Papua New Guinea – Who Knew?

Background

On August 8th, 2023, I had the pleasure of traveling to Papua New Guinea. This adventure was very different from my prior travels, as Papua New Guinea is a place unlike any other. I’ll be sharing a lot more on this in my upcoming commentaries. It truly is a nation in a class by itself and it will take me some time to unpack my experiences, but I trust you will find their culture quite intriguing.

I will start with an encapsulated version of the history of the island here, then take you through my itinerary in a series of posts. I am also working up Tribe Profiles where I introduce you to some of the tribes I found absolutely intriguing. Unfortunately, there is a severe lack of information available on the individual tribes. This has lead me into a massive research project that started when I had the pleasure of meeting the Crocodile Men of Palembe. Editing all the information I gleaned from them while there has proved to be a daunting task. I anticipate sharing a lot of this information over the next few weeks, please be patient.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an island nation situated to the north of Australia, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The island is split with the western half belonging to New Guinea (formerly known as Irian Jaya) under Indonesia’s control and the eastern half belonging to Papua New Guinea. With an area of 178,700 square miles, Papua New Guinea is the world’s third largest island country behind Indonesia and Madagascar. The capital and most populous city, Port Moresby, is located along the southeastern coast.

PNG is one of the most linguistically diverse nations in the world with 839 recognized languages. English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu (spoken by less than 2% of population) and Sign Language are the top spoken dialects. Tok Pisin is the most widely spoken language and translates to “talk Pidgin”. Pisin evolved out of necessity as a common or bridging language needed to stitch together a patchwork of different dialects.

In the 1800s, Pacific Islanders speaking a range of languages were sent to work on plantations in Queensland, Australia and other islands. In an effort to communicate, they began speaking a concocted language using words drawn from English, German, Malay, Portuguese and their own local dialects.

Papua New Guinea has more than 839 recognized languages. It is documented that 12 languages have already gone extinct and the majority of the living languages are endangered having less than 1,000 speakers.

As of the census of 2011, the country is:
95.5% Christian
64.3% Protestant
26% Catholic
5% Other Christian
4.5 % other

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that humans first arrived in Papua New Guinea around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago from the continent of Africa . Further evidence also suggests that it was about 50,000 years ago that these peoples reached Sahul (the supercontinent consisting of present-day Australia and New Guinea). Rising sea levels isolated New Guinea from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago, setting the stage for the development of the nation you see today.

Largely an agrarian nation, agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC.

In the 18th century, Portuguese traders brought the sweet potato, acquired from South America, to New Guinea. Eventually, it was adopted and supplanted taro, the previous staple food. The far higher crop yields from sweet potatoes radically transformed traditional agriculture and societies resulting in a significant increase in population in the highlands.

When you mention Papua New Guinea most people’s knowledge is limited to a discussion of headhunting and cannibalism. Undeniably, both activities had been practiced in the past as part of religious rituals or warfare. However, by the late 20th century consumption of human flesh had been largely abandoned. Unfortunately, Papua New Guinea is still stigmatized as a nation of cannibals.

The Colonizers

The country’s dual name results from its complex administrative history before independence. Beginning in 1884, Germany ruled the northern half of the country as a colony named German New Guinea. Also that same year, the southern part of the country became a British protectorate. In 1888, Britain annexed the southern portion along with some adjacent islands creating British New Guinea. In 1902, Papua was transferred to the authority of Australia, another new British dominion. With the passage of the Papua Act of 1905, the area was officially renamed the Territory of Papua with the Australian administration formalized in 1906.

In 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, Australian forces captured and occupied German New Guinea. After the Germans and the Central Powers were defeated, the League of Nations authorized Australia to control this area as the Territory of New Guinea.

In 1942, during World War II, Japan invaded New Guinea in January and Papua New Guinea in July. By late 1943, Allied victories caused the Japanese to retreat. At the end of the war, Australia regained control and merged British and Papua New Guinea into one administrative entity.

Meanwhile, the former German New Guinea was deemed an external territory of the Australian Commonwealth. One more administrative entity for Australia to manage. The difference in legal status meant that until 1949, Papua and New Guinea had entirely separate administrations, both controlled by Australia.

The Papua and New Guinea Act of 1949 replaced the Papua Act of 1905 and the New Guinea Act of 1920. The PNG Act of 1949 merged the administrations of Papua and New Guinea and established local rule, although Australia still maintained control. More insanity by colonizers, I see. The Act was eventually repealed by the PNG Independence Act of 1975, which terminated all remaining sovereign and legislative powers of Australia over the country and officially established Papua New Guinea’s independence.

Quick Stats

Population: 9.6 million (2022)

Life expectancy: males – 63 years ; females – 68 years (2021)

Ethnic groups: Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian.

There are more than 600 distinct tribes in Papua New Guinea.

GDP: $32.86B (est. 2023)

GNI per capita: $2,730 (2022)

Population below the poverty line: 40% (2022)

Literacy – (15+) total population: male: 66% female: 63% (2023 est.)

Agriculture: coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, vanilla, poultry, pork, shellfish.

Timeline

16th c. A.D. – ships from China and Malay empire trade with islanders.

1526 – Portuguese sailor Jorge de Meneses first documented European to visit the island. He names one of the islands “ilhas dos Papuas” which translates to “land of fuzzy haired people”.

1873 – Port Moresby (the capital) named after one of several English explorers laying claims for Great Britain.

1884 – typical colonizers at work – British set up protectorate over southeast New Guinea while Germans claim northern part of New Guinea.

1905 – Papua Act passed transferring control of British New Guinea from Britain to the newly independent Commonwealth of Australia. The Act was formalized in 1906 and the region renamed Territory of Papua.

1914 – World War I – Australian forces captured and occupied German controlled New Guinea.

1921 – After the Germans and Central Powers were defeated at the end of World War I, the League of Nations authorized Australia to control the area known as the Territory of New Guinea.

1942 – During World War II, Japan invaded New Guinea in January and reached Papua New Guinea in July of the same year. The objective was to follow the Kokoda track and capture Port Moresby giving them a base from which to attack the Australian mainland and shipping in the Pacific.

1949- Papua and New Guinea Act replaced the Papua Act of 1905 and the New Guinea Act of 1920. The administrations of Papua and New Guinea were merged and local rule was established under Australian control.

1975 – Papua New Guinea attained full independence from Australia and a new currency, the kina, replaced the Australian dollar.

Now, that I’ve laid the groundwork…up next, Papua New Guinea Culture and Tribes: A Place Like No Other.

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