business travel to Papua New Guinea requires a passport valid for one year past entry, a business visa, and proof of an AIDS test to enter the country; and a journalist's visa for the members of the media.

Travel outside of Port Moresby and other major towns at night can be hazardous, as criminals set up roadblocks. In addition, travel to isolated places in Papua New Guinea is possible primarily by small passenger-aircraft to the many small airstrips scattered throughout the country, as roads are scarce.

Once in Papua New Guinea, foreign journalists have access to telephone, Internet, and telegraph services. These improved communications networks have dramatically increased the ease of foreign press operations and consequently international press coverage of Papua New Guinea. For example, only 21 articles appeared on Papua New Guinea in the New York Times from 1974 to 1978. But in another four-year period, from 1997 to 2001, the New York Times printed 165 stories on the country. In addition, international access to newspaper and other media Web sites located in Papua New Guinea has increased worldwide understanding and knowledge of the region.

Foreign correspondents in Papua New Guinea enjoy a fairly privileged position, with access to key governmental players. Journalism in the Pacific region operates under many pressures, and governments can very effectively limit the scope of local media organizations. Pressure can be applied, funding can be restricted, and individuals can be made to feel threatened. The resident foreign correspondent usually operates beyond the reach of those limits. In addition, local media often lack funding and resources; the work involved in delivering a major story is too much of a drain on the resources of a small broadcaster or newspaper. The foreign correspondent may be able to draw on the abundant resources of an international press service, using the already well established infrastructure of his or her media organization to deliver that story. From that point, local media often pick up the story, passing the blame to the foreign press organization.

Reports from foreign journalists indicate that multiple visas are difficult to obtain. In 2001 the Papua New Guinea government denied foreign journalists visas to avoid scrutiny of an asylum-seeker detention center on Manus Island, according to Reporters Without Borders, an international service organization. Some 360 refugees, largely Iraqi citizens, were reported to have been subjected to substandard living quarters and human rights abuses.

News Agencies

Getting up-to-date reliable information from the Pacific region has always been very difficult, according to David Robie, lecturer in journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea. The combination of orally based societies, limited technology, and unreliable telephone lines has meant the news from Papua New Guinea makes its way slowly to the outside world, if at all.

No government news agency exists in Papua New Guinea, but several private agencies operate. Among them are Tifa Papua, Jubi, and Info Papua. Pactok was set up in 1991 as a low-cost electronic mail network, carrying a Papua New Guinea news service or "niuswire" since 1996. Initiated by Pacific region journalist and educator David Robie, the service was created in response to requests from Papua New Guinea expatriates wanting to stay in touch with area news. The Niuswire carries stories from a variety of local sources, including the Post-Courier, as well as reports from the Association of Progressive Communication and InterPress Manila sources. Stories carried by the news service usually cover socioeconomic, political, environmental, and media issues.

The Australian Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, and Reuters are the main foreign news-wire agencies with an interest in the Pacific. Others include Kyodo, the Deutsche Press Association, and Knight-Ridder. Financial wire services also run stories touching on issues affecting trade or stock markets.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) continues to distinguish itself in the Pacific with a team of local contributors and stringers around the region who feed copy via Auckland into AFP's worldwide network. This combination of local knowledge, regional experiences, and an ability to translate the Pacific for Western audiences is unparalleled. Most world newspapers and even the Pacific media receive their news via AFP copy.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) maintains a resident correspondent in Papua New Guinea, providing radio and television coverage. It also retains a full-time correspondent covering the rest of the Pacific region from Australia. The correspondent coordinates a group of local stringers traveling regularly in the region. The ABC's international service, Radio Australia, provides specific programming about and for the Pacific region via short-wave radio, the Internet, and broadcasts on Pacific radio stations. These programs are in English and Tok Pisin. The ABC coverage of the Pacific, other than Papua New Guinea, has primarily been on radio, as television has not infiltrated the region.

Within the region, Pacnews plays an increasingly important media role. Media organizations around the Pacific send their top stories each day to the Pacnews office in Suva, where it is compiled into three daily dispatches and e-mailed and faxed to the growing number of subscribing news organizations. Pacnews provides access to firsthand reports, written by journalists on the spot-Pacific journalists writing about their own place and events, so they can explain with insight into the culture shaping those events. Though many of its subscribers are broadcast media, Pacnews is a text-only service.

The Internet has become a useful tool for media, primarily as another outlet for already established services. Most Western media organizations now operate Web sites that provide another outlet for their core services, allowing people in Papua New Guinea to read American newspapers within minutes of publication, and vice versa. E-mail has become an inexpensive and effective way of communicating, helping journalists to make contact across the vast distances of the Pacific region. The ABC now routinely uses the web and e-mail to file its stories. Foreign correspondents can load their voice report for radio into a laptop computer, compress it using new technologies, attach it to an e-mail, and send it home for broadcast, at the cost of a telephone call.

Several journalism networks and online media criticism organizations serving Papua New Guinea have sprouted since 1995. The Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) was formed in October 2001 to provide a formal network for Pacific Islands media. Although PIMA is headquartered in New Zealand, it represents Papua New Guinea media.

Pacific Media Watch is an independent, nonprofit, non-government organization of journalists. It supports media freedom, examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom, and media ownership in the Pacific region through its news articles and archives. The Asia-Pacific Network provides independent journalism on social, political, environmental, media, and development issues in the Asia-Pacific region and maintains an archive of Pacific media analysis and news.

Electronic News Media

Broadcasting in Papua New Guinea began in 1934 with the radio performance of a native missionary choir. By 1946 the country's Department of Education began creating programming for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) station of news, talk shows, sports, information, and entertainment; 40 percent for natives, 30 percent for expatriates, and 30 percent for both populations.

By 1961 the government had begun its own broadcasting system, whose programming included music, agricultural features, international news, and local government council meetings. In 1973 the government radio merged with ABC to create the Papua New Guinea Broadcasting Commission. Its educational programming is significant in a country where schooling is not compulsory, and fewer than one-third of its citizens attend school at all. The educational broadcasts decrease isolation, upgrade educational standards, and supplement correspondence school programs. Though the station is government supported, it began broadcasting advertisements in 1977 to cover operating costs.

Papua New Guinea's only television station, EMTV, was launched in 1987. By 2002 the station operated two transmitters in Port Moresby and six others around the country, reaching just under two million people. Its programming includes local shows in English and Tok Pisin as well as Australian programming.

Papua New Guinea entered the information age in 1997, when Telikom PNG launched Tiare, the national Internet gateway service. In 2002 there were five commercial suppliers. Papua New Guinea's electronic media has entered the modern age, with improved communication, Internet publishing capability, a new television station, and burgeoning print press distribution. Although the Internet is regarded as a far-reaching method of conveying grassroots, independent information over great distances, it is ineffective within Papua New Guinea. Internet connections rely on a reliable phone system, rare in Papua New Guinea's interior. Not only are the web servers necessary to establish a Web site inaccessible to most Papua New Guineans, less than one percent of the population has Internet access at all, and few villagers have financial resources to obtain and power computer equipment. Barriers of illiteracy and diverse languages make Web news ineffective. Outside of the urban middle classes, television is a tentative and marginal media source, as barriers to owning televisions hinder access for a large part of the region' population. Radio remains the primary means of receiving news; a sociologist studying one native village discovered radios in half the homes.

Education and Training

Some 68 percent of New Guinean journalists have attended college, and the country is home to two university journalism programs. At the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), a journalism program has been in place since 1974. Over 170 UPNG alumni work in key media positions throughout the South Pacific. Its award-winning student newspaper, Uni Tavua, is partially funded by the Post-Courier, the Dutch Communication Assistance Foundation, and the New Zealand High Commission. UPNG's journalism program was closed briefly in 1999.

Among resources published by journalism students are the fortnightly newspaper Uni Tavur ; a media and communications journal, Pacific Journalism Review ; a daily Web site and e-mail news service, Niuswire ; a quarterly communications newsletter e-mailed to more than 80 subscribers, Media Nius; ; and a comprehensive new textbook on mass media in the region: Nius Bilong Pasifik: Mass Media in the Pacific. The University of Papua New Guinea was the first Pacific region university to launch a full online newspaper in 1995.

In the city of Madang, the Divine Word University offers a two-year journalism diploma and a bachelor's degree in journalism. The program was established in 1989. The department operates as a news agency covering the Madang area, and all students are required to undertake coverage of news events and feature writing assignments for national and international media organizations. Students regularly provide the Post-Courier, The National, and The Independent with news stories and features. Reports are provided for radio news bulletins and for EM-TV. Students also wrote an in-depth feature on polygamy that was published in an international magazine, and other articles were syndicated by the international agency Inter Press Service (IPS) Asia-Pacific.

Summary

Since declaring independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea has made enormous progress in media development. It has added television and online publishing to its list of media resources, and expanded circulation and distribution of print publications. With its burgeoning journalism education programs and free-flowing media discourse, Papua New Guinea can expect increased improvement in press objectivity, freedom, and methodology. Most major media is still in foreign hands, but the inclusion of Internet publishing may increase grassroots, independent media. With the continued cooperation of government agencies in maintaining press freedom and developing new ways to reach indigenous peoples, Papua New Guinea's press looks upon a bright future.

Significant Dates

1987: EM-TV, Papua New Guinea's first and only television station, is launched.

1994: Parliament approves the National Policy on Information and Communication of Papua New Guinea.

1995: The National replaces Niugini News ; in 1996 it is the region's first online paper.

Bibliography

Asia Pacific Network. 2002. Available from www.asiapac.org .

Central Intelligence Agency. "Papua New Guinea." In CIA World Factbook. Washington, D.C.: 2002.

International Press Institute. "Papua New Guinea." 2000 World Press Freedom Review 2000.

Nash, Sorariba. "UPNG Lecturer Critical Over Lack of Hel,." Pacific Media Watch, 26 Aug. 1999.

Paraide, Daniel. "Papua New Guinea Report: Universal Access to Publications." Office of Libraries and Archives, Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Sept. 2001.

Programme in Comparative Law and Media, Wolfson University, Oxford University, and Yeshiva University. "Papua New Guinea." Communications Law in Transition Newsletter (Sept. 4, 2000).

Reporters Sans Frontiers. "Journalists Prevented From Reporting About Refugee Camp in Papua New Guinea." 15 March 2002.

- -. "Papua New Guinea Annual Report 2002."

Robertson, Robbie. "Challenges Over Pacific Free Media." Pacific Journalism Review (November 1995).

Robie, David. "On the Line: Papua New Guinea's Media Independence." Reportage Media Bulletin (Aug. 1996).

- -. " Post-Courier Shrugs off Buy-Out Claims." Asia-Pacific Network (April 11, 1999).

U.S. Department of State. "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices." Washington, D.C.: 1996.

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA [1] LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT [2] TOPOGRAPHY [3] CLIMATE [4] FLORA AND FAUNA [5] ENVIRONMENT [6] POPULATION [7] MIGRATION [8] ETHNIC GROUPS [9] LANGUAGES [10] RELIGIONS [11] TRANSPORTATION [12] HISTORY [13] GOVERNMENT [14] POLITICAL PARTIES [15] LOCAL GOVERNMENT [16] JUDICIAL SYST

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Independent State of Papua New Guinea

ANTHEM: O, Arise All You Sons.

MONETARY UNIT: The kina (k) of 100 toea is linked with the Australian dollar. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 toea and 1 kina, and notes of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 kina. k1=us$0.32468 (or us$1=k3.08) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Queen's Birthday, 1st Monday in June; Remembrance Day, 23 July; Independence Day, 16 September; Christmas, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Easter Monday.

TIME: 10 pm=noon GMT.

Situated to the north of Australia, Papua New Guinea has a total land area of 462,840 sq km (178,704 sq mi), including the large islands of New Britain, New Ireland, and Bougainville and hundreds of smaller islands. Comparatively, the area occupied by PNG is slightly larger than the state of California. The country extends 2,082 km (1,294 mi) nne-ssw and 1,156 km (718 mi) ese-wnw. Mainland Papua New Guinea shares the island of New Guinea, the second-largest island in the world, with Irian Jaya, a province of Indonesia. To the n is the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; to the e, the Solomon Islands; to the w, Irian Jaya; and about 160 km (100 mi) to the s, the nearest neighbor, Australia. Papua New Guinea has a total boundary length of 5,972 km (3,711 mi), of which 5,152 km (3,201 mi) is coastline.

Papa New Guinea's capital city, Port Moresby, is located on the country's southern coast.

Papua New Guinea is situated between the stable continental mass of Australia and the deep ocean basin of the Pacific. The largest section is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, which is dominated by a massive central cordillera, or system of mountain ranges, extending from Indonesia's Irian Jaya to East Cape in Papua New Guinea at the termination of the Owen Stanley Range, and including the nation's highest peak, Mt. Wilhelm (4,509 m/14,793 ft). A second mountain chain fringes the north coast and runs parallel to the central cordillera. In the lowlands are many swamps and floodplains. Important rivers are the Sepik, flowing about 1,130 km (700 mi) to the north coast, and the Fly, which is navigable for 800 km (500 mi) in the southwest. The Bougainville-New Ireland area comprises Bougainville and Buka islands, the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, New Ireland, New Hanover, the St. Matthias group, and the Admiralty Islands.

The smaller islands of Papua New Guinea are also areas of extreme topographic contrast and generally feature mountain ranges rising directly from the sea or from narrow coastal plains. Volcanic landforms dominate the northern part of New Britain and Bougainville, and some of the smaller islands are extremely volcanic. An eruption in September 1994 of two volcanoes caused the destruction of half of the town of Rabaul on New Britain Island. The country also experiences periodic high-magnitude earthquakes. On 16 November 2000, the New Ireland region experienced a quake that hit 8.0 on the Richter scale. It was recorded as the largest earthquake of the year worldwide, but fatalities were limited to two people. On 11 March 2003, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the same region, and on 9 September 2005, a 7.7 magnitude quake occurred; both quakes caused some damage but no reported deaths.

The climate of Papua New Guinea is chiefly influenced by altitude and by the monsoons. The northwest or wet monsoon prevails from December to March, and the southeast or dry trade winds from May to October. Annual rainfall varies widely with the monsoon pattern, ranging from as little as 127 cm (50 in) at Port Moresby to an average of 584 cm (230 in) in the western river basin. Most of the lowland and island areas have daily mean temperatures of about 27°c (81°f), while in the highlands temperatures may fall to 4°c (39°f) at night and rise to 32°c (90°f) in the day-time. Relative humidity is uniformly high in the lowlands at about 80% and averages between 65 and 80% in the highlands.

The flora of Papua New Guinea is rich and varied, with habitats ranging from tidal swamps at sea level to alpine conditions. In low-lying coastal areas, various species of mangroves form the main vegetation, together with the beautiful casuarina, sago, and palm. Most of the country is covered by tropical and savanna rain forest, in which valuable trees such as kwila and cedar are found. Orchids, lilies, ferns, and creepers abound in the rain forests. There are large stands of pine at elevations of 910-1,220 m (3,000-4,000 ft). At the highest altitudes, mosses, lichens, and other alpine flora prevail. There are over 11,500 species of plant throughout the country.

Papua New Guinea supports a great diversity of bird life. About 400 species have been recognized. Papua New Guinea is the major center for a number of bird families, particularly the bird of paradise, bower bird, cassowary, kingfisher, and parrot. There are about 214 species of mammals, many nocturnal, of which rodent and marsupial orders predominate. Butterflies of Papua New Guinea are world famous for their size and vivid coloring.

Papua New Guinea's environmental concern includes pollution, global warming, and the loss of the nation's forests. Coastal waters are polluted with sewage and residue from oil spills. The nation has 801 cu km of renewable water resources, of which 49% of the annual withdrawal is used to support farming and 22% for industrial activity. Only 88% of the nation's city dwellers and 32% of the rural population have access to improved water sources. Another significant source of pollution is open-pit mining. The country's cities have produced an average of 0.1 million tons of solid waste per year. Global warming and the resulting rise in sea level are a threat to Papua New Guinea's coastal vegetation and water supply.

The Department of Physical Planning and Environment is responsible for integrating environmental planning and conserving natural resources. In 2003, only about 2.3% of the total land area was protected. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 58 types of mammals, 33 species of birds, 9 types of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians, 31 species of fish, 2 types of mollusks, 10 species of other invertebrates, and 142 species of plants. Threatened species in Papua New Guinea included four species of turtle (green sea, hawksbill, olive ridley, and leatherback) and Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly.

The population of Papua New Guinea in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 5,887,000, which placed it at number 103 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 2% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 40% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 106 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005-10 was expected to be 2.1%, a rate the government viewed as too high, although the fertility rate declined from 5.1 births per woman in 1990 to 4.4 births per woman in 2005. The projected population for the year 2025 was 8,205,000. The population density was 13 per sq km (33 per sq mi), with major concentrations of population in the high-lands and eastern coastal areas of the island of New Guinea.

The UN estimated that 13% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 2.56%. The capital city, Port Moresby, had a population of 275,000 in that year. Other large cities and their estimated populations include Lae, 120,000; Madang, 35,300; Wewak, 25,143; Goroka, 25,000; and Rabaul, on New Britain, 17,855.

The numbers of emigrants and immigrants have been roughly equal. In the 1980s, many came as refugees from Irian Jaya. In 1993, some 3,750 such immigrants were living in a camp in Western Province, while another 6,000 or so had land or kinship ties with Papuan New Guineans and were living near the border. In earlier years, emigration of nonindigenous residents may have been influenced by constitutional provisions that restricted eligibility for naturalization to those with eight years' residency, but limited their tax and business rights to the same status as those of aliens. Many rural dwellers migrated to Port Moresby and other urban centers during the 1970s and 1980s. The number of migrants in 2000 totaled 23,000, including 5,900 refugees. By the end of 2004, there were 7,627 refugees (all of whom were Indonesians), 198 asylum seekers, and 135 others of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

From 1999-2005, the net migration rate was zero. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory. In 2002 residents of Papua New Guinea received $65 million in remittances.

Papua New Guinea has more than 1,000 different ethnic groups. Indigenous Papua New Guineans vary considerably in ethnic origins, physical appearance, and spoken languages. The indigenous people are Melanesians. They are usually classified by language group, with Papuans representing the descendants of the original Australoid migration and Austronesian speakers descended from later migrants. The former are generally found in the highlands and the latter in coastal areas and on the islands other than New Guinea. Other groups with significant populations include Negritos, Micronesians, and Polynesians.

Under the Australian administration of the former Territory of Papua and New Guinea, English became the official language; however, it is only spoken by 1-2% of the population. More widely spoken, there are now two other official languages: Pidgin, a Melanesian lingua franca with roots primarily in English and German, and Hiri Motu, another lingua franca of Papuan derivation. In all, there are more than 700 indigenous languages, most of them spoken by a few hundred to a few thousand people.

