Papua New Guinea

At a glance Land People Economy Achievements and challenges Links with Australia Papua New Guinea at a glance Did you know? Papua New Guinea gets its name from the Portuguese ‘Ilhas dos Papuas’ - Island of the Fuzzy Hairs, as the first Europeans to visit the island were Portuguese. Region Pacific Population 5,795,887 (July 2007 estimate) Land Geography: Mountainous, coastal lowlands, 600 islands Climate: Tropical, monsoonal, temperatures range 22 –33C People Religion: 97% Christian together with pantheism Languages: Official: English, Melanesian Pidgin (tok pisin), Motu; and 800 local languages Economy: GDP per person (PPP): $2,700 GDP by sector: Agriculture: 35.7%, Industry: 37.1%, Services: 27.2% Government Parliamentary democracy Land Physical geography Papua New Guinea's mainland is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea has an area of 452,860 square kilometres. There is a mountainous spine running down its centre with the highest point being Mount Wilhelm at 4,509 metres. There are about 600 separate islands to the north and east, the major ones (Bougainville, New Ireland, New Britain and Manus) having been formed by volcanoes. Nearly three-quarters of PNG is covered by dense tropical rainforests. Soils are mainly poor and fertile only in lowland areas. Climate PNG is close to the equator so the climate is monsoonal with high temperatures and humidity along the coast and cooler conditions in the mountains. Rainfall averages between 2000 millimetres and 2500 millimetres, most of which falls between December and March. Port Moresby, the capital, is situated in the South East in a rain shadow area and receives only an average annual rainfall of 1011 millimetres and has only a narrow range in temperatures from 27.8°C in January to 25.6°C in July. Environment PNG is rich in wildlife and natural resources, including minerals, timber and fish. Birds of paradise, tree kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots, cuscus and spiny anteaters are some of its wildlife. Although its rugged terrain and limited road network have restricted development, progress is now leading to deforestation and mining pollution. People Most of the population live in isolated rural communities Only 16% of Papua New Guineans live in the main urban areas which are Port Moresby (145,300), Lae (83,600), Madang (25,200), Wewak (23,800), Goroka (22,600) and Mt Hagen (20,100). However, many rural people are moving to these towns, which is putting pressure on services and increases competition for employment. People Culture and ethnicity Most people in PNG are Melanesian (related to the islanders of Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia ), some are Micronesian or Polynesian. There is a wide range of cultures and beliefs and 800 different languages are spoken. Groups of people speaking one language form wantok groups who look after each other. English, Tok Pisin (Pidgin), and Motu (the lingua franca of the Papuan region) are the official languages. There is a wide range of crafts, including carvings, drums and the traditional string bags, bilums , with their distinctive regional styles. Health Life expectancy is 65 years with malaria, dengue fever and hepatitis being common diseases. Many women die in child birth (300 per 100,000 live births) and about 48 of every 1000 babies die before they reach their first birthday. Most families have about four children. Around 39% have access to safe water and 44% have access to safe sanitation. About 60,000 people or 0.6% of the population are living with HIV. Religion and beliefs Most people are Christian, but many also follow the traditional religious practices of their village, which may include spirit or ancestor worship. This may mean farming communities celebrating fertility and harvests with icons and dancing or practices such as sorcery and witchcraft is also widespread. Food and shelter People living in villages live in a variety of styles of traditional housing made from bush materials while people living in towns tend to live in western style housing. Food consists of what can be grown in gardens – sweet potato, taro and greens supplemented by meat, mainly pig and imported tinned fish and rice. Limited availability of electricity restricts the use of televisions, although a village will run a generator everyone to view a communal television - there are about 9 televisions for every 1000 people Economy Wealth and poverty About 85% of the country's population relies on the subsistence farming. Foreign investors control the minerals, timber and fish sectors. Manufacturing is limited, which means there is high unemployment in towns and nearly two fifths of the population are living in poverty. Declining prices have reduced export income and increased debt. The poorest 10% of the population share only about 2% of the wealth while the richest 10% share 40.5%. PNG ranks 139 out of 174 countries in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index. Education and work Recent education reforms have dramatically increased the number of children enrolled in school, however with an adult literacy rate of 64% PNG (male: 71.1% and female: 57.7%). About 15 % of children never get to school, and of those who do, 45% leave before Grade 6 of which 51% are girls and 49% are boys. Industries and products Agricultural products include coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, vanilla, shell fish, poultry and pork. Industries include copra (coconut) crushing, palm oil processing, wood chip and plywood production; gold, silver and copper mining; crude oil production; petroleum refining, construction; and tourism. Trade PNG's main export partners are Australia (29%), Japan (8%) and China (5.4%) and include oil, gold, copper, timber, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish and prawns. PNG imports of manufactured goods, food, fuels and chemicals from Australia (55%), Singapore (13%), Japan (4%) and Malaysia (4%). Achievements and challenges Since independence, in 1975, there have been times of social and economic improvement, but poor governance, and economic mismanagement, corruption and law and order problems and a number of natural disasters have slowed the rate of development. Links with Australia Geographic and historical links make Papua New Guinea a special place for many Australians. Australian troops occupied German New Guinea (northern part of the mainland) in 1914, and Australia governed this area after World War 1. During the Second World War, Australian soldiers fought the Japanese army. Australia governed the whole of PNG from 1945 to 1975 when it became independent. Australian peacekeepers were based on the island of Bougainville from 1997 – 2003 after the ten year civil war concluded. Current Australian investments in Papua New Guinea are mainly in the mining and petroleum areas and employing 7,000 Australians. Australia is PNG's largest source of imports and its number one export market. The Census in 2001 recorded 23,610 Papua New Guinea-born persons in Australia , with the most in Queensland (12,260) followed by New South Wales (5,550), Victoria (2,170) and Western Australia (1,150). Australia 's aid to PNG comprises approximately one-tenth of its total aid budget. Programs focus on: strengthening governance - supporting economic management, building the capacity of PNG agencies to deliver services,promoting the rule of law and strengthening civil society; improving social indicators - by expanding the quality and reach of primary health care and education facilities, strengthening PNG's emergency response capacities and promoting gender equity; building sustainable economic growth - by constructing and maintaining roads, communication and water delivery systems, increasing agricultural productivity; and strengthening and coordinating an effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic Main sources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html http://hdr.undp.org/ http://www.dfat.gov.au/

Village homes built from timber, bamboo and palm leaves provide cool shelter from the hot sun.

Coconuts provide an important source of revenue for the villages. Students and teachers celebrate the opening of a new classroom at their school. Wet weather, bad roads and sandbars were challenges in transporting the building materials to the remote area in Gulf Province.