Papua New Guinea
From dKosopedia
Papua New Guinea a.k.a. PNG, (officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea), occupies the eastern half of the tropical South Pacific island of New Guinea as well as surrounding islands, including the Bismarck Archipelago. The capital city is Port Moresby, which together with Lea are the major prt cities with large populations.
The country has an estimated 2005 population of 5.9 million, 80% of which lives in rural areas. The World Bank estimated 2005 per capita income is $580. While En glish is the official language and Pidgin is widfely spoken, New Guinea is home to very large number of languages, most of which are spoken by small populations. Over 850 indigenous languages are spoken and there are at least as many traditional societies. According to the 2006 World Drug Report issued by the UN Office of Drug Control (UNODC), some 20.5% of adults use cannabis regularly.
Although only 1% of the mountainous country is farmed in cash crops, it is rich in minerals, including gold, copper and oil.
The western half of New Guinea is the Indonesian territory of Irian Jaya. Refugees from Indonesian political repression in Iran Jaya have settled in refugee camps on the Papua New Guinea.
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Political Elites
- Sir Michael Somare Prime Minister, National Alliance Party
- Bart Philemon, leader, New Generation Party
- Sir Mekere Morauta former Prime Minister (1999-2002)
- Martin Aini, former Defense Minister under Somare
History
Anthropologists date human occupation of New Guinea to at least 50,000 years ago. The first inhabitants migrated from Southeast Asia. Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 9,000 years ago, making it one of the few areas of original plant domestication in the world. A major migration of Austronesian speaking peoples came to coastal regions roughly 2,500 years ago, and this is correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, and certain fishing techniques. Part of the Columbian exchange the sweet potato has been cultivated in New Guinea for 300 years. Sweet potato cultivation largely supplanted the previous staple of taro.
Papua New Guinea achieved independence in 1975.
Links
- East Sepik
- Kapauku Kamu Valley
- PNG Electoral Commission
- Wantok Big Man (local notable)
References
- Hamish McDonald. "Coming Ready or Not, the Election That Australia is Really Sweating On." The Sydney Morning Herald. March 24, 2007.