Indigenous religions, varying widely in ritual and belief, remain important in tribal societies in Papua New Guinea, with about 34% of the population practicing some form of traditional belief either exclusively or in conjunction with another faith. However, most of the population is nominally Christian. Of these, about 22% are Roman Catholics; 16% are Lutheran; another 8% are Presbyterian, Methodist, or of the London Missionary Society; 5% are Anglican; 4% from the Evangelical Alliance; and 1% Seventh-Day Adventist. Other Protestant sects account for 10% of the population. There are about 40,000 Baha'is and less than 2,000 Muslims. Certain Christian holidays are recognized as national holidays. There is a Council of Churches that serves to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding; members are primarily Christians.

Transportation is a major problem in Papua New Guinea because of the difficult terrain. Major population centers are linked chiefly by air and sea, although road construction has increased to supplement these expensive means of transport. Of some 19,600 km (12,179 mi) of roads in 2002, only 686 km (426 mi) were paved. In 2003, there were 34,468 passenger vehicles and 89,215 commercial vehicles. Papua New Guinea has no railroads. However, there are 10,940 km (6,798 mi) of waterways.

The government operates a fleet of coastal work boats, none more than 9 m (30 ft) long. The principal harbors are Madang, Port Moresby, Lae, and Rabaul. There are international shipping services by refrigerated container ships, other cargo vessels, and some passenger service to Australia, Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries, the US west coast, and Europe. The main shipping lines are government owned. In 2005, the merchant fleet was comprised of 22 ships of 1,000 GRT or more, totaling 47,586 GRT.

Papua New Guinea had an estimated 571 airports in 2004. As of 2005 only 21 were principal airports with paved runways, and there were 2 heliports. Papua New Guinea's national air carrier, Air Niugini, established in 1973, has undertaken most of the services previously provided by Australian lines. In 2003, about 691,000 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international flights.

Papua New Guinea appears to have been settled by 14,000 bc, with migrations first of hunters and later of agriculturists probably coming from the Asian mainland by way of Indonesia. Early communities had little contact with each other because of rough terrain and so maintained their autonomy, as well as their distinct languages and customs.

New Guinea was first sighted by Spanish and Portuguese sailors in the early 16th century and was known prophetically as Isla del Oro (Island of Gold). The western part of the island was claimed by Spain in 1545 and named New Guinea for a fancied resemblance of the people to those on the West African coast. ("Papua" is a Malay word for the typically frizzled quality of Melanesian hair.) Traders began to appear in the islands in the 1850s, and the Germans sought coconut oil available in northern New Guinea about that time. The Dutch and the British had earlier agreed on a division of their interests in the island, and from 1828, the Dutch began to colonize the western portion.

Although the British flag was hoisted on various parts of eastern New Guinea, the British government did not ratify annexation. Some Australian colonists were eager to see New Guinea become a British possession, for trade, labor, gold mining, and missionary reasons. However, it was not until 1884, after an abortive Australian annexation attempt and under fear of German ambitions in the area, that Britain established a protectorate over the southern coast of New Guinea and adjacent islands. The Germans followed by laying claim to three different parts of northern New Guinea. British and German spheres of influence were delineated by the Anglo-German Agreement of 1885. Germany took control of the northeastern portion of the island, as well as New Britain, New Ireland, and Bougainville, while Britain took possession of the southern portion and the adjacent islands.

British New Guinea passed to Australian control in 1902 and was renamed the Territory of Papua in 1906. German New Guinea remained intact until the outbreak of war in 1914, when Australian forces seized it. Although the territories retained their separate identities and status, they were administered jointly by Australia from headquarters at Port Moresby. In 1921, the former German New Guinea was placed under a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia; in 1947, it became the Trust Territory of New Guinea, still administered by Australia but now subject to the surveillance of the UN Trusteeship Council.

Both territories were merged into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949. A Legislative Council, established in 1953, was replaced by the House of Assembly in 1964. Eight years later, the territory was renamed Papua New Guinea, and on 1 December 1973, it was granted self-government. Separatist movements in Papua in 1973 and secessionist activities on the island of Bougainville in 1975 flared briefly and then subsided, though debates over citizenship and land-reform provisions were vigorous until the passage of a constitution in 1975. Papua New Guinea achieved complete independence on 16 September 1975, with Michael Somare as prime minister of a coalition government.

Somare was voted out of office in 1980 but reelected in 1982; subsequently, he put through a constitutional change giving the central government increased authority over the provincial governments. In November 1985, Somare was again voted out of office on a no confidence motion, and replaced by his previous deputy, Paias Wingti. Elections in mid-1987 returned Wingti to office at the head of a shaky five-party coalition, but his government was defeated in a no confidence vote in July 1988, and a coalition government led by Rabbie Namaliu replaced the PDM government.

A secessionist crisis on Bougainville dominated domestic politics during 1990-91. The Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) declared the island of Bougainville to be independent from Papua New Guinea in May 1990, and in response government forces landed on the north of Bougainville in April 1991. Paias Wingti, the leader of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), was reelected prime minister in July 1992 as the leader of a new coalition government with the support of the People's Progress Party, and the League for National Advancement. During 1993 the government continued to extend its control over Bougainville, partly because of popular revulsion against human rights violations by members of the BRA. In September 1994, rebel troops withdrew to the surrounding hills of the Bougainville copper mine allowing government forces to reclaim it. In 1995, the prime minister halted cease-fire talks.

Julius Chan was elected prime minister on 30 August 1994, but stepped aside pending a judicial inquiry into his hiring a group of mercenaries to put down the rebellion in Bougainville. In 1997, reformist premier Bill Skate, governor of Port Moresby, was elected by members of PNG's 109-seat parliament, defeating Michael Somare. Skate represented Julius Chan who lost his seat in the elections but who supported Skate's selection as premier.

Resolution to the Bougainville problem remained elusive until the government of Bill Skate reached a truce with the rebels in 1998. In April 1998, a permanent cease-fire agreement was signed and the reconstruction of war-torn Bougainville commenced. Up to 20,000 people had been killed during nine years of conflict. In 1999, the rebel leaders and the PNG government signed an agreement known as the Matakana and Okataina Understanding which established an agreement to continue discussions about the island's political future. In August 2001, the Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed, which would provide for an autonomous Bougainville government and secure a plan of disarmament. A referendum on independence would be conducted in 10 to 15 years' time.

Former Prime Minister Michael Somare became prime minister once again on 5 August 2002 when his National Alliance won the parliamentary elections in June that year. The elections were marked by violence and widespread irregularities, including vote-rigging. Somare was elected unopposed by a vote of 88 to 0, with members from Morauta's People's Democratic Movement and a section of the PANGU Party abstaining. Somare immediately set out to halt Morauta's privatization program, stating that the government would need more time to assess state assets. Somare headed a coalition of 13 parties and 20 independent members of parliament. He named a 28-member cabinet, including 19 new members of parliament.

In 2003, the PNG government formally began planning for setting up an autonomous government in Bougainville, with a multinational team in place to monitor the effort. In December 2004, the cabinet gave formal approval to a draft constitution granting the province of Bougainville free elections and an autonomous government. The cabinet also requested the United Nations Security Council to keep its mission in place in Bougainville 6-12 months to oversee elections. In May 2005, elections took place, with 293 candidates competing for 40 assembly seats. One month later, Bougainville elected Joseph Kabui president. Kabui named a caretaker cabinet comprising 10 members, with 8 of the ministries going to members of the ruling Bougainville People's Congress Party.

Following the deadly tsunamis of December 2004, in 2005 the Japanese Meteorological Agency was to begin providing PNG and 5 other western Pacific nations alerts of any tsunamis following earthquakes of 6.5 or greater on the Richter scale.

Papua New Guinea is an independent, parliamentary democracy in the Commonwealth of Nations, with a governor-general representing the British crown.

Under the 1975 constitution, legislative power is vested in the national parliament (formerly the house of assembly) of 109 members, including 20 representing provincial electorates and 89 from open electorates, serving a term of up to five years. Suffrage is universal and voting compulsory for adults at age 18. The government is formed by the party or coalition of parties, that has a majority in the national parliament, and executive power is undertaken by the national executive council, selected from the government parties and chaired by the prime minister.

The government has constitutional authority over the defense force, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, and intelligence organizations.

Political parties in PNG lack ideological conviction and rely almost exclusively on patronage politics, personalism, and regional bases. Generally, party allegiances have been fluid, with regional and tribal politics impacting greatly on political events. More than 40 parties registered to participate in the June 2002 elections. In those elections, Michael Somare's National Alliance Party (NA) took 19 seats, and formed a 13-party coalition. Former Prime Minister Mekere Morauta's People's Democratic Movement (PDM) took 13 seats. Other parties winning seats included the United Resources Party (URP), the People's Progressive Party (PPP), the Papua and Niugini Union (PANGU), the People's Action Party (PAP), and the People's Labor Party (PLP). Next elections were to be held no later than June 2007.

Papua New Guinea is divided into 20 provinces, including the National Capital District. Each province has its own government, headed by a premier. In addition, there are more than 160 locally elected government councils. The local government system went through a process of reform in 1995, when the then-19 provincial governments were replaced by regional authorities. Bougainville presently exercises significant autonomy in its administrative affairs.

The legal system is based on English common law. The Supreme Court is the nation's highest judicial authority and final court of appeal. Other courts are the National Court; district courts, which deal with summary and nonindictable offenses; and local courts, established to deal with minor offenses, including matters regulated by local customs.

The Papua New Guinea government has undertaken a process of legal reform under which village courts have been established to conserve and reactivate traditional legal methods. Special tribunals deal with land titles and with cases involving minors. An Ombudsman Commission has been established to investigate and refer to the public prosecutor cases involving abuse of official authority.

The constitution declares the judiciary independent of executive, political, or military authority. It also provides a number of procedural due process protections including the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the governor-general upon nomination by the national executive council in consultation with the minister for justice. The Judicial and Legal Services Commission appoint other judges.

Papua New Guinea's armed forces in 2005 had a total of 3,100 active personnel. The Army had an estimated 2,500 personnel that consisted of two infantry battalions and one engineering battalion. The country's maritime forces (400) were equipped with four patrol and coastal vessels and two amphibious landing craft. The Air Force (200) had no armed aircraft, only six fixed wing transports, and four utility helicopters. Australia provides a 38-member training unit. The defense budget totaled $26.7 million in 2005.

Papua New Guinea became a member of the United Nations on 10 October 1975 and participates in ESCAP and several UN nonregional specialized agencies, such as the FAO, the World Bank, ILO, UNESCO, UNIDO, and the WHO. It also belongs to the WTO, the ASEAN Regional Forum, APEC, the Colombo Plan, the ACP Group, the Asian Development Bank, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the Commonwealth of Nations, G-77, the Pacific Island Forum, the South Pacific Commission, and the SouthPacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (Sparteca).The country is part of the Nonaligned Movement.

In environmental cooperation, Papua New Guinea is part of the South Pacific Regional Environmental Program, the Antarctic Treaty, the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the London Convention, International Tropical Timber Agreements, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change and Desertification.

Economic growth, which averaged 3.7% in the late 1980s, rose to 9% in 1991, 11.8% in 1992, and 16.6% in 1993. The growth was driven by a mineral and petroleum boom centered in the Highlands region. Growth slowed to 3% in 1994, 2.9% in 1995, and 1.6% in 1996 and 1997 due to an anticipated drop in production from Papua New Guinea's aging mines and oil fields, and a 1997 drought that cut the coffee crop in half. To halt the economic decline, the government awarded a lease to private developers for the $800 million Lihir gold project. In addition, construction projects involving airports, highways, disaster rehabilitation, development of the Gobe oil field, and a petroleum refinery are planned or being implemented. These projects, together with the onset of new production at the mine, generated a slightly improved GDP growth rate of 1.6% in 1998. The economy did not reach the expected 4.5% increase in part because of the Asian financial crisis, and recurring drought. Growth in 1999 was 3.6%, and in 2000 and 2001, the economy experienced small contractions of -0.8% and -3.3%, respectively. Inflation persisted in double digits, averaging just over 10%. In 2002, positive growth returned, but at an anemic 1.2%, while the annual inflation rate rose to 12%.

In 2004, the economy expanded by 2.5%, down from 2.7% in 2003; in 2005, the GDP growth rate was estimated at 2.8%. The inflation rate has decreased from 14.7% in 2003, to 2.1% in 2004, and is not posing problems to the economy anymore. The unemployment rate has been fairly stable, hovering at around 3.3%. Although the country is endowed with natural resources, the poor infrastructure, and the difficult nature of the terrain, hamper exploitation efforts. Subsistence agriculture continues to provide a livelihood for 85% of the population.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $6 million or about $1 per capita and accounted for approximately 0.2% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $221 million or about $40 per capita and accounted for approximately 8.1% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 1990 household consumption in Papua New Guinea totaled $1.9 billion or about $346 per capita based on a GDP of $3.4 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 5.6%. It was estimated that in 2002 about 37% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

The Papua New Guinea labor force numbered an estimated 3.4 million in 2005. Agriculture accounted for 85% of the workforce, particularly in small farming communities and isolated villages. There is no data available on the country's unemployment rate. Legislation covers working conditions and wages, and provides for collective bargaining. The Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress is the main union federation. About one-half of the wage earners were unionized, and there were about 50 trade unions. Unions have the right to organize and bargain collectively but the government may cancel wage agreements if they are deemed to be against "public policy." The right to strike is protected, and it is prohibited to discriminate against union activity. However, there have been some reports of retaliation against union members. Approximately half of the 250,000 wage earners are union members.

The minimum working age is 18, although children may be employed in family-related work as young as 11. However, few children work in any capacity outside of subsistence farming. The minimum weekly wage in urban areas was $9.87 as of 2001. The law provides for minimum occupational health and safety standards; however, due to a shortage of inspectors, workplaces are not inspected regularly but only when a union or worker requests.

Agriculture in Papua New Guinea is divided into a large subsistence sector and a smaller monetary sector for export. Agriculture's importance has steadily declined since 1985, when it made up 34% of GDP-in 2003, agriculture only contributed about 26% to GDP. About 74% of the population engages in subsistence agriculture. Subsistence crops include yams, taro, and other staple vegetables. Cash crops are increasing in rural areas, stimulated by government-financed development programs. Production by small farmers of coffee, copra, cocoa, tea, rubber, and oil palm is important for export, although production on plantations, which are usually foreign owned, is also significant. Such plantations are gradually being sold back to nationals. Principal crops and 2004 output (in tons) included sweet potatoes, 520,000; sugarcane, 442,000; palm oil, 345,000; coconuts, 650,000; coffee, 60,000; cocoa, 42,500; rubber, 4,000; and pyrethrum, 1,000. Papua New Guinea grows very little rice, the staple food for many of its inhabitants. A single Australian company imports over 150,000 tons per year to satisfy demand.

Livestock in 2005 included an estimated 1,750,000 hogs, 7,500 sheep, and 4 million chickens. That same year there were 91,500 head of cattle, and production was being encouraged with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in meat supplies. Local poultry and beef production is sufficient to almost meet domestic demand. Beef imports are subject to quota controls. The farming of crocodiles, whose hides are exported, has also been expanded. Total crocodile production in 2003 was 27,000 tons.

In many coastal parts of Papua New Guinea, fishing is of great economic importance. The government is involved in the development of fishing through supply of freezers and of transport and research facilities. The total catch in 2003 was 188,217 tons, 7% from inland fishing. Fish exports in 2003 were valued at $98.7 million.

Forests and woodlands covered about 67% of the land area in 2000. Exploitable forests account for roughly 40% of the total land area and include a great variety of hardwood and softwood species. The total roundwood production in 2004 was 7.241 million cu m (255.6 million cu ft), as compared with about 7.06 million cu m (249 million cu ft) in 1981. About 76% of all the timber cut in 2004 was used for fuel; production of sawn timber was estimated at 70,000 cu m (2.5 million cu ft). Plywood, hardwoods, and logs are regularly exported to Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.

The mining of gold, silver, and copper were leading industries in Papua New Guinea. The country also produced cement, common clays, sand and gravel, stone, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude petroleum.

Gold output in 2003 was estimated at 70,000 kg, unchanged from 2002. In 1888, gold was discovered on Misima Island, marking the start of mining on Papua New Guinea. Prior to World War II, gold mining contributed 75% of export earnings. This proportion declined greatly in subsequent years, reaching 40% in 1995. Reserves on Lihir Island have been estimated to contain 613 tons of recoverable gold, and deposits at Porgera, near Ok Tedi, in the Star Mountains, were considered to hold another 470 tons. Production of silver in 2003 was estimated at 73,000 kg, unchanged from 2002.

Copper output (metal content) in 2003 was estimated at 204,000 metric tons. All copper came from the Ok Tedi mine, near the Indonesian border. In 1971/72, the Bougainville copper mine, one of the richest in the world, began to export copper ores and concentrates, which totaled 220,000 tons in 1988 and accounted for 44% of all exports in the years the mine operated. The mine closed in 1989 because of civil unrest caused by Bougainville Revolutionary Army militants. Nine years of civil unrest were temporarily halted by a cease-fire in 1997.

Mineral exploration was being expanded. Bauxite was known to exist on Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, and on New Ireland Island. Additionally, lead, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, limestone, and phosphate guano and rock deposits were present. Major deposits of chromite, cobalt, and nickel were believed to be recoverable at a site on the Ramu River, northeast of Ok Tedi. Mineral resources in Papua New Guinea were difficult and expensive to mine, and exploration and mining were hampered by rugged terrain, the nation's poor road infrastructure, and the high cost of developing infrastructure. Ethnic strife has become commonplace, and has had a negative impact on mining exploration and investment. Land disputes have become common as well, because land was communally held and there was no real system of land registration. To revive waning mineral exploration interest, the government announced a major overhaul of the tax system, which has been criticized for making investment in mining too expensive. The new tax regime was applicable only when a project was under way, and included guaranteed fiscal stability for the financing period of a project, the lowering of corporate tax rates, and the reduction of dividend holding tax. Companies were also able to deduct 25% of exploration expenditure against income, and were required to pay an additional profit tax. The mining levy would be phased out within a four-year period.

As of 2002, Papua New Guinea had a total installed electrical capacity of 0.542 million kW, of which conventional thermal plants accounted for 59% of capacity and hydroelectric plants the remainder. Electricity generated in 2002 was 1.538 billion kWh. Of this total, 44% came from fossil fuels and the rest from hydroelectric facilities. Consumption of electricity in 2002 was 1.538 billion kWh.

Papua New Guinea had proven oil reserves estimated at 170 million barrels, as of 2004. In that same year, oil production was estimated at 46,200 barrels per day. However, the country has no refining capacity and in 2002, its production was totally exported. In 2002, imports and domestic demand for refined oil products each averaged 22,040 barrels per day. Proven reserves of natural gas totaled 385.5 billion cu m in 2004. In 2002, the country's gross production of natural gas totaled 4.24 billion cu ft, of which 0.35 billion cubic feet was re-injected. Dry consumption that year totaled 3.88 billion cu ft. The country also imported 1,000 short tons of hard coal in 2002.

