Papua New Guinea

• tropical;
• northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October);
• slight seasonal temperature variation

• population concentrated in the highlands and eastern coastal areas on the island of New Guinea;
• predominantly a rural distribution with only about one-fifth of the population residing in urban areas

• active volcanism;
• the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes;
• mud slides;
• tsunamis volcanism: severe volcanic activity;
• Ulawun (2,334 m), one of Papua New Guinea's potentially most dangerous volcanoes, has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations;
• Rabaul (688 m) destroyed the city of Rabaul in 1937 and 1994;
• Lamington erupted in 1951 killing 3,000 people;
• Manam's 2004 eruption forced the island's abandonment;
• other historically active volcanoes include
  • Bam,
  • Bagana,
  • Garbuna,
  • Karkar,
  • Langila,
  • Lolobau,
  • Long Island,
  • Pago,
  • St. Andrew Strait,
  • Victory,
  • and Waiowa
  ;
• see note 2 under "Geography - note"

• rain forest loss as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber;
• unsustainable logging practices result in soil erosion, water quality degredation, and loss of habitat and biodiversity;
• large-scale mining projects cause adverse impacts on forests and water quality (discharge of heavy metals, cyanide, and acids into rivers);
• severe drought;
• inappropriate farming practices accelerate land degradion (soil erosion, siltation, loss of soil fertility);
• destructive fishing practices and coastal pollution due to run-off from land-based activities and oil spills

party to:

Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Papua New Guinean(s)

adjective:

Papua New Guinean

• Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 indigenous languages spoken (about 12% of the world's total);
• many languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers

note: Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2%

• population concentrated in the highlands and eastern coastal areas on the island of New Guinea;
• predominantly a rural distribution with only about one-fifth of the population residing in urban areas

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.96 male(s)/female

total population:

1.04 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

degree of risk:

very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

• the indigenous population of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the most heterogeneous in the world;
• PNG has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people;
• divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities have engaged in low-scale tribal conflict with their neighbors for millennia;
• the advent of modern weapons and modern migrants into urban areas has greatly magnified the impact of this lawlessness

conventional long form:

Independent State of Papua New Guinea

conventional short form:

Papua New Guinea

local short form:

Papuaniugini

former:

Territory of Papua and New Guinea

abbreviation:

PNG

etymology:

• the word "papua" derives from the Malay "papuah" describing the frizzy hair of the Melanesians;
• Spanish explorer Ynigo ORTIZ de RETEZ applied the term "Nueva Guinea" to the island of New Guinea in 1545 after noting the resemblance of the locals to the peoples of the Guinea coast of Africa

name:

Port Moresby

geographic coordinates:

9 27 S, 147 11 E

time difference:

UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

note: Papua New Guinea has two time zones, including Bougainville (UTC+11)

etymology:

named in 1873 by Captain John Moresby (1830-1922) in honor of his father, British Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby (1786-1877)

• 20 provinces, 1 autonomous region*, and 1 district**;
• Bougainville*, Central, Chimbu, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, East Sepik, Enga, Gulf, Hela, Jiwaka, Madang, Manus, Milne Bay, Morobe, National Capital**, New Ireland, Northern, Southern Highlands, Western, Western Highlands, West New Britain, West Sepik

history:

adopted 15 August 1975, effective at independence 16 September 1975

amendments:

• proposed by the National Parliament;
• passage has prescribed majority vote requirements depending on the constitutional sections being amended – absolute majority, two-thirds majority, or three-fourths majority;
• amended many times, last in 2014

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Papua New Guinea

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

8 years

chief of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Grand Chief Sir Bob DADAE (since 28 February 2017)

head of government:

Prime Minister James MARAPE (since 30 May 2019); Deputy Prime Minister Charles ABEL (since 4 August 2017)

cabinet:

National Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• governor general nominated by the National Parliament and appointed by the chief of state;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general pending the outcome of a National Parliament vote

election results:

Peter Paire O'NEILL (PNC) reelected prime minister; National Parliament vote - 60 to 46

description:

• unicameral National Parliament (111 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies - 89 local, 20 provinicial, the autonomous province of Bouganville, and the National Capital District - by majority preferential vote; members serve 5-year terms);
• note - the constitution allows up to 126 seats

elections:

last held from 24 June 2017 to 8 July 2017 (next to be held in June 2022)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - PNC 37%;
• NA 13%;
• Pangu 14%;
• URP 11%;
• PPP 4%;
• SDP 4%;
• Independents 3%;
• and smaller parties 14%;
• seats by party - NA;
• composition - men 108, women 3, percent of women 3%

highest courts:

• Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice, deputy chief justice, 35 justices, and 5 acting justices);
• National Courts (consists of 13 courts located in the provincial capitals, with a total of 19 resident judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the governor general upon advice of the National Executive Council (cabinet) after consultation with the National Justice Administration minister;
• deputy chief justice and other justices appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, a 5-member body that includes the Supreme Court chief and deputy chief justices, the chief ombudsman, and a member of the National Parliament;
• full-time citizen judges appointed for 10-year renewable terms;
• non-citizen judges initially appointed for 3-year renewable terms and after first renewal can serve until age 70;
• appointment and tenure of National Court resident judges NA

subordinate courts:

district, village, and juvenile courts, military courts, taxation courts, coronial courts, mining warden courts, land courts, traffic courts, committal courts, grade five courts

