papua_new_guinea

=Papua New Guinea= By Shalini Nanayakkara 7L

__Fast facts__
Population:5,795,887 Area: 462,840 Head of Country: Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare Languages: Melanesian Pidgin, English, Motu, Hiri. There are 820 indegenous languages. Currency: Kina (PGK) Capital City: Port Moresby

__Location__
Papua New Guinea is located in [|Oceania]. It consists of small islands as well as the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. It is between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean. Papua New Guinea is very close to Indonesia and just north of Australia. (PNG) is very close to the equator and is in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The capital of PNG is Port Moresby. The geographical coordinates of PNG are 6`00º South and 147`00º East.

__Geographical Features__
Papua New Guinea is mainly mountainous terrain covered in rainforest. It has several wetlands which are quite large that surround the Sepik and Fly Rivers. The highest point is [|Mount Wilhelm] at 4,509 metres high. PNG is located where several [|tectonic plates] meet causing frequent eruptions from the active volcanoes, sometimes resulting in tsunamis. Although Papua New Guinea is close to the equator it does experience snowfall in the higher regions of the mainland. Overall the terrain is very rugged compared to the nearby country of [|Australia].

__Climate__
The climate of Papua New Guinea is tropical as it is close to the equator. The climate soon becomes monsoon in December and lasts till March in the northwest regions of PNG. The monsoon climate starts in May for the southeast however there is occasional rainfall all year round. There is generally a high level of humidity throughout the year as well. Summers in PNG are very hot with extreme temperatures, especially on the coastal areas.

__Economy__
Papua New Guinea is very rich in its natural resources however agriculture accounts for at least 85% of the livelihood. Some of the precious assets of PNG such as gold,copper and oil contribute to at least two-thirds of the export earnings. These exports contribute to two thirds of the export earnings. The nearby country of Australia supplies $240 million in aid towards Papua New Guinea which accounts for 20% of the national budget. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in total is $15.41 billion. The GDP per capita is $2700. Papua New Guinea has many valuable assets which they export to various countries. The exports are oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish and prawns which in total cost $4.128 billion. These exports are sent to the exporting partners which are Australia, Japan and China. The imports of PNG cost much less than exports at $1.958 billion. The imports of Papua New Guinea are fuels, chemicals, food, manufactured goods and machinery and transport equipment. The importing partners are Australia, Singaporte, China and Japan. The currency of Papua New Guinea is the Kina (PGK).

__Government__
Papua New Guinea is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations therefore making Queen Elizabeth II the official Head of State. Her Majesty is represented by the Governor General who is Sir Paulias Matane. Unlike any other country in the world the Governor General in PNG is elected by the legislature, not the executive branch. Papua New Guineai is also a unicameral parliament and the political party in power is called the Unicameral National Parliament. This party holds 109 seats within parliament with a few representing each of the nineteen provinces and the National Capital Distric (NCD). The Prime Minister of Papau New Guinea is Sir Michael Somare who was rellected in the 2007 election. Each of the Prime Ministers is allowed a five year term from the previous national election. Soon after indpendence on 16 September,1975 the citizens of PNG had very little confidence in parliament. This eventually led to the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV). This system of voting is another version of alternative vote. The recent 2007 election was the first election to use the LPV system. The suffrage of New Guinea is 18 years and universal.

__History__
Papua New Guinea's history began as early as 50,000 years ago when people from the Indonesian archipelago arrived to settle. These people arrived in several groups one after another.Little was known about the island in the Western World at the time. In 1884 the Northern half of New Guinea came under the control of Germany; it was renamed German New Guinea. During World War One Papua New Guinea was once again taken over by Australia. After the war Papua New Guinea remained under the control of Great Britain however was considered as an part of an external territory from the Commonwealth of Australia. This meant that Papua New Guinea was under the control of Australia. Eventually on September 16, 1975 Papua New Guinea peacefully gained independence from Australia. The two countries today still have a freindly relationship between them. The revolt in 1975-1976 resulted in Bougainville (a small island close to PNG) and eighteen other districts to be provinces with a quasi-federal status. This revolt claimed 20,000 lives and finally was resolved in 1997. Today the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea is [|Sir Michael Somare].