The industrial sector, constrained by the small domestic market and the population's low purchasing power, is largely undeveloped. Industries are concentrated in industrial metals, timber processing, machinery, food, drinks, and tobacco. Although industrial production, including construction and the provision of utilities, electricity and water, has increased to about 40% of GDP, the manufacturing component has been decreasing as a percent of GDP, from 9.5% in 1980 to 9% in 1990 to 8.2% in 2001, according to Asian Development Bank statistics. This relative decline is mainly due to double digit growth in the construction sector, a boom led by work on the Lihir gold mine and the Gobe petroleum project. The growth rate in construction peaked in 1997 and 1998, at 21.7% and 25.4%, respectively, but the sector continues strong.

In 2002, a number of construction projects involving housing, airports, highways, disaster rehabilitation, and a petroleum refinery were planned or under way. Handicraft and cottage industries have expanded. A government-sponsored program assists Papua New Guineans in setting up businesses and purchases equity in existing firms. It has also encouraged small-scale import-substitution operations.

In 2005, industry accounted for 38.3% of the GDP, and was seconded by agriculture with 35.2%, and services, with 26.4%. However, 85% of the 3.4 million labor force continues to be engaged in subsistence agriculture.

The Papua New Guinea Scientific Society, founded in 1949 at Boroko, promotes the sciences, exchanges scientific information, preserves scientific collections, and establishes museums. The University of Papua New Guinea, founded in 1965 at Waigani, and the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, founded in 1965 at Lae, provide scientific and technical training. The Lowlands Agricultural Experiment Station, founded in 1928, is in Kerevat. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research was founded in 1968. In 1987-97, science and engineering students accounted for 10% of college enrollments.

In 2002, Papua New Guinea has high technology exports totaling $11 million, or 195 of its manufactured exports.

Trade in rural areas is mostly informal and cash is used in transactions. The local market, particularly in fruit and vegetables, is an important feature of economic and social life. Domestic trade in urban centers is primarily through modern supermarket chains and independent stores. The companies sponsoring supermarkets tend to be in both the importing and wholesale businesses and take responsibility for distribution of goods to outlying villages, which are generally somewhat isolated. Domestic trade is hampered by street gangs that terrorize local and foreign residents and merchants. There are a few Australian-based franchises within the country.

Most stores are open weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm and until noon on Saturdays. Banks are open from 9 am to 2 pm Monday through Thursday and from 9 am to 5 pm on Fridays. Other businesses operate from 8 am to 4:30 pm weekdays. Most businesses and government offices do not open on the weekends.

In 2000, Papua New Guinea's exports totaled $2.4 billion while imports totaled $1 billion, down from $1.1 billion in 1999. Consumer goods accounted for 9.3% of imports; machinery, 17.8%; industrial supplies, 18.3%; transportation equipment, 15.1%; food and beverages, 17.2%; and other imports, 0.3%. Of its natural resources, Papua New Guinea mainly exports crude petroleum (29%), copper ore (8.9%), and coffee (6.1%). Other exports include palm oil (6.0%) and rough wood (1.8%).

Through most of the period when Papua New Guinea was a territory administered by Australia, the two were also major trading partners. In the 1970s, Papua New Guinea's trade with other countries, especially Japan and Germany, increased.

In 2005, exports reached $2.8 billion (FOB-Free on Board), while imports grew to $1.6 billion (FOB). The bulk of exports went to Australia (28%), Japan (5.8%), Germany (4.7%), and China (4.6%). Imports included machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals, and chemicals, and mainly came from Australia (46.4%), Singapore (21.6%), Japan (4.3%), and New Zealand (4.2%).

Papua New Guinea relies heavily on imported goods and services, both for consumption and as inputs for its exports. The country registered deficits on current accounts during the early 1980s, after recording annual surpluses in the late 1970s. In the late 1980s, mine closings, civil unrest, and sustained deterioration in prices for the country's principal agricultural exports severely tested the economy and led to a program of structural adjustment supported by the World Bank and IMF. When the economy rebounded in the early 1990s, however, the government lost interest in the reforms and instituted expansionist fiscal policies that led to a decline in international reserves. To restore foreign exchange levels, the government devalued the currency in 1994. When that failed to solve the problem, the government let the kina float, resulting in a depreciation of about 28% by 1996. In 1995, Papua New Guinea reached an agreement with the World Bank and IMF on a series of economic reforms. The subsequent receipt of approximately $200

million in loans in August 1995 substantially bolstered foreign reserves. Another agreement with the IMF in 2000 brought in an additional $115 million in loans to the country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2001 Papua New Guinea had exports of goods totaling $1.81 billion and imports totaling $932 million. The services credit totaled $285 million and debit $662 million. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported that in 2001 the purchasing power parity of Papua New Guinea's exports was $1.8 billion while imports totaled $1.024 billion resulting in a trade surplus of $776 million.

Exports of goods and services totaled $2.4 billion in 2003, while imports grew to $2.0 billion. The resource balance was consequently positive, at $378 million. The current account balance was fairly stable in 2003 and 2004, hovering around $237 million. Foreign exchange reserves (including gold) increased to $636 million in 2004

The Bank of Papua New Guinea, the country's central bank, was established in 1973, and the currency, the kina, was first issued in April 1975. The kina is backed by a standby arrangement with Australia, and the value of the kina is tied to the Australian dollar.

The Papua New Guinea Banking Corp. was set up in 1973 to take over the savings and trading business of the former Australian government-owned bank operating in Papua New Guinea. It competes with seven other private commercial banks, three of which are subsidiaries of Australian banks. Liquidity increased over the first six months of 1996, with total liquid assets held by the commercial banks standing at $2.1 billion at the end of 1996. The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits-an aggregate commonly known as M1-were equal to $376.6 million. In that same year, M2-an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds-was $846.1 million. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 11.25%.

There is no securities exchange in Papua New Guinea.

In 1997, there were at least 11 insurance companies operating in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea receives most of its bilateral aid from Australia, which donates about $200 million a year in assistance. Foreign budgetary support was phased out in 2000; aid is now concentrated on project development. Other major sources of aid include Japan, the EU, China, Taiwan, the UN, the Asian Development Bank, the IMF, and the World Bank.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Papua New Guinea's central government took in revenues of approximately $1.3 billion and had expenditures of $1.3 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately $14 million. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 47.1% of GDP. Total external debt was $1.978 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2002, the most recent year for which it had data, central government revenues were k2,666.3 million and expenditures were k3,052.4 million. The value of revenues was us$1,036 million and expenditures us$1,186 million, based on a official exchange rate for 2002 of us$1 = k2.573 as reported by the IMF. Government outlays by function were as follows: general public services, 59.7%; defense, 2.4%; public order and safety, 7.5%; economic affairs, 12.1%; housing and community amenities, 0.4%; health, 5.7%; recreation, culture, and religion, 0.9%; education, 10.0%; and social protection, 1.5%.

Company incomes are taxed at a rate of 25-50%. Additional profits tax is calculated on the net profits of mining and petroleum companies at a rate of 35-50%. In addition, progressive tax rates are applied to individuals' wages and salaries, with taxes automatically withheld from paychecks. Tax rates range from 10-35%. Land and property taxes, estate and death taxes, gift taxes, stamp taxes, excise taxes, and sales taxes are also imposed.

Papua New Guinea acceded to the World Trade Organization in 1996 and has liberalized its trade to conform to WTO standards, removing all nontariff barriers to trade including quotas, bans, and license requirements. The government put a value-added tax (VAT) into effect in 1998 and intends to reduce all nonprotective tariffs to zero using the VAT. There are import duty rates of 5%, 8%, and 11%. The protective tariff is 40% and there are higher rates applied to luxury items such as tobacco and liquor.

The bulk of foreign investment is in the mining and petroleum sector. Statistic on foreign equity holdings for 1995 show that Australia was the largest investor with k1,446 million, followed by the United Kingdom with k160 million and the United States with k91 million. Overall, foreign equity holdings fell from 55% of GDP in 1990 to 33% in 1994, primarily due to the completion of major mining and petroleum projects. In 1995, developers RTZ and Niugini Mining were awarded a lease for the $800 million Lihir gold project raising foreign equity holdings to 37% of GDP.

The Investment Promotion Authority (IPA), established in 1992, facilitates and certifies foreign investment. Corruption, civil unrest, and bureaucratic delays, however, frustrate the process. A number of free trade zones are in the early stages of development.

Foreign investment in Papua New Guinea took on an air of international intrigue when it was revealed that in early 1997 Prime Minister Julius Chan had entered into a $46 million contract with Sandline Incorporated, a mercenary military organization, to retake Bougainville Island and in particular the copper mining complex there that had been occupied by separatists since 1989. Money behind the contract was traced to the British-Australia mining company, RTZ-CRA. The army prevented the use of the mercenaries. Chan lost his parliamentary seat in the 1997 elections, and a peace agreement was signed with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) in 1998.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) was only $87.6 million in 1997 and $109.6 million in 1998. FDI nearly tripled in 1999, however, to $296.5 million, before falling back to $130.7 million in 2000. FDI in 2002 was $178.7 million.

The fundamental purposes of Papua New Guinea's economic strategy have been distilled into the nation's eight aims: a rapid increase in the proportion of the economy under the control of Papua New Guineans; a more equal distribution of economic benefits; decentralization of economic activity; an emphasis on smallscale artisan, service, and business activity; a more self-reliant economy; an increasing capacity for meeting government spending from locally raised revenue; a rapid increase in the equal and active participation of women in the economy; and governmental control and involvement in those sectors where control is necessary to achieve the desired kind of development.

In March 2000, Papua New Guinea's economic reform efforts came under the supervision of an IMF Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) financed by a stand-by credit line of sdr85.54 million (about $120 million) that ran from 29 March 2000 to 29 September 2001. The IMF is critical of policies through which the government has intervened heavily in the economy-through tax incentives, licensing and approval requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs and price controls-to create an economy dominated by a few privately-owned, highly protected, noncompetitive, import substitution enterprises. The SAP called for privatization of the few state owned enterprises, liberalization of trade and investment, reduction in public service employment and the decontrol of prices. In 2002, the government was implementing many of these reforms either as conditionals under the IMF stand-by agreement and/or as requirements for participation in APEC and accession to the WTO.

The annual growth average is supposed to pick up over the rate registered in 2005 (2.9%), as a result of stronger mining and petroleum sectors. The Kainantu and Simberi goldmines will likely be put into operation at the beginning of 2006, boosting gold output, while work on the Hidden Valley gold project and the Ramu nickel-cobalt project could also begin in 2006. However, if the country is to benefit significantly from an export-led growth strategy it needs to carry on serious infrastructure improvements.

A mandatory occupational retirement system covers persons employed by firms with 20 or more workers, providing old age, disability, and survivor benefits. The system is financed by 5% contribution of earnings from employees, and 7% of payroll from employers. Retirement is set at age 55, or at any age with 12 years of contributions. Benefits are provided as a lump sum, and include total contributions plus interest. Workers' compensation is provided by employers through direct provision of benefits or insurance premiums. Medical services, where available, are provided free or at a nominal cost. Rural communities traditionally assume communal obligations to those in need.

The constitution and other laws provide extensive rights for women, however traditional patterns of discrimination still prevail. Women are considered second-class citizens. Village courts tend to enforce these patterns, and intertribal warfare often involves attacks on women. Polygymy is common, and the tradition of paying a bride-price persists. Violence against women is widespread and few victims press charges. Much of the violence is committed by women against another of their husband's wives. The government does not adequately fund programs to protect the rights and welfare of children.

In 2004, human rights violations included excessive use of police force, poor prison conditions, and limits on freedom of assembly.

Government policy is to distribute health services widely and to provide comprehensive medical care, both preventive and curative. Approximately 96% of the population had access to health care services. As of 2004, there were an estimated 5 physicians, 53 nurses, and 2 dentists per 100,000 people. In 2000, 42% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 82% had adequate sanitation. Total health care expenditure was estimated at 3.2% of GDP.

The main health problems are malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and venereal disease. Significant malnutrition occurs in some areas and pneumonia and related respiratory infections are major risks. The increased incidence of malaria has been linked to importation from neighboring islands. Immunization rates for children up to one year old were fairly high: tuberculosis, 91%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 66%; polio, 66%; and measles, 39%. The rates for DPT and measles were, respectively, 56% and 58%. While malnutrition remains a major problem, dramatic changes have occurred in some groups with exposure to more Westernized diets. Diabetes in the highland populations is low but has been documented to be as high as 16% in major cities of Papua New Guinea.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 31.6 and 7.8 per 1,000 people. Approximately 26% of married women (ages 15 to 49) were using contraception. The infant mortality rate decreased from 110 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1974 to 51.45 in 2005. Approximately 16% of all births were low birth weight babies. The maternal mortality rate was 370 per 100,000 live births. Life expectancy was 64.93 years in 2000.

Papua New Guinea had the highest per capita HIV prevalence in the North and South Pacific regions. As of 2004, there were approximately 1,600 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.60 per 100 adults in 2003. There were an estimated 600 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

Coronary heart disease, previously rare or nonexistent, has become more prevalent in past years. Total cholesterol values are higher in urban coastal and periurban subjects than in rural locations.

Traditional housing in rural areas appears to be adequate, but in urban areas there are acute shortages because of migration. In most urban areas, squatter settlements have been established. New housing has generally fallen far short of meeting the demand, especially for medium- and low-cost units. As of 1988, the housing stock totaled 555,000 and the number of people per dwelling averaged 5.8. As of 2000, about 87% of the population lived in rural areas.

The present government aims at upgrading and improving the system and quality of education. Children attend state-run community schools for primary education and provincial and national high schools for secondary education. Primary school covers nine years of schooling, including one year of preschool and grades I to VIII. The provincial secondary schools cover a two-year program, which may be followed by a two-year national high school program. Students choose to enter a two-year technical school for their secondary education. In addition to the national government system, there is an international school system that ends at high school. Fees are considerably higher than the government run schools, and the curriculum is based on the British system. There are also privately run preschools and primary schools. The academic year runs from February to November.

In 2001, about 38% of all six-year-olds were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 74% of age-eligible students; 79% for boys and 69% for girls. In 2001, secondary school enrollment was about 23% of age-eligible students; 25% for boys and 20% for girls. It is estimated that about 52.6% of all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 35:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was about 22:1.

The University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby offers degrees in law, science, medicine and arts. The University of Technology in Lae offers degrees in technical subjects such as engineering, business, architecture, and forestry. The Pacific Adventist College, a privately run university outside Port Moresby, offers courses in education, business, accounting, secretarial studies, and theology. In 1999, about 2% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 57.3%, with 63.4% for men and 50.9% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.3% of GDP, or 17.5% of total government expenditures.

The largest libraries are at the University of Papua New Guinea (440,000 volumes) and at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (130,000). Local libraries are well established in urban centers. The National Library Service in Boroko has 85,000 volumes. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Public Administration in Boroko holds 90,000 volumes.

The Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery, in Boroko, has a good collection of art and general ethnography. The museum is implementing the National Cultural Property Act to protect the country's cultural heritage and to further establish appropriate museums. In 1981 the country opened the Madang Museum, Culture and Tourism Center in Yomba. The J. K. MacCarthy Museum, an ethnological collection, is located in Goroka.

In 2003, there were an estimated 12 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were approximately three mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people. A coastal radio service provides communications between land-based stations and ships at sea.

In 2004, the government-owned National Broadcasting Commission was operating two radio networks with limited range. NBC broadcasts in English, Pidgin, Hiri Motu, and a dozen other vernaculars. EMTV, owned by a private Fijian company, was the only television broadcaster in 2004. There were also two independent local cable companies. The privately owned NAU-FM radio network is based in Port Moresby. In 2003, there were an estimated 86 radios and 23 television sets for every 1,000 people. About 4.2 of every 1,000 people were cable subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 58.7 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 14 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There was one secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.

The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier is published daily in English with a 2002 circulation of about 30,480. The National, another daily, is published on Boroko and had a 2002 circulation of 20,000. Other local news sheets are published, many in Pidgin. Niugini Nius, also in Boroko, is published Tuesday-Friday (circulation 31,000) and also has a weekend edition (16,000).

The constitution provides for free speech and free media, and the government is said to generally respect these rights in practice.

The Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce and Industry is located in Port Moresby. There are some organizations dedicated to the promotion of specific industries, such as the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority and the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.

National youth organizations include the Papua New Guinea National Union of Students, YMCA/YWCA, and the Scout Association of Papua New Guinea. There are several sports associations organizing amateur competitions for such pastimes as cricket, track and field, baseball, lawn tennis, tae kwon do, and squash. Women's organizations include the East Sepik Women and Children's Health Project and the Simbu Women's Resource Center. There are national chapters of the Red Cross Society and Caritas.

The Tourism Promotion Authority of Papua New Guinea works with the government to actively promote tourism as a priority for economic development. There are large-scale resorts and basic lodges to accommodate all travelers. Ecotourism is the main attraction with an abundance of vibrant flora and fauna in the rain forest and national parks. Water sports, golf, tennis, and rock climbing are popular pastimes. Tourists must have a valid passport, onward/return ticket, proof of sufficient funds, and an entry permit. A 60 day visa may be issued upon arrival to visitors from Australia, Cyprus, Japan, Portugal., Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

In 2003, about 56,000 tourists visited Papua New Guinea, over half of whom came from Australia. There were 2,830 rooms in hotels and other establishments with 4,306 beds.

In 2004, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Papua New Guinea at $217.

The best known Papua New Guineans are Michael Thomas Somare (b.1936), chief minister during colonial rule and the nation's first prime minister; Sir Albert Maori Kiki (1931-93), author of Kiki: Ten Thousands Years in a Lifetime ; and Vincent Eri (1936-93), author of The Crocodile.

Papua New Guinea has no territories or colonies.

Lilley, Ian (ed.). Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2006.

Mead, Margaret. Growing Up in New Guinea. Middlesex: Penguin, 1973 (orig. 1930).

Turner, Ann. Historical Dictionary of Papua New Guinea. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2001.

Wanek, Alexander. The State and Its Enemies in Papua New Guinea. Richmond, Surrey, U.K.: Curzon, 1996.

History & Background

Papua New Guinea occupies 462,840 square kilometers of land and water off the coast of Southeast Asia. The island nation, roughly the size of California or Thailand, includes the eastern half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, and about six hundred smaller islands between the Coral Sea and the south Pacific Ocean. Papua New Guinea's 4.9 million people (July 2000 estimate) speak more than 715 different languages. The government recognizes English as the nation's official language, but only between 1 percent and 2 percent of the population speak it. Pidgin, a mixture of English, German, and other languages, is spoken throughout the country.

Papua New Guinea remained fairly isolated from Western influences until the nineteenth century, although infrequent contacts were documented as early as the 1500s. The Dutch annexed the western half of New Guinea between 1828 and 1848. The British and Germans divided the eastern half in 1885; Great Britain took the south and Germany took the north. Great Britain transferred control of the southeastern portion of New Guinea to Australia in 1902, which renamed it Papua. Australia seized the northern region during World War I and assumed complete control of eastern New Guinea under a League of Nations mandate. The Japanese occupied most of the colonized areas of New Guinea during World War II. However, after the war, control of the island reverted to Australia as a United Nations trusteeship. Australia maintained control until Papua New Guinea claimed its independence in 1975. Australia remains one of Papua New Guinea's primary trading partners.