• National Alliance Party or NAP [Patrick PRUAITCH]
• Papua and Niugini Union Party or PANGU [Sam BASIL]
• Papua New Guinea Party or PNGP [Belden NAMAH]
• People's National Congress Party or PNC [Peter Paire O'NEILL]
• People's Party or PP [Peter IPATAS]
• People's Progress Party or PPP [Sir Julius CHAN]
• Social Democratic Party or SDP [Powes PARKOP]
• Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party or THE [Don POLYE]
• United Resources Party or URP [William DUMA]

note: as of 8 July 2017, 45 political parties were registered

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge D’Affaires Cephas KAYO (since 31 January 2018)

chancery:

1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 805, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 745-3680

FAX:

[1] (202) 745-3679

chief of mission:

Ambassador Erin Elizabeth MCKEE (since 27 November 2019); note - also accredited to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu

telephone:

[675] 321-1455

embassy:

P.O. Box 1492, Port Moresby

mailing address:

4240 Port Moresby Place, US Department of State, Washington DC 20521-4240

FAX:

[675] 321-3423

• divided diagonally from upper hoist-side corner;
• the upper triangle is red with a soaring yellow bird of paradise centered;
• the lower triangle is black with five, white, five-pointed stars of the Southern Cross constellation centered;
• red, black, and yellow are traditional colors of Papua New Guinea;
• the bird of paradise - endemic to the island of New Guinea - is an emblem of regional tribal culture and represents the emergence of Papua New Guinea as a nation;
• the Southern Cross, visible in the night sky, symbolizes Papua New Guinea's connection with Australia and several other countries in the South Pacific

name:

O Arise All You Sons

lyrics/music:

Thomas SHACKLADY

note: adopted 1975

• coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, vanilla;
• poultry, pork;
• shellfish

• copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production;
• mining (gold, silver, copper);
• crude oil and petroleum products;
• construction, tourism, livestock (pork, poultry, cattle), dairy products, spice products (turmeric, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, chili, pepper, citronella, and nutmeg), fisheries products

agriculture:

85%

industry:

NA

services:

NA

lowest 10%:

1.7%

highest 10%:

40.5% (1996)

• 4 TV stations: 1 commercial station operating since 1987, 1 state-run station launched in 2008, 1 digital free-to-view network launched in 2014, and 1 satellite network Click TV (PNGTV) launched in 2015;
• the state-run National Broadcasting Corporation operates 3 radio networks with multiple repeaters and about 20 provincial stations;
• several commercial radio stations with multiple transmission points as well as several community stations;
• transmissions of several international broadcasters are accessible (2018)

number of registered air carriers:

6 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 48

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

964,713 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

30.93 million mt-km (2018)

total:

9,349 km (2011)

paved:

3,000 km (2011)

unpaved:

6,349 km (2011)

total:

171

by type:

bulk carrier 7, general cargo 76, oil tanker 3, other 85 (2019)

major seaport(s):

Kimbe, Lae, Madang, Rabaul, Wewak

LNG terminal(s) (export):

Port Moresby

• the PNGDF has a limited inventory consisting of a diverse mix of foreign-supplied weapons and equipment;
• Papau New Guinea receives most of its military assistance from Australia;
• since 2010, it has also received equipment from China and New Zealand (2019 est.)

• 16 years of age for voluntary military service (with parental consent);
• no conscription;
• graduation from grade 12 required (2013)

refugees (country of origin):

9,368 (Indonesia) (2019)

IDPs:

14,000 (natural disasters, tribal conflict, inter-communal violence, development projects) (2019)

current situation:

• Papua New Guinea is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• foreign and Papua New Guinean women and children are subjected to sex trafficking, domestic servitude, forced begging, and street vending;
• parents may sell girls into forced marriages to settle debts or as peace offerings or trade them to another tribe to forge a political alliance, leaving them vulnerable to forced domestic service, or, in urban areas, they may prostitute their children for income or to pay school fees;
• Chinese, Malaysian, and local men are forced to labor in logging and mining camps through debt bondage schemes;
• migrant women from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines are subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude at logging and mining camps, fisheries, and entertainment sites

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Papua New Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the Criminal Code Amendment of 2013, which prohibits all forms of trafficking was brought into force in 2014;
• the government also formed an anti-trafficking committee, which drafted a national action plan;
• despite corruption problems, trafficking-related crimes were prosecuted in village courts rather than criminal courts, resulting in restitution to the victim but no prison time for offenders;
• the government did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any officials or law enforcement personnel complicit in trafficking offenses;
• the government made no efforts to proactively identify trafficking victims, has no formal victim identification and referral mechanism, and does not provide care facilities to victims or funding to shelters run by NGOs or international organizations (2015)