Papua New Guinea

About the Flag

Papua New Guinea is a group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean east of Indonesia. It is a parliamentary democracy with its capital at Port Moresby. The Chief of State is the Queen of England represented by a local Governor General and the Head of Government is the Prime Minister. There is a unicameral national Parliament. The legal system is based on English common law. It is a member of the Commonwealth, the UN, and IMO. English is spoken by 1 to 2% of the population, and Motu is spoken in the Papua region; there are also 715 indigenous languages.

The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997 after claiming some 20,000 lives. (x)

Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, and mining of numerous deposits including copper and gold accounts for about 60% of export earnings. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the population. Australia, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand are major trading partners. The unit of currency is the kina. The National Maritime Safety Authority manages the Ship Register.