Since independence, Papua New Guinea has functioned as a parliamentary democracy, with a capital in Port Moresby and 19 other administrative provinces. About 15 percent of the population live in major urban areas. The country's national currency is the Kina (K1.00 equals about US$.31 as of February 2001.)

Constitutional & Legal Foundations

Although Papua New Guinea's constitution does not address education directly, the document still provides the base for the nation's educational goals and philosophy. The constitution outlines five national goals and directive principles in its preamble, and the two most applicable to education focus on integral human development and equality and participation. These directives, according to the Department of Education, call for an education system "based on mutual respect and dialogue. . .to promote awareness of our human potential and motivation to achieve our National Goals through self-reliant efforts" (Department of Education 1991, 15). In addition, the constitution guarantees all citizens, regardless of their sex, color, creed, political opinion, or origin, equal access and participation in the country's development. Consequently, under its education philosophy, the government promises to educate all citizens.

Several education laws outline the structure and operation of the system. The Education Act of 1970 integrated the existing church and government education activities. Under the provision, the government assumed control for teacher salaries, staff employment, and curriculum development.

In 1977, the Organic Law on Provincial Government divided education responsibilities between the national and provincial governments. The national government controlled curriculum development, the minimum age for school entrance, the length of the school day and year, language of instruction, maximum pupil-teacher ratio, major exams, teacher conditions of service, teacher training, and the universities. Therefore, the provincial governments controlled preschool education, the location and number of primary and secondary schools, nonformal education, noncore primary curriculum, criteria used to select students for secondary school, and vocational schools.

The Education Act of 1983 established a national education plan and called on provincial governments to develop local plans. However, the government has had problems outlining the national components of the plan, while many provincial plans remain out of date.

Educational SystemOverview

Before the European colonization, the adults in each tribal society in Papua New Guinea educated their children on practical skills, social behavior, and spiritual beliefs. In 1873, the London Missionary Society established the first school to teach islanders to read scripture. After 1884, German and English missionaries established primary schools to teach Western concepts of morality, the German and English languages, arithmetic, and Christian doctrine. During the early 1900s, the British government encouraged missionaries to develop vocational education programs in Papua New Guinea to produce better farmers, crafts people, and skilled laborers. In 1914, Australia took control of the German colony in northeastern New Guinea. With Papua and New Guinea under its reign, Australia established English as the official language of instruction and laid the foundation for modern education in Papua New Guinea.

The Modern System: Papua New Guinea's education system has three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The academic year runs from January to December.

The primary schools, or community schools, provide six years of instruction for children 7-12, although attendance is not compulsory. Most instruction still occurs in English. However, in 1989, the National Department of Education adopted a language and literacy policy designed to encourage communities to start local language literacy preschools, convert first grade into a local language year or a bridging year from local language literacy to English literacy, or have noncore subjects (subjects other than language, math, science, and social studies) taught in the local languages. The 1989 Language and Literacy Policy also supported local language and cultural instruction at secondary and tertiary schools and local language literacy programs for adults.

Since 1993, many provinces have established village schools that focus on local language literacy. The village schools provide a preprimary level for children as young as five years of age that teaches the children in their native language. The schools also encourage the children to become literate in their local language before learning English.

About 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's school-age children receive some formal education, but only two-thirds of those who enter the first grade complete the sixth.

Students who reach the sixth grade must pass a national exam to continue their education. Papua New Guinea maintains two types of secondary schools: the four-year provincial high schools, for grades 7-10, and the two-year national high schools, for grades 11 and 12. Large towns generally have their own secondary schools, but students from rural areas often attend provincial boarding schools. English is the language of instruction at the secondary level.

About 35 percent of pupils who reach sixth grade ultimately transition to the seventh grade. The low transition rate does not reflect the number of students who achieve the level necessary to move to the provincial high schools; but rather, it reflects the limited number of places available to incoming seventh graders (Department of Education 1991). The provincial high schools base their acceptance on exam scores and provincial quotas and accept an equal number of sixth graders from each primary school. Students who do not attend secondary school can enter two-year vocational schools or continue their education by mail through the government-operated College of Distance Education.

Of those who continue to seventh grade, about 67 percent complete the tenth grade. In the tenth grade students must pass a second national exam to receive a Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Most end their education after tenth grade, but about 20 percent enter one of the four national high schools. The retention rate for the national high schools is about 95 percent. Students who complete twelfth grade face a third national exam that determines which higher educational opportunities go to which students. Regardless, most grade twelve graduates pursue some form of higher education. Students also can enter a two-year vocational or technical school after tenth grade. Those who complete the upper secondary level earn a Sixth Form Certificate or a High School Certificate, depending on the school they attend. A few of the best tenth graders enter a one-year university preparation program at the University of Papua New Guinea, but most students gain university acceptance by passing the National High School Examination at the end of twelfth grade.

As of 1996, a total of 500,000 children were enrolled in primary and secondary schools. About 70 percent of primary school-aged children attended school, but only 12 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled. Enrollment ratios vary widely between provinces and regions. In large cities and towns virtually all children attend school; but, in some remote highland areas, fewer than 7 percent of children receive any formal education. According to the 1990 census, 23 percent of the rural population completed sixth grade, 4 percent of the rural population completed tenth grade, and 24 percent of the rural population could read English. By contrast, the census showed that 56 percent of the urban population completed the sixth grade, 22 percent completed the tenth grade, and 58 percent could read English.

Many children, especially in poor, rural areas, never enroll because their families cannot afford the school fees, which can equal more than 50 percent of some families' earnings. Some primary and most provincial high schools charge fees, while the national high schools and most postsecondary institutions are free or subsidized with government scholarships. In 1993, the national government abolished some of the school fees traditionally paid by parents.

Female Education: Although schooling is open to all citizens, female enrollment lags behind male enrollment at most levels. In 1995, about 80 percent of children between seven and twelve years were enrolled in primary education. But 87 percent of boys in that age group were enrolled compared to 74 percent of girls. That same year, 14 percent of 13-18 year-olds enrolled in some form of secondary education. Enrollment included 17 percent of the boys and 11 percent of the girls in that age bracket. Girls account for about 38 percent of all high school students, but only 29 percent of the national high school students. In 1995, girls represented 32 percent of the students enrolled in all higher education institutions, but only 25 percent of the students in one of the nation's four universities. That same year, women made up 66 percent of the preprimary teaching staff and 36 percent of the primary-level teaching staff. Figures for the secondary and tertiary levels were not available. Literacy rates for women also fall short. About 62 percent of women age 15 and older could read and write in 1995, compared to 81 percent of men.

Private & Religious Schools: The International Education Agency is the largest independent education provider in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1977 to manage the schools operated by the Australian and United Nations administrations before Papua New Guinea's independence.

The agency operates 24 independent schools and serves more than 5,000 students in preschool through the twelfth grade. All schools, except for one, offer preschool through grade six and most continue to grade eight. Only three schools, though, in Lae, Port Moresby, and Mount Hagen, offer ninth through twelfth grades. The schools do not have a religious affiliation, although, at the community's request, some offer nondenominational scripture classes on a voluntary basis.

More than 300 teachers from Papua New Guinea and other parts of the world work for the international schools. The International Education Agency also provides consultant services on school development and review, curriculum development, and professional development.

Tuition ranges from K 3,000 to K 20,000 per year. The amount depends on the training of the teachers at each school, and the general quality of resources. Between 75 and 80 percent of agency students are Papua New Guinea citizens, although percentages range from 50 to 100 percent within individual schools. The remaining students come primarily from Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The National Department of Education estimates that the government provides about 68 percent of lower secondary education services, churches provide 29 percent, and the international schools provide about 3 percent.

Preprimary & Primary Education

Early primary education was based on the Australian primary school curriculum. Missions operated village schools and boarding schools, usually for boys. After World War II, the Australian administration appointed a director of education and took control of the educational system. From 1946 to 1956 an average of 10 administration schools opened each year. All instruction was in English and, during the 1950s, most teachers were Australians or of other Caucasian ethnicities. During the 1960s Papua New Guinea pushed to localize its teaching service, and by 1970 most primary school teachers were Papua New Guineans. The number of primary schools increased after the country's independence in 1975, and the curriculum branch of the Department of Education took steps to make the school curriculum suit local needs.

Modern primary education, which includes grades one to six, focuses on basic skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Seven is the official entrance age, but older children enroll. Some provinces also offer preprimary programs to children as young as five years of age. Primary instruction occurs in English; however, the preprimary programs, and some first grade classes, provide lessons in the students' native languages.

Instructors also teach science, community life, agriculture, health, expressive arts, pastoral care, and physical education. Meanwhile, some education officials want more social, spiritual, ethical, moral, and vocational lessons in primary education. Attempts to integrate practical skills have been hampered by the strict certification and exam process students must complete. Students must pass the sixth grade exam to proceed to secondary school. As a result, teachers rate the importance of any subject taught based on the extent to which it appears on the exam. Consequently, practical skills, which do not appear on the highly academic exam, receive little instructional time.

Since the early 1990s, primary schools have received free textbooks at a rate of one textbook for every two students. However, many teachers do not incorporate them into their teaching styles or cannot access them because of distribution problems. Community schools also lack sufficient reading materials.

In 1995, Papua New Guinea had 2,790 public primary schools and 13,457 teachers serving 516,797 students. That same year, the nation had 29 preprimary schools with 53 teachers and 2,528 children. About 80 percent of primary school-aged children were enrolled.

Universal primary education remains a national goal, but the Department of Education has encountered several problems trying to achieve it. The primary school system suffers from a lack of teachers and funds (Department of Education 1991.) Moreover, not all provinces support the national goal or see the need to provide basic education to all citizens. Consequently, many provinces have focused on expanding their secondary schools and not their primary ones.

Secondary Education

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Australian administration in Papua New Guinea focused on developing the country's primary schools. In the 1960s, however, the policy changed under international pressure to expand the secondary school system, create an education elite, and prepare the country for independence. By 1972 the expansion movement had established lower secondary high schools in all of the provinces. Later, two national high schools, for grades 11 and 12, and two international high schools, mainly for expatriate children, were established. Between 1975 and 1985 Papua New Guinea had 32 provincial high schools and 3 national public high schools. The expansion efforts increased enrollment by 70 percent. Still, less than one-third of the pupils who completed primary school were offered places in a secondary school. In 1992, about 12 percent of children received secondary education, with about twice as many males as females enrolled. In 1995, some 68,818 students receivedgeneral secondary education.

Lower Secondary Education: The provincial high schools educate students in seventh through tenth grades on academic and practical skills. This prepares them for the national grade ten exam, which students must pass to earn a Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Students need a Secondary School Leaving Certificate to proceed to the national high schools, tertiary vocational and technical programs, teacher training colleges, and the preuniversity program at the University of Papua New Guinea.

About 35 percent of grade six students enroll in a provincial high school; provincial quotas limit the number of students accepted. Once they are enrolled, about 67 percent of students complete grade 10. Students are promoted automatically from seventh to eighth grade, but provincial high schools lose the greatest number of pupils between eighth and ninth grades. Female enrollment in the provincial high schools has increased since 1981; however, women still account for only 37 percent of the total enrollment. About 65 percent of girls complete tenth grade, compared to 72 percent of boys. Completion rates for women also vary by province and range from about 55 to 86 percent. Some provinces have seen a decrease in their percentage of women graduates. Papua New Guinea had about 130 provincial high schools in 1991, with 53,494 students. About 10,000 students graduate from tenth grade each year.

Upper Secondary Education: At the national high schools students in grades 11 and 12 receive a general, non- vocational education that prepares them to enter a university, a tertiary institution, or go directly to work. About 95 percent of students who enter the national high schools complete the twelfth grade. Students who reach twelfth grade must complete a national exam that determines which higher educational opportunities students receive. The exam also governs most curriculum decisions. Those who pass earn the National High School Certificate, and most pursue higher education.

The four national high schools enroll about 2,000 pupils and produce about 1,100 graduates each year. About 29 percent of the students enrolled are women. In 1990, the National Executive Council approved the Education Access and Expansion Act with the intent of doubling the number of national high school graduates by 1999. Meanwhile, the National Higher Education Plan of 1990 called for increasing the number of grade twelve graduates to five thousand during the same period. But the limited number of qualified teachers has hampered the expansion. In 1991, the four national high schools had 103 teachers; 58 of them were not Papua New Guineans. To produce 2,000-5,000 graduates each year, the national high schools needed an additional 100, up to 600, teachers. Many education officials believed the goal was unrealistic since the University of Papua New Guinea, the country's only training center for national high school teachers, did not produce enough teachers to meet the expansion demands of the early 1990s.

Alternate Forms of Secondary Education: Students who do not enroll in provincial high schools can continue their education in two-year vocational programs or through the College of Distance Education. Vocational centers provide basic vocational education to those who have left school and have not found employment or secured places in secondary school. In 1996, Papua New Guinea had 114 vocational centers that served more than 11,000 students who left grades six and eight. Many nongovernmental agencies, such as churches, the Young Women's Christian Association, and volunteer groups, also run vocational education programs without government aid. Some reports show that students prefer enrolling in the vocational centers to enrolling in the provincial high schools because they face more employment opportunities after graduation.

The Department of Education created the College of Distance Education in the 1980s to provide an alternate form of secondary education to students who could not attend the provincial high schools because of cost or lack of access. Students in the College of Distance Education complete their work by mail and through regional study centers. Students pay for lesson materials and grading, while the government maintains facilities and equipment. Most courses emphasize academics, although some officials want to include more vocational training. Students have encountered some problems though. Many complain that the material and courses are out of date and not relevant. In addition, they say the grading and processing of exams takes too long, and some papers get lost. Nonetheless, in 1992 the College of Distance Education had 10,469 students. It granted 876 certificates for grade 10 and 622 for lower grades.

Higher Education

Until 1963 the Australian colonial administration neglected higher education, but a visiting United Nations mission criticized the policy and urged the administration to establish institutions for higher education. So, in 1964, the administration created a college to train Papua New Guineans for administrative and clerical jobs. In 1966, the government established the country's first university, the University of Papua New Guinea, in Port Moresby. The first class graduated in 1970. The government also established the Institute of Higher Technical Education in Port Moresby in 1966. However, the university later moved to Lae as a result of public objections to having both of the country's universities in the National Capital District. In 1967, the Institute of Higher Technical Education became the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. The university awarded its first diplomas in 1971 and its first degrees in 1975.

In addition to the two universities, the government also established smaller specialty colleges during the 1960s. By 1970, the country had about a dozen small teachers' colleges, with the most important ones located in Port Moresby, Madang, and Goroka.

The National Higher Education Plan of 1990 sought to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of higher education. The plan proposed merging institutions and transferring programs to reduce duplicate services. Education officials also have pushed for a uniform accreditation policy to require higher education programs to conform to national qualifications.

University of Papua New Guinea: At the University of Papua New Guinea students can study the liberal arts, sciences, commerce, journalism, social work, library and information services, education, health sciences, medicine, law, creative arts, agriculture, business, secretarial services, police studies, and psychology. The university enrolls 2,000 full-time students and 100 part-time students and provides extension services to another 3,000 islanders. Most of the faculty still consists of expatriates, mainly from Australia, Great Britain, and other commonwealth nations; however, they are slowly being replaced by Papua New Guineans.

The university has a main campus and a separate medical campus in Port Moresby. There also are branch campuses at Goroka and Waigani, primarily for teacher training, and 11 extension centers throughout the country. The government offers scholarship support to about twothirds of the students admitted.

Students can earn certificates, diplomas, bachelor's degrees, or postgraduate degrees. Certificate programs, available in the visual and performing arts, require two years of full-time study. Students can enroll in the fine arts program after completing tenth or twelfth grade and demonstrating artistic ability. Students who complete the certificate program can earn a diploma with two additional years of full-time study.

Admission to the bachelor's programs requires a passing score on the National High School Grade Twelve Examination, or the Adult Matriculation Examination. The University's Institute of Distance Learning and Continuing Education, operated through the External Studies Department, administers the Adult Matriculation Exam. The University established the extension studies program in 1976 to provide upper secondary and university-level education to geographically and economically disadvantaged people. Instruction occurs face to face during the university's summer session and by mail at other times. Tutorial sessions at local extension centers supplement the correspondence courses. The extension studies program qualifies a large segment of the population for university entrance and provides in-service students a way to upgrade their skills. A select group of students enroll in the University of Papua New Guinea's preparatory program after the tenth grade. The university also accepts students based on the Australian and New Zealand University Entrance Examination scores.

Students in most bachelor's programs complete one year of foundation studies followed by three years of full-time study in their major. An initial medical degree requires five years of study. In most degree programs, students can earn an honors degree with one additional year of study.

Diplomas and bachelor's degrees in education, as well as in library and information services, are available at the main campus in Port Moresby in cooperation with the Goroka Teachers' College.

The university also offers some master's and doctoral programs. A master's degree takes one to three years of full-time study after earning a bachelor's honors degree. Most master's degrees also require a thesis. Doctorates are available in most fields, and require three to four years of additional study after obtaining a master's degree, in addition to a research thesis. The university does not offer any external or correspondence degrees.

Papua New Guinea University of Technology: The Papua New Guinea University of Technology enrolls 1,500 full-time students and a few part-time students. The university offers a two-year diploma program and four-year bachelor's degrees. The diploma programs include computing, building technology, surveying, and applied sciences. The diploma programs require students to complete tenth or twelfth grade for admission. The bachelor's degree programs include agriculture, architecture, business, engineering, forestry, languages, math, and applied sciences. Admission to the degree programs requires a National High School Certificate. The university also offers some one- and two-year master's programs and three- to five-year doctoral programs. First semester begins in January and goes until June, while the second semester runs from July to November.

Other Higher Education Opportunities: In addition to the four universities, Papua New Guinea also has smaller, specialty colleges that cater to specific fields of study. Most technical colleges accept students after tenth grade. The government provides scholarships to these institutions. Technical colleges train about twenty-three hundred students each year in thirty different trade areas. Most students usually complete one to two years of academic work, followed by an apprenticeship. Higher level certificate and diploma courses also are available.

Papua New Guinea has more than 60 single-purpose institutions that offer training in primary school teaching, nursing, paramedical training, primary industries, technical education, banking, police studies, agriculture, law, and public administration. Several theological schools and seminaries also are available. In 1995, about 14,000 tenth grade graduates and 2,000 twelfth grade graduates applied for places in higher education institutions. Of the applicants, about 2,500 tenth graders and 1,400 twelfth graders were admitted. A total of 13,663 students, 32 percent of whom were women, were enrolled in higher education or pursued it through distance-learning opportunities in 1995. Education was the most popular field of study among the non-distance learners.

Administration, Finance, & Educational Research

Administration: The Ministry of Education oversees the universities, the Commission for Higher Education, the National Department of Education, and the Teaching Service Commission. Papua New Guinea has 20 ministers of education: one at the national level, who also oversees the National Capital District, and one in each of the 19 provinces.

The universities handle their own administration because, unlike other tertiary institutions, they were established by an act of Parliament. They receive funds directly from the national budget, not through the Department of Education, and report to the national government through the Minister for Education. The Commission for Higher Education oversees all other tertiary institutions.

The Department of Education manages education for the entire nation under the direction of the National Education Board. The Department has some responsibility for primary and secondary education, and full responsibility for higher education. Provincial divisions of education and their corresponding education boards manage education at the local level. The Teaching Service Commission oversees all matters related to the terms and conditions of teacher service. Teachers who work for the International Education Agency are not part of the Teaching Service.

Finance: Even though education has been a priority for the Papua New Guinea government, it has suffered historically from a lack of funds. Between 1978 and 1988 education received a 39 percent decrease in real public expenditures. Between 1983 and 1991 education received no increase in funds and the allocation hovered around K 100 million per year, despite increases in student enrollment.

At the end of the twentieth century things seemed to improve. In 1999, the National Charter on Reconstruction and Development outlined five development priorities and primary education topped the list. Meanwhile, the government promised to provide basic education to all citizens, to increase access to higher education, and to improve access for women. The 2001 national budget seemed to reflect these objectives. The Department of Finance and Treasury appropriated K 596.3 million (20 percent of the 2001 budget) to education, more than any other area excluding debt service. The allocation represented an almost 18 percent increase in funding from 1999. The 2001 education budget also included a 9 percent increase in teachers' salaries. The total 2001 budget for Papua New Guinea was K 2.96 billion.

Educational Research: Three institutions conduct most of the educational research in Papua New Guinea: the Research and Evaluation Unit of the National Department of Education, the University of Papua New Guinea, and the National Research Institute. To a lesser degree, research also takes place at the Goroka Teachers' College and other higher education institutions.

The Research and Evaluation Unit, established in 1981, originally evaluated World Bank projects in Papua New Guinea. It expanded in 1984 to include an existing research branch of the Department of Education. Today it provides research and evaluation activities requested by the Department of Education and the provincial divisions of education. Most educational research focuses on curriculum development; staff training and development; planning, management, and administration; literacy; higher education; and vocational and technical education.

Nonformal Education

Nonformal education in Papua New Guinea includes village-based literacy programs for adults and children, agriculture and health programs, provincial and community libraries, and some distance-learning opportunities. Government support for nonformal education has been sporadic and disorganized; however, nongovernmental organizations have supported the effort.

SIL International (formerly the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is the largest nongovernmental organization involved in literacy. Church groups, the Young Women's Christian Association, and the Peace Corps also provide literacy services. In 1990, there were 79 literacy programs with a total of 258 classes. Since the 1990s the number of literacy programs offered in local languages has increased and communities have expressed a greater interest in non-English literacy materials. In 1995, approximately 72 percent of the population age 15 and older could read and write.

Papua New Guinea also has two distance-learning programs. Students can complete their secondary studies for grades 7-10 through the College of Distance Education or pursue upper secondary and university-level courses through the University of Papua New Guinea's Institute of Distance Learning and Continuing Education. Both distance-learning programs operate by mail. The Institute of Distance Learning also offers face-to-face instruction during the University of Papua New Guinea's summer session.

Community schools use radio broadcasts to supplement instruction, but most broadcasts are out of date and unrelated to the modern curriculum. Many areas have poor reception as well, which makes the broadcasts unavailable to a number of schools. In 1998, Papua New Guinea had 8 AM stations, 19 FM stations, and 28 short-wave stations. The country had about 410,000 radios. Television is available, but on a limited basis. The country had three broadcast stations in 1997 and about 42,000 televisions. Schools with access to televisions and video players use educational videos to supplement instruction, but the videos are limited. Papua New Guinea had two Internet service providers in 1999.

Teaching Profession

The lack of qualified, local teachers has limited the expansion of Papua New Guinea's education system. While enrollments in teacher training programs continue to increase, the number of new teachers produced does not meet the number needed to increase student enrollment at the primary and secondary levels. The attrition rate for teachers in 1991 was about 9 percent.

Primary teachers train in community-based teachers' colleges. Students enter after tenth grade and enroll in a three-year training course. In 1991, some 1,419 students were enrolled in one of Papua New Guinea's eight community teachers' colleges. Church organizations operate seven of the colleges, and the government operates one.

Training for secondary education teachers occurs at the Goroka Teachers' College and on the University of Papua New Guinea's Waigani campus. The Goroka Teachers' College is the primary source for provincial high school teachers. Students enroll after tenth or twelfth grade. They complete a three-year training program of general subject knowledge integrated with lessons on teaching skills. The Teachers' College also requires all students to study at least one core discipline (English, social studies, science, or math.) However, many students are uncomfortable with the requirement and ultimately drop out of the program. Graduates earn a diploma in secondary school teaching. The Goroka Teachers' College also offers several university extension programs and in-service training for teachers.

The education program at Waigani prepares teachers for the provincial high schools through a four-year program. During the first three years students study the arts and sciences, working toward a specialization in two subjects. Students spend their fourth year learning educational techniques and reviewing the provincial high school curriculum, teaching methods, and teaching practice. The Teachers' College at Goroka tends to produce teachers with better teaching skills, while the program at Waigani produces teachers with stronger subject knowledge.

The University of Papua New Guinea's Waigani campus also prepares teachers for the national high schools through a one-year postgraduate diploma program. The prospective teachers specialize in one or two subjects of the National High School curriculum and learn about teaching methods. Pre-service teachers at this level also practice their teaching at a national high school.

Prospective secondary high school teachers can also pursue a bachelor of education to meet their training requirements. At the University of Papua New Guinea, a bachelor of education takes four years to complete. Graduates of the program also lecture at teachers' colleges and can serve as school administrators at the national and provincial levels.

The University of Papua New Guinea also offers a bachelor of education in-service and a two-year bachelor's program for experienced teachers who wish to upgrade their skills and subject knowledge. Students also can pursue postgraduate diplomas, master's degrees, and doctorate degrees in education at the university.

Technical and vocational education teachers need a combination of schooling and experience in their field. Teachers for the Pre-Employment Training courses must complete tenth grade and have five years of industrial or commercial experience before enrolling in a one-year teacher training program. Teachers for the technical colleges train at Goroka Teachers' College. Teachers of courses for the Certificate of Higher Technical Education have university degrees or a Certificate of Higher Technical Education and three years of field experience. Teachers at the secondary vocational centers generally are tradesmen with four years of trade experience. They also must complete a one-year pre-service course at the Port Moresby In-Service College. Vocational teachers also come from the secondary teacher education program at Goroka Teachers' College. But, according to the National Department of Education, about half of all vocational instructors are unqualified.

Since the 1970s, the National Department of Education has provided in-service training to teachers at the school level and through National In-Service Training Week. National In-Service Training Week is a compulsory event held at the end of the first school term. Activities address administrative and organizational procedures and professional and curriculum development. Practicing teachers can also pursue education degrees through the University of Papua New Guinea's Extension Department. Secondary teachers who have assumed library responsibilities can pursue an advanced diploma in education studies/teacher librarianship through a two-year part-time summer program offered by the University of Papua New Guinea.

The Papua New Guinea Teachers' Association is the largest "white-collar" union in the country. The association represents about 80 percent of the teachers employed by the Teaching Service Commission. The organization promotes professionalism among its members and assists with educational development in Papua New Guinea. By legislation, the association has representation and voting rights on all national, provincial, and school-level education boards.

Summary

The expansion of Papua New Guinea's education system will not continue until the country produces a greater number of qualified teachers. Still, the nation is working to improve student retention rates, especially in the community schools, and to increase the transition rates into the secondary schools. Providing instruction and literacy materials in the local languages will help the country achieve these goals.

Yet, Papua New Guinea will face several education dilemmas as long as most of its population remains tied to the agricultural economy. Education officials must find ways to provide a relevant education to the 85 percent of students who remain in their rural and semi-rural communities and prepare the remaining 15 percent who find paid employment in government, business, and service industries. In general, the education most children receive does not lead to formal employment; at the same time, it alienates them from the skills they need to contribute in their home communities (Department of Education 1991). But, if the government can maintain its financial commitment to education, then Papua New Guinea's educational system most likely will continue to progress.

Bibliography

Bray, Mark. "Papua New Guinea." Education's Role in National Development Plans: Ten Country Cases, ed. R. Murray Thomas, 197-214. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1992.

Carpenter, Kenneth D. Pacific Islands: Niue, Tonga, Kiribati, Fiji, Papua New Guinea. Country Guide Series. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, 1996.

Morauta, Mekere. "From Recovery to Reconstruction. The presentation of the 2001 budget to Parliament." Papua New Guinea: Department of Finance and Treasury (2000): journal online. Available from: http://budget2001.treasury.gov.pg.

Papua New Guinea Department of Education. Education Sector Review. Vol. 2, Deliberations and Findings. Port Moresby: Department of Education, 1991.

Papua New Guinea Department of Finance and Treasury. The 2001 Budget. Port Moresby: Department of Finance and Treasury, 2001. Available from: http://budget2001.treasury.gov.pg/.

Rannells, Jackson. PNG: A Factbook on Modern Papua New Guinea. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Turner, Ann. Historical Dictionary of Papua New Guinea. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, 1994.

UNESCO. 1998 Statistical Yearbook. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1998.

Waiko, John. State of Higher Education in Papua New Guinea. A statement to the National Parliament. Papua New Guinea: Ministry of Education, 1996.

. State of Technical and Vocational Education in Papua New Guinea. A Statement to the National Parliament. Papua New Guinea: Ministry of Education, 1996.
Kristen Loschert

Culture Name

Papua New Guinean

Alternative Names

Niugini (Pidgin English)

Orientation

Identification. Papua is probably derived from the Malay word papuwah ("fuzzy hair"). In 1545, a Spanish explorer called the island Nueva Guinea.In 1884, the western half of New Guinea was officially recognized as Dutch New Guinea, the northeastern section became German New Guinea, and the southeastern quarter became British New Guinea. In 1905, Australia took over the territory, renaming it the Territory of Papua. After World War II, the British and German territories were combined and jointly administered by Australia as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. In 1975, the country became Papua New Guinea or, officially, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Location and Geography. Papua New Guinea consists of eastern New Guinea along with New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, and six hundred small islands and archipelagoes. The land area is over 178,000 square miles (462,000 square kilometer), with the mainland accounting for 80 percent. The western half of the island is the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya. To the south is Australia, and to the east and southeast are the Solomon Islands and other Melanesian countries. To the north and northwest are the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan.

The central mountain chain extends the length of the island and is covered in tropical rain forest. Upland valleys and the headwaters of fast-flowing rivers descend to the coast through some of the world's largest swamps.

Papua New Guinea has a tropical monsoon climate and is generally hot and humid, although the climate varies from one area to another.

Over 75 percent of the nation is covered in rain forest. Swamp forest is found in the poorly drained lowlands, and sago palm is a staple food of the people living there. Around Port Moresby and in drier areas to the west are grassy plains and savanna woodlands.

Demography. The 1990 census showed a population of 3,761,954. Over half the population was under age 20. With an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent, the population topped four million by 1992 and is expected to grow to more than five million by the year 2000. Around 85 percent of the population lives in small villages and rural outposts; the other 15 percent is concentrated in ten major urban areas where most of the non-Melanesian population of about 25,000 resides. The largest cities are Port Moresby with a population over 220,000, Lae (90,000), Madang (30,000), Mt Hagen (45,000), Wewak (23,000), and Goroka (25,000).

Linguistic Affiliation. Well over one thousand languages are spoken throughout New Guinea. After Colonization, Papua New Guineans needed to communicate with one another and with outsiders. On German (and later Australian) plantations and wherever individuals speaking different languages met, a pidgin language referred to as Neo-Melanesian or Melanesian Pidgin developed. Now known as Tok Pisin ("talk pidgin"), Melanesian Pidgin is spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. While English is taught in school and is the official language of business and government, Tok Pisin is a symbol of national identity and a preferred means of communication. Hiri Motu, a trade language that originated on the south coast in Papua among participants in a traditional trade network, is spoken only in that area.

Symbolism. While preparing for independence and attempting to promote national identity, leaders and artists drew on symbols reflecting the nation's unique cultural and natural diversity and continuing traditions. The national flag is a rectangle divided diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right. The upper triangle is red with a yellow bird of paradise; the lower triangle is black with five white stars representing the Southern Cross. Black, red, and yellow are traditional colors in many Papua New Guinean societies. Items of traditional exchange ( kina shells, pigs) are prominent on the currency. The Southern Cross symbolizes the country's close relations with other South Pacific nations. The national song, "O Arise All You Sons," reflects a commitment to Christianity in its references to God and the "Lord".

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation. Before colonization, an individual's identity was grounded in his or her kin group and rarely extended beyond the kin groups of close relatives and in-laws. While an individual may have shared a language and culture with tens of thousands of persons, only leaders and other unusual individuals spent time outside the villages nearest to his or her "place." After colonization, Papua New Guineans experienced political, social, and economic integration. Missionaries and administrators suppressed "tribal" warfare to allow freedom of movement and integrated villagers into the colonial economy as plantation workers and mission helpers. Missionary activities also led to the spread of Christianity and Western education; the building of roads, airstrips, and radio stations; and the shared experience of racial prejudice directed at local peoples by many whites.

Colonization and change were uneven, with island and coastal areas colonized before the interior and some groups resisting change for decades. Outsiders did not visit the highlands until the 1930s, and some areas were first contacted as late as the 1970s. Differences in education and economic development contributed to ethnic and class differences.

National Identity. In the 1960s, Australia moved toward liberating Papua New Guinea by establishing self-government and a House of Assembly and building institutions of higher learning to train an educated elite to serve the country.

The focus on higher education was matched by efforts to foster closeness and national pride among the students that would cut across ties with wantoks (those in the same language group) and flow outward to the rest of the country. Students were taught to express their experiences in poetry, music, stories, and art that dealt with the "beauty of village life," the opposite sex, pride in their cultures, and the question of how they could lead the country into the modern world without becoming selfish. Regardless of this soul-searching, class differences are emerging as educated parents with good jobs provide for their children's future, and there is increasing intermarriage between persons of different cultural background who mingle in school and at work. Communicating in English or Tok Pisin, many couples fail to pass on their mother tongues to their children, alienating their village kin.

Ethnic Relations. Before independence on 16 September 1975, a number of micronationalist movements threatened secession from a nation that many felt was a colonial invention. Papua Besena emerged in 1973 under the leadership of Josephine Abaijah. Its objective was to free Papua from Australian colonial rule and unification with the more heavily populated New Guinea. In March 1975, Papua Besena declared Papuan independence but did not go beyond that symbolic act.

In 1964, the discovery of copper in Bougainville resulted in the construction of a giant copper mine. It was argued that the profits from the mine would benefit all of Papua New Guinea. Bougainvilleans were suspicious of the motives of the Australians and the expatriate company and resentful of the mainland Papua New Guineans who were brought in to build the mine. In November 1988, a guerilla operation began that became the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). The conflict continued throughout the 1990s and has been difficult for the police and defense forces that have been pitted against fellow citizens.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

Before European settlement, there were no towns. Thousands of villages and hamlets were connected by narrow paths, customs, and networks of marriage and trade partners. Bush material houses were temporary as people moved with their new gardens and as alliances dissolved and re-formed. Men spent their nights with other men and boys in elaborate men's houses, while their wives and female relatives slept and ate in smaller women's houses. Most villages were home to more than one kin group. With colonization, dispersed settlements were combined into larger villages for easier administration and the provision of education and health care. The first towns grew up around mission and administrative centers, near airstrips, or on hillsides overlooking good harbors. Towns were small, and homes and nonresidential structures were simple one-story buildings. The first Papua New Guineans to live in towns were men. Many workers were chosen from nearby villages to which they were expected to return at night, but some lived in servants' quarters ( boi haus ) or company barracks. The exclusion of New Guineans from areas of European settlement was maintained almost up until independence. After World War II, there was an expansion of economic opportunities for both colonizers and local peoples, resulting in a rapid growth of towns and an increase in urban migration as men, and later their wives and children, came to town seeking employment, education, and excitement. The Australians tried to control the influx by building company housing for workers and their families and denying residency rights to other migrants, but that policy was only partly successful. "Squatter" settlements became stepping-stones for migrants who came to test the waters in town and migrants who wanted to save money to invest in their villages. They have become islands of safety in crime-filled towns as wantoks band together, apart from other groups.

In preparing for independence, colonial and Papua New Guinean officials built institutions such as the National Arts School, where students and other artists and architects used traditional and modern elements in designs for buildings in the capital and elsewhere.

Papua New Guineans continue to be ambivalent about the expense and violence of town life. Markets, parks, and shopping centers draw thousands of visitors every day, most of whom are interested in observing the spectacle and meeting up with wantoks to gossip or plan group events. Airports are crowded with travelers' friends and families, onlookers, and unemployed youths observing the movements of people from around the world.

Food and Economy

Food in Daily Life. Staples include starchy vegetables (wild sago, breadfruit, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, and rice) complemented by wild greens, several varieties of bananas, and coconuts, mango, and other fruits. Domestication of animals and hunting provide fowl, pork, and meat from birds, marsupials, turtles, and cassowaries. In riverine and coastal areas, fish and shellfish may form a significant part of the diet. Villagers cook two meals a day, boiling or roasting the food. Earth ovens are dug on ceremonial grounds for special occasions. Leftovers, sugarcane, and coconut milk are consumed while people work in their gardens. Tea is drunk at all times. Urban restaurants provide international cuisine to those who can afford it. Kai bars (fast-food stands) are popular. Food taboos vary and are often temporary, as with restrictions on pregnant women and initiates. Others are totemic, involving plants or animals that are symbolic of kin groups. Still others are relational; for example, a son-in-law may not consume food in the presence of his mother-in-law.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Papua New Guinea is renowned for ceremonial occasions at which hundreds of pigs or other valuables are distributed to guests. Competitive feasting ("fighting with food") between big men and chiefs features oratory, dancing, singing, drumming, and feasting that go on for days, along with the payment of bride-prices and other exchanges. Special drinks were rarely part of such ceremonies in the past, but now beer and alcohol are often part of major exchanges. Papua New Guineans celebrate nontraditional holidays such as Christmas and Easter, but rarely with the exuberance or expense involved in a traditional feast.

Basic Economy. Villagers produce most of their own food, and many townspeople plant gardens and rely on open-air markets for fruits and vegetables sold by village women using kina for currency. Urban supermarkets import an array of expensive foods and other items. Most residents rely on small trade stores for rice, sugar, tea, and tinned fish, as well as soap, clothing, blankets, kerosene lanterns, and matches.

Land Tenure and Property. Most land is vested in kin groups and allocated according to need. Individual land ownership is not common; individuals may own a grove of banana trees but not the land they grow on. While land normally passes from father or mother's brother to children or nieces and nephews, the intended recipients provide much assistance and gifts to the "owners" before the land passes to their care. Migrants who fail to participate in village exchanges risk being "dispossessed" in favor of people who have supported local landowners.

Commercial Activities. Commerce is centered in the towns. Papua New Guinea developed its own television station in the late 1980s, and radio news and entertainment shows reach most villages. Tourism brings forty thousand visitors a year, mostly to the Sepik River and Trobriands. The road system is limited. Port Moresby is cut off from the rest of the country except by air and ship. With most places being difficult to reach, there are many undeveloped areas and labor migration is high.

Major Industries. The major industries are extractive. In addition to gold mining and oil drilling, major industries include coffee, copra, cocoa, cattle, oil palm, timber and wood-chip mills, and tuna canneries.

Trade. Traditional artifacts and carvings are sold throughout the world but provide only a small income. Important exports are copper, gold, coffee, cocoa, copra, coconut oil, and timber. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, food and live animals, manufactured goods, and pharmaceuticals.

Division of Labor. Outside the cities there is little specialization. The village division of labor is by age and gender, with men and women cooperating to feed their families from gardening and other subsistence activities and children and older persons assisting in a variety of ways. Cash crops generally are owned by men, but men and women tend and harvest them. Urban specialization is served by local schools, and few residents are educated abroad.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes. There are no castes and only recent evidence of the slow emergence of classes. Economic inequality, however, cuts across ethnic and cultural boundaries. The common perception is of a country divided into "elites" and "grassroots," with the grassroots including most villagers and low-income earners in town and the elites being educated, higher-income persons, "coffee millionaires," and other entrepreneurs. Social interaction is intense as elites attend clan affairs and are expected to open their homes to wantoks at any hour.

There is evidence of growing disparities in the lifestyles and opportunities of elites versus grassroots and of the emergence of a middle class. Most villagers are not poor. Daily life is simple with few of the expenses of urban life. Villagers invest their cash income and traditional wealth in the social and political relations that maintain their place in village society. The elites and the middle class, however, must balance the expenses of living in town with investments in larger kin groups. While the demands of wantoks can act as a powerful leveling force, higher-income families are investing in productive businesses and ensuring that their children have the same class privileges they do.

Symbols of Social Stratification. There are many expensive restaurants and night spots in Port Moresby and other big cities, and the highways are jammed with imported cars. While some elites dress down for work and social occasions in clothes bought at secondhand stores or wear the grassroots fashion for women, the laplap and the meri blouse, many buy their clothes from fashionable boutiques and department stores or overseas. Wealthy citizens have invested in properties outside the country in anticipation of retirement or a people's revolution.

Political Life

Government. Papua New Guinea is an independent Commonwealth nation that achieved independence on 16 September 1975 from the Australian-administered United Nations trusteeship. It is a parliamentary democracy with a governor general representing the British Crown, a prime minister and cabinet, and a 109-member unicameral, popularly elected parliament. The legal system is based on English common law. There is a Supreme Court in which the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the National Executive Council. Other judges are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission. There is universal suffrage, and the voting age is 18 years. In 1977, the Organic Law on Provincial Government resulted in decentralization. There are nineteen provinces (former colonial districts), each with an elected assembly, premier, and cabinet. There is also a National Capital District. At the local level there are local government councils that lost power as provincial governments gained government resources and funds. Corruption and other difficulties led to the abolition of provincial governments in 1995 and their replacement with a local government structure headed by governors in each province.

Leadership and Political Officials. Most traditional leaders achieved influence by building extensive networks of exchange partners and supporters. The characteristic "big man" was hardworking, skilled in oratory, personable, intelligent, generous, and the husband of more than one wife. Big men still exist, but their influence has lessened because they cannot control the global forces affecting their communities. Candidates for higher office must build multiple local power bases, an expensive and delicate political operation that often results in questionable campaign practices and eventual electoral disappointment and single terms of office. There are many political parties, and prime ministers must forge coalitions. Parties are unstable and hard to distinguish on the basis of substantive issues. Prime ministers rarely stay in office for the full five years, and parliament members switch parties frequently.

Social Problems and Control. There are both village and national court systems. Village courts use custom rather than English law, a situation that sometimes results in injustice from the point of view of the larger society. A chief ombudsman can resolve some conflicts between the two systems, but his reach rarely extends beyond Port Moresby. Policing a large and thinly populated country is difficult, and many citizens fear the police. Rural police sometimes compensate for inadequate manpower by using excessive force with lawbreakers; and urban police can be equally brutal. Crimes go unreported because citizens fear police brutality or prefer to handle the offenders, who are often kin, themselves. The police have been known to take the law into their own hands, as has the Papua New Guinea Defense Force. The nation's "law and order" problem is multifaceted, but the depredations of youthful gangs, outbreaks of rioting and looting, and the resurgence of tribal warfare are major sources of disorder and misery.

Military Activity. The nation's only major military action has been the ongoing conflict with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. In the late 1970s and 1980s, there were fears of an Indonesian invasion across the border with Irian Jaya. A small guerilla freedom movement of no more than four hundred men used the sparsely populated border area to stage attacks against the Indonesian army and then flee to the Papua New Guinea side. Unwilling to contemplate war with the much larger Indonesia, Papua New Guinea used its armed forces to send refugees back across the border and capture rebels.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

Nongovernmental organizations and voluntary associations help residents confront rapid social and economic changes. Organizations with multiple aid programs include the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Red Cross. AIDAB's Women in Development Fund targets women as beneficiaries of financial and educational support, teaching business and management training, giving women start-up funds, and encouraging family planning and women's political involvement. The UNDP office in Port Moresby officially opened in 1975.

Voluntary organizations include Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the U.S. Peace Corps, and British Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Community Aid Abroad (Australia) and Ecological Enterprises support or enhance the work of the Papua New Guinea Integral Human Development Trust, a literacy and awareness resource group with twenty-three member organization that is involved in programs for progressive social change. It has trained over two thousand young men and women as village literacy teachers and runs an AIDS awareness program and the Cross-Cultural Awareness Program for immigrant workers and volunteers.

Gender Roles and Statuses

Division of Labor by Gender. Village subsistence centers on horticulture, with men clearing forests and bush so that their wives can plant gardens and tend pigs. Some crops, such as bananas, sugarcane, and cash crops (such as coffee and cocoa) are planted and tended by men. While women often help pick cash crops, most of the income goes to men. Men build houses and fences, while women make grass skirts and net bags ( bilums ). Women do the daily cooking, while men butcher pigs for feasts. Both men and women look after small children, with a father tending his infant while the mother weeds her gardens. In town, most women do domestic chores and child care while their husbands are at work. Women with jobs employ extended kin to do chores. In both towns and villages, men who do women's work are stigmatized as "rubbish men." Working women do not experience the same stigma, although they suffer prejudice and sexual harassment if they appear too independent and assertive.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. Trobriand chiefs and others who go on open seas Kula (exchange) expeditions and give away yam harvests at the annual yam festival gain authority and privilege, and a chief may have many wives and expect commoners to bow in his presence. However, without female relatives to participate in female exchange events and redeem matrilineage lands and honor, those men's power would evaporate. Among the Gende and many other societies, big men achieve their positions by investing in feasts, bride-prices, and other exchange needs of their partners and followers. To do this, big men need many wives and female helpers to raise food and pigs to give away. Hardworking women are a man's most valuable asset, and husbands who do not consider their wives' interests risk losing them to other men. Women's procreative power induces men to go to great lengths in initiation and other rituals to strengthen themselves for contact with women and achieve a balance or edge in gender relations. In the towns, men and women are redefining their relations. With less education and fewer job opportunities, women do not contribute much income to urban households and as a consequence suffer the infidelities and physical abuses of men who feel burdened by the demands of family and the high expectations extended kin place on employed men, especially those who earn high salaries. Village women help pay back their own bride-prices and assist men in raising cash crops. Some rural women earn money by selling vegetables in urban markets.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage. The choice of a marriage partner is rarely left to the individual. After initiation into adult society, young men and women spend time with the opposite sex in supervised courtship sessions. Ideal marriage partners are hardworking and attractive. Clan exogamy is a must, and parents hope their daughters will marry prosperous suitors whose kin pay large bride-prices and who will be good allies in exchange and war. Women pressed into incompatible marriages can return home or threaten suicide. If those strategies fail, young women may run away with lovers or commit suicide.

Men are more likely to be unmarried, as polygyny is practiced and big men attract a greater share of wives. In Gende society, as many as 10 percent of adult males are polygynous at some time. Divorce occurs even in areas where Catholicism is practiced. Often it is the women who initiate it, as men are loath to lose a female worker. After divorce, most adults remarry unless they are very old and living with children or grandchildren.

As Papua New Guineans become more involved in the cash economy and urbanization, marriage patterns are being transformed. Bride-price inflation is one response to economic inequality. The practice of women competing for men rather than men trying to attract women is having an impact on marital politics throughout the nation. Women are in an insecure position, especially urban women who must tolerate domestic abuse and infidelity to hold on to their husbands.

Domestic Unit. The basic village household consists of a husband, a wife, their unmarried children, and perhaps the husband's parents. Extended families live in adjacent houses, gathering frequently for meals, companionship, work parties, and ceremonies. Men's houses are no longer common, although young men may live with other bachelors. Household decisions involve consensus between able-bodied adults, although young wives defer to older members. Residence is usually patrilocal. Less common is matrilocality and avunculocality. Neolocality occurs only in towns. Even then, a couple may be joined by their parents and other kin.

Inheritance. Land and property rights generally pass from parents to children or from uncles to nieces and nephews. These kin relations are extended to other members in an individual's kin group. All these persons have an interest in the prosperity of the kin group, and those of the younger generation who contribute the most to that prosperity are likely to receive the most. Reciprocity is a key element, and nonkin can become "sons" and "daughters" of a group if they contribute generously to group affairs. While women generally do not use clan or lineage lands, they retain the option to do so by contributing to group exchanges.

Kin Groups. The important kin groups are patrilineal and matrilineal lineages and clans, Clan members do not necessarily live on clan land. Women marry out, and migrants move far from their ancestral territories to find wage employment and other benefits in town. All the members of a kin group, however, must participate in clan affairs, contributing to bride-prices and other exchanges and helping with initiation and mortuary ceremonies. Clans and lineages can shrink and disappear through deaths and indifference. Persons join other clans, allying themselves with their wives' clans or being adopted as children. An important asset is the land a clan's members hold in common. Land is valuable and a way of life for 85 percent of the population. It is also a form of social security for persons living in towns, most of whom actively engage in kin group affairs to maintain their rural option.

Socialization

Infant Care. Most babies are born outside the village in a birth hut or garden house, where mother and child spend the first few days or weeks after the birth in relative isolation, gathering strength and hiding from malevolent forces. For the next several years, mothers nurse their babies, and the babies are carried everywhere and played with by adoring relatives. In many societies, there is a small feast when the baby, especially a first child, is around a year old to celebrate its existence and let the parents show their appreciation to all those who made its birth possible, including the mother's family and the bride-price supporters.

Child Rearing and Education. Child rearing is indulgent until age five or six for girls and a few years older for boys. Children explore their environment and run free most of the day. Corporal punishment is rare as people believe a child's spirit may leave its body if the child is hit or frightened. A troublesome child is left alone or ignored. If necessary, such children may be taken to the bush or a garden house to act out or sulk. Children are taught by example. Little girls follow in their mothers' and older sisters' footsteps, at first doing child minding or running errands, and later helping in the gardens. Boys spend a longer time playing with other boys but eventually collect firewood and carry water and, later, clear bush and hunt or fish with their fathers. Older boys and girls may go through separate initiation or puberty ceremonies to prepare them for marriage and adulthood. Rituals and taboos are elaborate, arduous, and sometimes terrifying. Young men and women are taught the meanings and responsibilities of their genders to prepare them for social responsibilities and marriage, including sexuality. Badness in children is not something parents blame themselves for; evil spirits may cause a child to be selfish and cruel, in which case, the parents hire a medium.

Higher Education. Higher education is a goal of many parents, especially for their sons. Many parents worry about the physical dangers urban life holds for women. The urban job market is competitive, and some parents are not impressed with the value of a high school or college education, knowing that education does not guarantee a job. Many school leavers and unemployed graduates cause trouble in towns and villages. Parents spend their education dollars on only the brightest, most socially responsible children.

Etiquette

In village society, etiquette centers on reciprocity and being hospitable to guests and unexpected visitors, Feasting exchange partners has an urban equivalent in parties where workmates and wantoks are welcome along with their spouses and children. Reciprocity is expected but is not always possible, putting barriers between individuals of different income levels. One custom that everyone can participate in is sharing betel nut ( buai ). Relations between older and younger and male and female are relaxed. On meeting, men and women of different ages clasp hands or clasp one another around the waist. Couples do not openly express affection in public, but friends of the same sex may hold hands while walking. It is not rude to stare or for persons to crowd one another at counters or stand very close. In chiefly societies, commoners must bow before chiefs and are prohibited from eating foods reserved for the chief and his family.

Religion

Religious Beliefs. The first mission in eastern New Guinea was the London Missionary Society, which in 1871 set up mission teachers from the Loyalty Islands on islands adjacent to and on the Papuan mainland. Some New Guineans resisted the changes missionaries represented, while others accepted opportunities for new forms of wealth, power, and age and gender relations. Working for the mission sometimes provided young men with an income that allowed them to support and choose brides. Schooled in Christian ethics, young women often refused to have bride-prices paid for them. More often, Papua New Guineans have sought to blend old and new religions. Cargo cults aimed at acquiring the wealth and power of outsiders through blends of Christian and local rituals have been common. Today, indigenized forms of Christianity seek to control the human condition in a period of insistent and significant change.

Most societies have stories telling how superhuman beings created the natural world and society, inventing food plants, pigs and pig exchanges, male and female cults, sorcery, and other aspects of culture. In some societies, such deities are important in male and female cults; in others, they have little to do with present fortunes. Instead, sorcerers and witches, the spirits of deceased ancestors, nonhuman forest spirits, and monsters command the attention of the living. Another common belief is that the physical and nonphysical worlds are intertwined and that the well-being of living humans is directly related to the maintenance of proper social ties, adherence to taboos, and the propitiation of spirits. Except in the case of infants and the very old, death is not natural but results from wrongdoing or oversights on the part of the living.

Religious Practitioners. The pragmatic focus of their religions and the absence of a hierarchy is reflected in the intense involvement of Papua New Guineans in the ritual maintenance of their own spiritual and physical well-being. Only in a few chiefly societies do hereditary chiefs and their henchmen act as religious specialists. More generally, it is expected that all adults will acquire magic spells used in gardening, healing or preventing minor illnesses, and love magic. Many people possess a knowledge of sorcery or witchcraft. Big men often purport to be powerful spirit mediums and to possess both healing powers and deadly war sorcery. Witches are deviant or marginalized individuals who are suspected of using their relations with spirits and other cosmic forces to harm members of their own groups.

Rituals and Holy Places. Many rituals focus on health and fertility, such as male and female initiation rituals. Aimed at bringing about the maturation and future success of the initiates, initiation involves seclusion in the forest or a menstrual hut, fasting and food taboos, and body mutilation. Initiates seek contact with spirit guides who will help them throughout their lives and even marry spirit women on occasion. Initiation and other ceremonies focus on eliciting the help of ancestors and the living and are accompanied by the exchange of valuables and food. In preparation for war or in compensation for war deaths, a group may sacrifice hundreds of pigs to call forth the aid of the ancestors. Cannibalism and head-hunting-not universally practiced-were often aimed at rejuvenation or acquiring the bravery and good characteristics of the deceased, with wives eating a portion of their husbands' dead bodies to incorporate their virility and young warriors displaying enemies' heads as symbols of their own magic and efficacy.

Death and the Afterlife. When a person is near death or has died suddenly, mediums are called in to discover the causes and the identity of the sorcerer or witch who may have been involved. Appropriate rituals and sacrifices are performed to prevent death or free the deceased's spirit. Once death has occurred, relatives gather to express their sorrow, wailing and sometimes chopping off fingers, pulling teeth, shaving hair, or pulling out facial hairs. Burial is now common. In the past a corpse might be cremated, thrown in a river or buried at sea, or left in a tree to rot. The dry bones might be buried under a house floor to provide protection to the living with the jawbone worn around the neck of a relative or leader. Rituals believed to help the deceased accommodate to their new state occur at the funeral and at later mortuary ceremonies. Spirits may be encouraged to stay near the living. Some are sent off to a "place of spirits" not far from the living, on mountaintops or in the forest. Funerals and mortuary ceremonies are times to pay off the deceased's debts, recognize his or her accomplishments, and restore friendly relations among the living by exchanging wealth.

Medicine and Health Care

Along with plant medicines and traditional therapies for treating physical symptoms, patients and caregivers use rituals designed to overcome or ascertain the causes of sickness and mental illness, such as ruptured social relations, sorcerers, and ghost attacks. People make use of both Western and traditional treatments in dealing with symptoms while turning to traditional medicine to cure the underlying social and cultural causes of illness. Urban areas have adequate medical staffing in hospitals and clinics. Rural areas are serviced by a thinly spread system of aid posts and small health centers. Aid post workers have only the barest knowledge of first aid. Some village women are trained in midwifery and community-based family-planning services. Trained nurses and paramedics are rare, and doctors even more so. In 1992, there was one doctor for every six thousand persons. In rural areas, health care focuses on first aid and treating chronic diseases such as malaria and pneumonia. Attempts are made to deal with the special health concerns of women and children, including family planning, pregnancy and childbirth, and nutrition and growth. Infant and child mortality rates have dropped, with the most recent figures showing sixty-seven of every one thousand infants dying before the age of twelve months, but women's nutritional needs are not as well met. In many areas, women and girls are fed significantly less than men and boys, resulting in weight loss, anemia, osteoporosis, and greater susceptibility to illness. AIDS, gonorrhea, and syphilis are spreading. Urban use of alcohol, tobacco, sugar, and fatty foods has resulted in increased rates of disease. Medical, sports, and nutrition services and exercise classes are springing up in towns.

Secular Celebrations

The Arts and Humanities

Support for the Arts. In 1972, the government established the Creative Arts Centre (CAC) to train and support individuals, stage exhibitions, and commission work for national and private projects. In 1976, the CAC became the National Arts School. After Independence, the government supported the arts to promote a national culture. The completion of the parliament building in 1984 marked the apex of national artistic culture.

Literature. After the 1960s, historians and others took a greater interest in oral history and folklore. Oral traditions relating to clan genealogies, initiation and mortuary chants, magic and sorcery, and the teaching of children about their cultures were collected and analyzed, and some were published. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was also an interest in modern Papua New Guinea writing in English. Publishing outlets include the journals Bikmaus, Ondobondo, and The PNG Writer. Autobiographies have been published by overseas companies and by the National Research Institute.

Graphic Arts. The National Arts School offers courses in graphic design, textile design, fine arts, and music. Students are encouraged to generate contacts and income for themselves and the school. In addition to helping with large-scale projects such as the National Parliament, the National Museum, and the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation building in Port Moresby, students have been involved in designing publicity for the Port Moresby Show, and making murals, carved screens, and sculptures for shopping centers. Pottery is enjoying a renaissance as potters combine modern techniques with traditional designs. Tourists buy replicas or actual artifacts in local markets and several shops in Port Moresby. Tourism and the international art market fuel cottage industry production of wood carvings. Colorful string bags are produced and sold by women.

Performance Arts. In 1975, the National Cultural Council funded the Raun Raun Theatre, a popular theater movement that attempts to transpose traditional cultural forms into contemporary theater and address the concerns of rural society.

The State of the Physical and Social Sciences

With the development of institutions such as the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), the National Research Institute (formerly the Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research), and the PNG Institute of Medical Research in the 1960s and 1970s, Papua New Guinea has become a place where local and foreign scientists and academics engage in long-term interdisciplinary research. Perhaps the social science that has gained the most has been anthropology. Other subjects taught at UPNG include biology, business and economics, education, law, and medicine. In recent years, the UPNG's law faculty, the Law Reform Commission, NRI, and other national bodies and visiting researchers have focused on a number of pressing law and order issues, including violence against women, rioting and political corruption, the resurgence of tribal fighting, gangs, and conflicts over compensation for resource development. The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research in Goroka and Madang sponsors research on a range of topics, including sexuality, STDs, nutrition, growth and development, infant mortality, and the epidemiology of health and disease.

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-Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi

Basic Data

Background & General Characteristics

The independent state of Papua New Guinea enjoys some of the Pacific region's liveliest media coverage. Though its two daily newspapers are foreign owned, the private press reports vigorously on corruption and political issues.

Comprising the eastern half of the Pacific's largest noncontinental island and over 600 smaller islands, Papua New Guinea is located some 93 miles north of Australia. Its citizens are predominantly Melanesians and Papuan with some Negrito, Micronesians, and Polynesians. Official languages are English, Tok Pisin (the widely spoken Melanesian Pidgin), and Hiri Motu, but 867 indigenous languages are spoken among 1,000 tribes throughout the country. Interaction between regions has been largely restricted due to the topography of the land and the diversity of the languages. Its government is a federal parliamentary system, with periodic free and fair elections, and an independent judiciary.

Europeans first sighted Papua New Guinea in 1512. The country was divided between the Dutch, Germans, and British towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1905 Australia took over the British sector naming it "the territory of Papua" and then captured the German sector during World War I. A member of the British Commonwealth, the country became fully independent in 1975.

Since independence Papua New Guinea has enjoyed strong media growth. In 1975 Papua New Guinea's major media consisted of one daily newspaper and one radio network. There was no television, and universities did not offer journalism training. By 2002, the region boasted two competing daily newspapers, a weekly English language newspaper, a television station, multiple radio stations, cable and satellite service, two university journalism programs, and several independent Web sites devoted to news and media analysis.

The nation's two daily newspapers, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (circulation 33,500) and The National (circulation 23,500), are both in English, with 15 copies per 1,000 people. The two weeklies, Wantok Niuspepa (published in Tok Pisin) and The Independent (English-language), have an aggregate circulation of 24,000. Of these four papers, all but Wantok Niuspepa also publish on the Internet. They compete aggressively in Port Moresby, but have limited circulation in other urban areas. Another English-language newspaper, the biweekly Eastern Star, is published in the city of Alotau, while the monthly, Hiri Nius, prints government news in all three official languages, with a circulation of 5,000. Newspaper circulation has increased steadily. In 1982 aggregate daily newspaper circulation was 39,000; by 1997 it had increased by 53 percent to 60,000. But the number of major daily newspapers has not increased since 1980.

In addition to Christian and national radio networks, the National Broadcasting Corporation has three networks: the Karai Service (English), Kalang FM, and the Kundu Service, which includes 19 provincial stations. The latter broadcast in an array of languages spoken in their respective regions. Some 650 of these languages have been identified, yet only 200 are related, and all are grammatically complex. A few hundred to a few thousand people speak each language. One native language, Enga, is spoken by some 130,000 people, and Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca.

The PNG FM company includes two commercial stations Nau FM (English) and Yumi FM (Tok Pisin). In 2000 a Motu-language station, FM Central, was launched. Listeners also receive Radio Australia's Papua New Guinea service broadcasts in Tok Pisin. There are two cable services with access to overseas channels and one local television station. Satellite broadcasting had become available by 2000.

The nature of media coverage in Papua New Guinea is strongly linked to the isolation of many of its peoples. The country's population is divided; some 85 percent live in remote villages, retaining ancient cultures and tongues, with little contact with the modern world. Few publications or televisions signals reach its rugged interior, where a multiplicity of tribal languages fragments communication. In addition to the absence of a common language, Papua New Guinea's literacy rate complicates the country's publishing climate; some 50 percent of its citizens cannot read and own no books aside from a Bible or hymnal. At the same time a literate, cosmopolitan culture of Australian expatriates bustles in the capital city of Port Moresby, where nearly all major print media are published. In a nation of geographically disparate peoples the majority of New Guineans count on radio as their primary news source rather than television, print, or online media.

The limited influence of Papua New Guinea's print media as a tool of political discourse was demonstrated during the pre-independence 1964 elections. Although the Australian government donated thousands of pamphlets and hundreds of tape recorders, loudspeakers, drawings, projectors, filmstrips, and flipcharts to local candidates, these materials went largely unused. Political advertising of election coverage and controversial correspondence were absent; not one candidate accepted a newspaper's offer of free publicity.

Most print publications in Papua New Guinea represent expatriates and the military, rather than natives. In 1888 its first newspapers represented white settlers, with the four-page weekly Torres Straits Pilot and New Guinea Gazette, as well as papers launched in 1917 and 1925. When the nation's three commercial newspapers ceased publication during World War II, mimeographed weekly news sheets appeared. Two tabloids appeared after World War II: The South Pacific Post reported Australian and overseas news from its offices in Port Moresby from 1951, followed by the New Guinea Times in 1959, published in the city of Lae. The two papers merged into the Post-Courier in 1969.

Newspapers targeting natives have been published irregularly. In 1962 the South Pacific Post launched the free, weekly Nu Gini Toktok published in Pidgin English with a special writing style explaining every word longer than two syllables. The paper specialized in self-help, health, housing, market reports on current prices for copra (dried coconut meat from which coconut oil is derived) and cocoa, comics, and radio listings; stories and photos were solicited from readers.

Nu Gini Toktok carried little international news except for stories about the United Nations or the South Pacific Commission, both of which have responsibilities in Papua New Guinea. Many stories were translations of Australian news inappropriate for the target audience; inconsistencies between readership and management ultimately killed the paper. Nu Gini Toktok's circulation never exceeded 4,000, and it closed in 1970. The church-owned secularly oriented Wantok, whose circulation of 10,000 includes distribution to all primary schools, replaced it.

Since Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975, several provinces have started their own newspapers. Niugini News, now closed, was started in 1979 and provided national and Australian news in simple English. Produced in Lae and distributed nationwide, Niugini News filled a gap for print media in some remote areas. Wantok Publications branched out to a more urban, educated audience with its 1980 acquisition of The Times of Papua New Guinea. This, plus the launch of the regional Arawa Bulletin, signaled a trend toward more local reporting.

As political parties evolved in Papua New Guinea, so did party newspapers. Pangu Nius was launched in 1970 as a monthly in English and Pidgin; the United Party also published a trilingual paper. Both had little success attracting advertisers. In addition to political papers nine church missions publish newspapers, some in three languages.

With the country's largest circulation, the Post-Courier is Papua New Guinea's most influential publication, followed by The Independent, which is distributed to a remote audience the urban Post Courier does not reach. The third most influential newspaper is Wantok, which serves the populace who speak Pidgin.

Australian media chains, religious organizations, cultural groups, or the government's Office of Information operate print publications in Papua New Guinea. For example, an Australian media conglomerate owns the Post-Courier. Papua New Guinea's Summer Institute of Linguistics publishes education materials in local languages, often developing a periodical geared toward interests of each individual region. In addition, religious denominations in Papua New Guinea operate their own publishing houses.

Economic Framework

Since indigenous peoples settled Papua New Guinea some 50,000 years ago, its population has relied on agriculture for subsistence. In the twenty-first century agriculture accounts for 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and supports more than 80 percent of the population. Generating a GDP of US $10.7 billion in 1996, Papua New Guinea's workforce numbers 1.941 million. Cash crops include coffee, oil, cocoa, copra, tea, rubber, and sugar. The timber industry was not active in 1998, due to low world prices, but rebounded in 1999. About 40 percent of the country is covered with trees, and a domestic woodworking industry has been slow to develop. Top industries are coconut oil, plywood, wood chips, gold, and silver- the country is rich in copper, gold, silver, and natural gas. Its annual $2.7 billion exports include gold, copper, coffee, palm oil, copra, timber, lobster, while the country imports $1.3 billion in food, machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals, and consumer goods. Papua New Guinea's major trading partners are Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, South Korea, and Germany.

Manufacturing is limited, making up 9 percent of the GDP. Small industries produce beer, soap, concrete products, clothing, paper products, matches, ice cream, canned meat, fruit juices, furniture, plywood, and paint. U.S. companies are developing Papua New Guinea's mining and petroleum sectors; an American-financed oil refinery project estimated to produce 30,000-40,000 barrels-per-day is under development in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in 1993 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1996. Australia is the largest aid donor to Papua New Guinea, offering about $200 million per year in assistance. It is followed by Japan, the European Union, the People's Republic of China, the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. International volunteers provide education, health, and development assistance throughout the country.

By 1999 Papua New Guinea's economy was troubled, as its foreign currency earnings suffered from low world mineral and petroleum prices. The resulting foreign exchange earnings-in tandem with government mismanagement-caused the currency (the kina) to plummet. Economic activity decreased in most sectors; imports of all kinds shrank, and inflation, which had been over 21 percent in 1998, slowed to an estimated annual rate of 8 percent in 1999. Papua New Guinea received emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Nearly all major media outlets in Papua New Guinea are foreign owned. Although the country enjoys a free press, critics fear the media could become a tool to influence popular support in favor of foreign investment.

The largest-circulation South Pacific daily, the Australian-owned Post-Courier, lists Rupert Murdoch's News, Ltd. as its majority shareholder, though private Papua New Guinea investors own one-third. Its coverage of Papua New Guinea and international news, sports, and business is published Monday through Friday and uses Australian Associated Press (AAP) news feed. The Post-Courier's circulation reached a peak of 41,000 in 1994, but it dropped after a rival daily newspaper, the Malaysian-owned National, was launched. Since 1998 the Post-Courier began publishing two magazines targeting the high-income sector; the weekly, general-interest Papua New Guinea (PNG) Magazine and Newagewoman, a monthly women's magazine mixing fashion with serious issues of domestic violence and sexual health. The Post-Courier also publishes the region's first Braille newspaper, The South Pacific Braille News, with an initial circulation of 400 upon its 2002 launch.

The Post-Courier's competing daily, The National, is owned by a Malaysian logging concern. It publishes little on the controversial subjects of logging and forestry, but is generally independent and unbiased on other issues. The first Pacific region daily to publish an online edition (1996), The National uses wire from Agence France-Presse. Both newspapers have shied away from using a six-day week publishing formula because of doubt that there is sufficient weekend market.

The weekly Independent is a product of the church-owned Word Publishing Co., which also prints the monthly PNG Business and the weekly, Tok-Pisin-language Wantok Niuspepa, with a circulation of 15,000. The Independent replaced The Times of Papua New Guinea in 1995. The government-owned monthly newspaper Hiri Nius had suspended publication in 2002.

Signals from the independently owned television broadcasting company, EM-TV, do not reach far outside Port Moresby. The government-owned National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) owns two radio networks that potentially could reach the entire country, but the networks are limited by poor funding and outdated equipment. A privately owned radio network in Port Moresby, NAU-FM, is expanding into other areas of the country.

Press Laws

The Papua New Guinean Constitution provides for free speech, including freedom of the media, and the government generally respects this freedom in practice. Specific acts of Parliament regarding defamation, commercial advertising, court evidence, and personal correspondence narrow the constitutional press freedom somewhat, while the Printers and Newspapers Act requires printer's and publisher's names to appear in the newspaper. The law neither authorizes nor restricts press freedom, but it does support circulation of the news. This is achieved through directives regarding all citizens' rights to participate in national development and the inclusion of native culture in this process.

The media provides independent coverage and analysis of major controversies, including the legal problems of government and opposition politicians. Since freedom of expression includes citizens and non-citizens relaying ideas, opinions, and information and refuting false statements through the press, an act of Parliament may enable access to mass media.

In 1994 Parliament approved the National Policy on Information and Communication of Papua New Guinea (NPIC). The comprehensive document regulates traditional media and new technology, including satellite broadcasting, information technology, cable television, print media, audiovisual media, advertising, and a code of ethics.

Censorship

Papua New Guinea's Customs Act prohibits the importation of printed matter, film, or slides considered blasphemous, obscene, depraved, or containing contents including sex, violence, or crime. The courts occasionally tried citizens and foreigners under provisions of the Censorship Act banning the import, broadcast, or publication of materials deemed pornographic according to Papua New Guinea's Censorship Code. The usual sentence for violations is confiscation and destruction of restricted goods, although the courts can legally impose a fine of US $17 or more, or a prison sentence of up to 2 years. Cosmopolitan and Cleo magazines were banned in 1995 for indecency in several of their issues.

Radio broadcast operators are required to maintain a high standard of programming. In this regard, radio programs that are morally acceptable to Papua New Guinean audiences are approved, with special attention paid to children's programs. Additionally, all programs must conform to the standards laid down and specified in the 1989 Censorship Act and administered by the Censorship Board of Papua New Guinea.

State-Press Relations

The government has been acutely sensitive to media criticism on several occasions. In 1997 the prime minister attacked as "totally unfounded" and "damaging to the country" a media report-later confirmed-relating to strained meetings between a World Bank team and the government. The prime minister has tried to block journalists from reporting on Parliament. The forestry minister admitted to an unsuccessful attempt in September to convince EM-TV management to stop showing a documentary while it was being broadcast, saying the program was not in the people's interest. Such government sensitivities have apparently affected reporting. The editor of a Port Moresby newspaper has stated publicly that the media have deliberately chosen not to report on certain areas that would be open subjects in Western societies, such as the private lives of political leaders and allegations of corruption.

Foreign-owned news media rather than government are the greater threat to content diversity in the Papua New Guinea press. Both daily newspapers are foreign owned, as is the only television channel. There are three government-owned radio stations and one private locally owned radio outlet. The private press, including weeklies and monthlies, vigorously reports on corruption and other sensitive matters. The state-run radio news is generally balanced.

According to the Information Services Review Committee, a developing country's communications should be given top priority. In Papua New Guinea the Office of Information operates under the prime minister's department but is responsible to the minister of the media. The Office of Information has five divisions. The Information Division provides national and provincial government news, national and overseas publicity, government public relations, and technical assistance to departments using mass media. The Government Liaison Division implements and evaluates national communication projects. The Policy Secretariat Division formulates national communication policy. There is also a Division of Management Services Staff Development and Training. The Production Division is the largest of the five divisions. It designs artwork for publications and has the capacity to translate materials into two native languages. The division produces films and video, and publishes print materials including a free trilingual national government newspaper.

Government intervention with the commercial media started in 1942, when the Australian army closed one newspaper on censorship grounds. After World War II, native riots and other events underscored the need for improved communications between the government and people.

In 1997 the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), a parliamentary body, began a review of ways to make the media "more accountable" and to ensure that persons "aggrieved by media abuses have accessible redress." However, media and general public representatives reacted strongly, viewing the CRC effort as an attempt to control the media. The CRC initially reported that no new restrictions needed to be enacted and recommended instead that an independent media commission be established charged with self-regulation, an approach that the media representatives supported. However, media representatives again became concerned when the CRC chairman stated in October that the CRC had been directed to draft legislation to make the media more accountable and to establish an independent body, in addition to the media commission, that would look into complaints against the media.

The resulting Media Council is composed of representatives from most of Port Moresby's media outlets. One of its tasks is to regulate the media practice, and receive complaints and concerns raised by the public including the government and any person concerned with the media. Its mission is to develop media professionalism and to ensure Papuan New Guineans are protected by a responsible, active, free media.

Papua New Guinea's Media Council has created a Code of Ethics constructed to maintain public trust, retain their freedom of speech, freedom of press, and do nothing that will erode the credibility of their news media. It covers such issues as accuracy and balance, conflict of interest, privacy, children and juveniles, taste and decency, victims of sexual offenses, purchase of information, subterfuge and misinformation. The British High Commission in Port Moresby also funded a complaints tribunal.

Still, clashes between government and press occur. In 2001 students at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby conducted a sit-in outside government offices to protest the privatization of public utilities and foreign influence over the country's economic policies. After five days, police broke up the peaceful demonstrations by opening fire and killing four protesters. An EM-TV film crew was threatened during the violence, and their car was set on fire. Two Post-Courier reporters were also punched and kicked by protesters while reporting at a hospital. The same year the director of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was fired soon after the prime minister accused NBC of acting irresponsibly in airing "incorrect and inflammatory statements" about the military standoff. Despite his termination, the director told the daily National that "The government does not control [NBC's] program and editorial output despite its 100 percent ownership. It is the people's radio and it must remain that way." Later that year NBC suspended a news director over his coverage of the military and student protests, saying his broadcasts "threatened national security."

At the end of 2001, the government granted autonomy to the island of Bougainville, ending the province's 10-year struggle for independence, which killed some 20,000 people and has been called the bloodiest conflict in the Pacific since World War II. As part of the peace deal Bougainville is receiving funding to establish and develop local media, currently limited to one radio station broadcasting from Radio Australia.

Attitude toward Foreign Media

Business travel to Papua New Guinea requires a passport valid for one year past entry, a business visa, and proof of an AIDS test to enter the country; and a journalist's visa for the members of the media.

Travel outside of Port Moresby and other major towns at night can be hazardous, as criminals set up roadblocks. In addition, travel to isolated places in Papua New Guinea is possible primarily by small passenger-aircraft to the many small airstrips scattered throughout the country, as roads are scarce.

Once in Papua New Guinea, foreign journalists have access to telephone, Internet, and telegraph services. These improved communications networks have dramatically increased the ease of foreign press operations and consequently international press coverage of Papua New Guinea. For example, only 21 articles appeared on Papua New Guinea in the New York Times from 1974 to 1978. But in another four-year period, from 1997 to 2001, the New York Times printed 165 stories on the country. In addition, international access to newspaper and other media Web sites located in Papua New Guinea has increased worldwide understanding and knowledge of the region.

Foreign correspondents in Papua New Guinea enjoy a fairly privileged position, with access to key governmental players. Journalism in the Pacific region operates under many pressures, and governments can very effectively limit the scope of local media organizations. Pressure can be applied, funding can be restricted, and individuals can be made to feel threatened. The resident foreign correspondent usually operates beyond the reach of those limits. In addition, local media often lack funding and resources; the work involved in delivering a major story is too much of a drain on the resources of a small broadcaster or newspaper. The foreign correspondent may be able to draw on the abundant resources of an international press service, using the already well established infrastructure of his or her media organization to deliver that story. From that point, local media often pick up the story, passing the blame to the foreign press organization.

Reports from foreign journalists indicate that multiple visas are difficult to obtain. In 2001 the Papua New Guinea government denied foreign journalists visas to avoid scrutiny of an asylum-seeker detention center on Manus Island, according to Reporters Without Borders, an international service organization. Some 360 refugees, largely Iraqi citizens, were reported to have been subjected to substandard living quarters and human rights abuses.

News Agencies

Getting up-to-date reliable information from the Pacific region has always been very difficult, according to David Robie, lecturer in journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea. The combination of orally based societies, limited technology, and unreliable telephone lines has meant the news from Papua New Guinea makes its way slowly to the outside world, if at all.

No government news agency exists in Papua New Guinea, but several private agencies operate. Among them are Tifa Papua, Jubi, and Info Papua. Pactok was set up in 1991 as a low-cost electronic mail network, carrying a Papua New Guinea news service or "niuswire" since 1996. Initiated by Pacific region journalist and educator David Robie, the service was created in response to requests from Papua New Guinea expatriates wanting to stay in touch with area news. The Niuswire carries stories from a variety of local sources, including the Post-Courier, as well as reports from the Association of Progressive Communication and InterPress Manila sources. Stories carried by the news service usually cover socioeconomic, political, environmental, and media issues.

The Australian Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, and Reuters are the main foreign news-wire agencies with an interest in the Pacific. Others include Kyodo, the Deutsche Press Association, and Knight-Ridder. Financial wire services also run stories touching on issues affecting trade or stock markets.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) continues to distinguish itself in the Pacific with a team of local contributors and stringers around the region who feed copy via Auckland into AFP's worldwide network. This combination of local knowledge, regional experiences, and an ability to translate the Pacific for Western audiences is unparalleled. Most world newspapers and even the Pacific media receive their news via AFP copy.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) maintains a resident correspondent in Papua New Guinea, providing radio and television coverage. It also retains a full-time correspondent covering the rest of the Pacific region from Australia. The correspondent coordinates a group of local stringers traveling regularly in the region. The ABC's international service, Radio Australia, provides specific programming about and for the Pacific region via short-wave radio, the Internet, and broadcasts on Pacific radio stations. These programs are in English and Tok Pisin. The ABC coverage of the Pacific, other than Papua New Guinea, has primarily been on radio, as television has not infiltrated the region.

Within the region, Pacnews plays an increasingly important media role. Media organizations around the Pacific send their top stories each day to the Pacnews office in Suva, where it is compiled into three daily dispatches and e-mailed and faxed to the growing number of subscribing news organizations. Pacnews provides access to firsthand reports, written by journalists on the spot-Pacific journalists writing about their own place and events, so they can explain with insight into the culture shaping those events. Though many of its subscribers are broadcast media, Pacnews is a text-only service.

The Internet has become a useful tool for media, primarily as another outlet for already established services. Most Western media organizations now operate Web sites that provide another outlet for their core services, allowing people in Papua New Guinea to read American newspapers within minutes of publication, and vice versa. E-mail has become an inexpensive and effective way of communicating, helping journalists to make contact across the vast distances of the Pacific region. The ABC now routinely uses the web and e-mail to file its stories. Foreign correspondents can load their voice report for radio into a laptop computer, compress it using new technologies, attach it to an e-mail, and send it home for broadcast, at the cost of a telephone call.

Several journalism networks and online media criticism organizations serving Papua New Guinea have sprouted since 1995. The Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) was formed in October 2001 to provide a formal network for Pacific Islands media. Although PIMA is headquartered in New Zealand, it represents Papua New Guinea media.

Pacific Media Watch is an independent, nonprofit, non-government organization of journalists. It supports media freedom, examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom, and media ownership in the Pacific region through its news articles and archives. The Asia-Pacific Network provides independent journalism on social, political, environmental, media, and development issues in the Asia-Pacific region and maintains an archive of Pacific media analysis and news.

Electronic News Media

Broadcasting in Papua New Guinea began in 1934 with the radio performance of a native missionary choir. By 1946 the country's Department of Education began creating programming for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) station of news, talk shows, sports, information, and entertainment; 40 percent for natives, 30 percent for expatriates, and 30 percent for both populations.

By 1961 the government had begun its own broadcasting system, whose programming included music, agricultural features, international news, and local government council meetings. In 1973 the government radio merged with ABC to create the Papua New Guinea Broadcasting Commission. Its educational programming is significant in a country where schooling is not compulsory, and fewer than one-third of its citizens attend school at all. The educational broadcasts decrease isolation, upgrade educational standards, and supplement correspondence school programs. Though the station is government supported, it began broadcasting advertisements in 1977 to cover operating costs.

Papua New Guinea's only television station, EMTV, was launched in 1987. By 2002 the station operated two transmitters in Port Moresby and six others around the country, reaching just under two million people. Its programming includes local shows in English and Tok Pisin as well as Australian programming.

Papua New Guinea entered the information age in 1997, when Telikom PNG launched Tiare, the national Internet gateway service. In 2002 there were five commercial suppliers. Papua New Guinea's electronic media has entered the modern age, with improved communication, Internet publishing capability, a new television station, and burgeoning print press distribution. Although the Internet is regarded as a far-reaching method of conveying grassroots, independent information over great distances, it is ineffective within Papua New Guinea. Internet connections rely on a reliable phone system, rare in Papua New Guinea's interior. Not only are the web servers necessary to establish a Web site inaccessible to most Papua New Guineans, less than one percent of the population has Internet access at all, and few villagers have financial resources to obtain and power computer equipment. Barriers of illiteracy and diverse languages make Web news ineffective. Outside of the urban middle classes, television is a tentative and marginal media source, as barriers to owning televisions hinder access for a large part of the region' population. Radio remains the primary means of receiving news; a sociologist studying one native village discovered radios in half the homes.

Education and Training

Some 68 percent of New Guinean journalists have attended college, and the country is home to two university journalism programs. At the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), a journalism program has been in place since 1974. Over 170 UPNG alumni work in key media positions throughout the South Pacific. Its award-winning student newspaper, Uni Tavua, is partially funded by the Post-Courier, the Dutch Communication Assistance Foundation, and the New Zealand High Commission. UPNG's journalism program was closed briefly in 1999.

Among resources published by journalism students are the fortnightly newspaper Uni Tavur ; a media and communications journal, Pacific Journalism Review ; a daily Web site and e-mail news service, Niuswire ; a quarterly communications newsletter e-mailed to more than 80 subscribers, Media Nius; ; and a comprehensive new textbook on mass media in the region: Nius Bilong Pasifik: Mass Media in the Pacific. The University of Papua New Guinea was the first Pacific region university to launch a full online newspaper in 1995.

In the city of Madang, the Divine Word University offers a two-year journalism diploma and a bachelor's degree in journalism. The program was established in 1989. The department operates as a news agency covering the Madang area, and all students are required to undertake coverage of news events and feature writing assignments for national and international media organizations. Students regularly provide the Post-Courier, The National, and The Independent with news stories and features. Reports are provided for radio news bulletins and for EM-TV. Students also wrote an in-depth feature on polygamy that was published in an international magazine, and other articles were syndicated by the international agency Inter Press Service (IPS) Asia-Pacific.

Summary

Since declaring independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea has made enormous progress in media development. It has added television and online publishing to its list of media resources, and expanded circulation and distribution of print publications. With its burgeoning journalism education programs and free-flowing media discourse, Papua New Guinea can expect increased improvement in press objectivity, freedom, and methodology. Most major media is still in foreign hands, but the inclusion of Internet publishing may increase grassroots, independent media. With the continued cooperation of government agencies in maintaining press freedom and developing new ways to reach indigenous peoples, Papua New Guinea's press looks upon a bright future.

Significant Dates

1987: EM-TV, Papua New Guinea's first and only television station, is launched.

1994: Parliament approves the National Policy on Information and Communication of Papua New Guinea.

1995: The National replaces Niugini News ; in 1996 it is the region's first online paper.

Bibliography

Asia Pacific Network. 2002. Available from www.asiapac.org .

Central Intelligence Agency. "Papua New Guinea." In CIA World Factbook. Washington, D.C.: 2002.

International Press Institute. "Papua New Guinea." 2000 World Press Freedom Review 2000.

Nash, Sorariba. "UPNG Lecturer Critical Over Lack of Hel,." Pacific Media Watch, 26 Aug. 1999.

Paraide, Daniel. "Papua New Guinea Report: Universal Access to Publications." Office of Libraries and Archives, Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Sept. 2001.

Programme in Comparative Law and Media, Wolfson University, Oxford University, and Yeshiva University. "Papua New Guinea." Communications Law in Transition Newsletter (Sept. 4, 2000).

Reporters Sans Frontiers. "Journalists Prevented From Reporting About Refugee Camp in Papua New Guinea." 15 March 2002.

- -. "Papua New Guinea Annual Report 2002."

Robertson, Robbie. "Challenges Over Pacific Free Media." Pacific Journalism Review (November 1995).

Robie, David. "On the Line: Papua New Guinea's Media Independence." Reportage Media Bulletin (Aug. 1996).

- -. " Post-Courier Shrugs off Buy-Out Claims." Asia-Pacific Network (April 11, 1999).

U.S. Department of State. "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices." Washington, D.C.: 1996.

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New Zealand is a really remote country, and a flight there from America would take about 13 hours and if you were flying from the UK you'd only get there about 24 hours later. This is one difficult place to get to.

This far away country has two main islands, the North and South Islands and these are separated by the Cook Strait.

It is rather small at 103,883 square miles (269,055 square kilometers). Now this is something to think about - it is about the same size as the UK. Now the UK has 63 million people living there, and New Zealand only has about 4 million. Wow. This means New Zealand is one of the least populated countries in the world.

Do you know how the islands were created? Well, 23 million years ago the land literally popped out of the ocean by volcanic forces. That's amazing.

There are over 50 volcanoes, some of which can still erupt. Watch that you don't go heading up an active volcano if you're there.

The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington; however the largest city is actually Auckland where most people live. Interestingly Wellington is the southernmost capital in the world.

The highest mountain is Aoraki Mount Cook which is 12,316 feet high (3,754 metres). It was first just called just Aoraki or "Cloud Piercer" by the Maori people as they believed that the sons of the sky father, Raki, turned to stone and became the mountains. The summits are considered sacred, as the Maoris believe spirits live there. So if you ever decided to take on the challenge of this big beast of a mountain, don't stand on the summit, as it's disrespectful.

Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, was formed by a massive volcanic eruption 26,000 years ago. It was so huge that the dust could even be seen in China...that's one mighty eruption. Lake Taupo is as big as Singapore. A swim across this lake could take some time.

New Zealand Nature

As it's really remote, New Zealand has some really cool and unusual wildlife that you won't find anywhere else in the world. Read on for some amazing nature info.

Unbelievably nearly all the land mammals are birds and most of them can't fly anymore.

This is a frightening fact! In the last 1,000 years, half of all animals on the islands are now extinct.

But there's more...other animals are also in danger of becoming extinct as forests are cut down and swamps are drained. There are fewer than 75,000 kiwi birds remaining in the wild. It may sound like a lot, but it really isn't. But there's good news too; some species are making a comeback like the kakapo, kokako, kiwi, and tuatara. Ever heard of these animals before? Wow, they've got some strange names.

Bats are the only land mammals to have made the ocean crossing.

New Zealand is home to one of the world's heaviest insects. It's called the weta and is part of the cricket family. It weighs 2.5 ounces (70 grams). That is very heavy for an insect; it weighs three times more than a mouse and looks like a giant cockroach. Yuk! It's hard to imagine an insect that size.

The world's only parrot that can't fly is found here too. It is also home to the oldest reptile, the biggest earthworms and the smallest bats. They really do have some interesting creatures on this awesome island.

So snails are herbivores right? Well not here...there is a giant carnivorous snail that lives on the South Island.

Another extinct species, the Moa bird came from New Zealand. They were 12 feet tall (nearly 4 meters) and weighted over 500 pounds (230kg). That's as heavy as a lion...whoa that's big for a bird.

There is one seriously strange reptile living here called the Tuatara, which are a species that are really closely linked to dinosaurs - awesome, it would be cool to see one of these. They've been around for about 150 million years and can live to be 300 years old. Imagine if we lived until 300? All the things we could do. But there's something even more interesting about these reptiles, they are the only creature on earth that is born with a third eye, just like the character from Captain America, only their eye gets covered with skin after 6 months.

There was a tuatara named Henry and in 2008 he became a proud father at the ripe old age of 111.

One cool thing, unless you like them of course, is that there are absolutely no snakes in New Zealand at all.

Another animal that is only found in this part of the world is the Hector's Dolphin. It's the world's smallest marine dolphin, and only grows to about 5 feet (1.5 metres) long. Let's compare that to the world's biggest dolphin, the Killer Whale (yes it's a dolphin). They grow to about 26 feet (8 meters long) and can weigh up to 6 tons. The killer whale is about 5 times bigger than the Hector's Dolphin.

The People of New Zealand

Here we've got some cool info on the people of New Zealand:

We've given you some information about Maori people, but they're indigenous to the island and descend from Polynesia.

The Maori named the country, Aotearoa, which means "The Land of the Long White Cloud." What an awesome name.

New Zealand has three official languages: English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.

There are two national anthems and everybody learns them and sings them both equally throughout the country.

There is actually a word for New Zealand English, which is a mixture between English and Maori, it's called 'Newzild'.

More Interesting Information about New Zealand

Here are some totally random facts that are hard to believe, but super interesting!

Bungee jumping was invented in New Zealand, and the world's first commercial bungee jump was a 140 foot (43 meter) jump off the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown in 1988. That leap is just under half the height of the Statue of Liberty...that is a long, long jump. Do you think you would be up for the challenge?

The Kiwi's love their cars. There are 2.5 million cars for 4 million people which make their car ownership one of the highest in the world. That's more than half the population. When you compare it to the UK, about ¼ of households don't have a car at all!

Did you know that Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first person to climb Mount Everest was a New Zealander?

New Zealand is the very first country to see the sun every day!

There are more golf courses and book shops in New Zealand when compared to the population, than any other country in the world. So they must be super fit and pretty smart.

A huge 220 pounds (100kg) of butter and 143 pounds (65kg) of cheese are produced for each person that lives in New Zealand each year. If you're eight you would probably weigh around 57 pounds; so they're producing about 4 times your weight in butter and about double your weight in cheese. Try and pick up something that heavy...bet you won't be able to!

There are nine sheep to every person in the country! That's a whole heap of sheep.

In New Zealand you can drive when you're 15, that's pretty young.

If you want to be an official citizen you have to sing the national anthem in front of the immigration committee. Best you brush up that singing voice.

Try this for a tongue twister! The longest place name in the world is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, which is a hill in Hawkes Bay. Do you think you could pronounce that?

In the Star Trek: First Contact movie there's a scene where you can see earth from space, and guess what's missing? New Zealand of course. How weird!

There is a bird called the kea, and it does the strangest thing; it pulls windscreen wipers off cars and eats the rubber. That can't be too tasty!

Can you take a guess as to how much of the population is made up of animals? Amazingly 95%, making humans a mere 5% of the population.

You probably know this, but all three Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand. What you might not know is that this put heaps of money into the country's pockets; around $200 million. They even created a Minister for Lord of the Rings.

Super cool fact. A man broke into a radio station in 1996 and held the manager hostage. Why? Well he really wanted to hear the Muppet song "Rainbow Connection".

To prove the intelligence of shelter animals, two rescue dogs were taught to drive a car around a track. Imagine if your dog could drive, it could take you everywhere you need to go.

Right, now this is weird but true. In 1990 the New Zealand Prime Minister actually made someone a National Wizard. Maybe it was to make up potions to bring the Hobbits back.

Ever seen a train truck running across an airport runway? Don't think so. Well at Gisborne airport there is a train track...often planes or trains have to wait their turn for the other to pass. Sounds a bit dangerous.

On the island of Niue, which is part of New Zealand, they have Pokemon on their coins, and even some with Star Wars images on them. That would be cool money to collect.

How cool would money be with Hobbit images on it? Well New Zealand is the only country allowed to do this. Awesome.

A family wanted to name their child 4Real, but guess what, the government wouldn't allow it. So what did they call him? Superman! Ha, there's a real live superhero running around New Zealand.

Can you believe this? There are more vending machines in Japan than there are people in New Zealand.

The most unique McDonalds in the world is situated in an area of New Zealand called Taupo. You eat in a decommissioned DC3 plane. That's definitely a place to visit.

For such a small and remote country, there is so much about New Zealand that is both entertaining and interesting at the same time!
Are you ready to share your new found knowledge with your friends?
Useful Websites

Lonely Planet guide to NZ.

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New Zealand Facts Want to know all the coolest facts about New Zealand? Well you've come to the right place. Read on for all the information you could ever want about this awesome country. You'll be so clued up you'll be just like a 'Kiwi', a nickname given to New Zealanders.

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New Zealand Facts for Kids

Learn some interesting information about New Zealand while enjoying a range of fun facts and trivia that's perfect for kids!

Read about New Zealand's tallest mountain, its population, major cities, islands, exports, animals, popular sports and much more.

New Zealand is located in the south-western Pacific Ocean and features two main islands, the North Island and the South Island, as well as other smaller ones.

Other smaller islands include Stewart Island, Waiheke Island, Chatham Island, Great Barrier Island and more, although many are uninhabited.

The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington while the largest city is Auckland.
Other major cities include Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin.

The population of New Zealand was estimated to be around 4.5 million at the start of 2013.

The official spoken languages of New Zealand are English and te reo Maori, with English being the most widely used.

Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.

The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British and Maori, making New Zealand a colony of the British Empire.

In 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world to give all women the right to vote.

Due to its isolation, New Zealand has developed unique animal and plant life.

The bird species of New Zealand are particularly diverse, including alpine parrots and ground dwelling Kiwis.

The term 'Kiwi' is also used as a nickname for a New Zealander.

The Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand.

In New Zealand they drive on the left-hand side of the road.

Located in the South Island, the highest mountain in New Zealand is Aoraki Mount Cook which reaches 3,754 metres (12,316 ft) in height.

Dairy products are New Zealand's highest earning exports.

Rugby is the most popular spectator sport in New Zealand but a variety of sports such as football (soccer), cricket, netball, golf and others are popular among participants.

For more information, check out maps of New Zealand or take a closer look at the New Zealand flag.

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Fun New Zealand Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about NZ

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New Zealand Facts for Kids Learn some interesting information about New Zealand while enjoying a range of fun facts and trivia that's perfect for kids! Read about New Zealand's tallest mountain, its population, major cities, islands, exports, animals, popular sports and much more.