In the past few days, the name Papua New Guinea has never been mentioned so much in the global media when this economy is the host of the 26th APEC Summit Week 2018 (taking place from December 12). November 18, 2018). Previously, Papua New Guinea was an unfamiliar name to many people, and some even asked the question: Where is Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated as PNG) has an area of more than 400 thousand square kilometers located in the Pacific Ocean, consisting of two main archipelagos formerly known separately as Papua and New Guinea with a total of over 600 large and small islands. The mainland shares a single land border with the Indonesian province of West Papua, which is 820km long.
The story is that an explorer happened to discover the aborigines on this island, but he was surprised because he suspected that this was a black Aborigine in Guinea with curly hair (Guineans do not have such curly hair. ) and was very far from Guinea, so he named the newly discovered aborigines Papua New Guinea (the curly-haired Guineans). And that name became the name of the country.
Papua New Guinea- The country of the mountains. (Photo: Chris Korbulic).
PNG is not in Southeast Asia but in Oceania. The terrain is mainly mountainous with the highest point being Mount Wihelm at an altitude of 4,509m. The country is covered with tropical rainforests and extensive marshes around major rivers such as the Sepik and Fly.
In particular, this place also has the most diverse ecosystem in the world. Of the 820 identified butterfly species, 55% have been identified only in PNG, including the world’s largest butterfly Ornithoptera alexandrae.
Papua New Guinea annually profits significantly from the export of butterfly specimens. (Photo: TL).
Many butterfly specimens are sold internationally at very high prices, so PNG has made a very good annual profit from the exploitation and export of butterfly specimens and many other insects to the world.
Located near the equator in the southern hemisphere, this country possesses a hot and humid tropical climate, the temperature is always from 25 o C to 30 o C on the coast, which can welcome tourism all year round. PNG’s population is now about 8.5 million people. Port Moresby is the capital and largest city in the country.
PNG is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, with 848 languages spoken by its natives. (Some documents are in more than 850 languages.) Each of the country’s 800+ languages is spoken by between a few dozen and more than 600,000 people.
After independence (PNG gained independence on September 16, 1975 from Australia, now part of the British Royal bloc) PNG selected three official languages. English is the first language. Tok Pisin, a mixed language (creole) as a second language, and Hiri Motu, a simplified form of Motu, an Austronesian language, as a third language. English is used officially in education, government agencies and commercial transactions.
The country has a diverse culture. (Photo: indopacificimages.com).
More than 60,000 years ago, the first inhabitants to live in the land known as New Guinea today, mainly from Southeast Asia. In the early 16th century, the first Europeans to arrive in PNG were the Portuguese and Spaniards, and then the British.
From the late 19th century to before World War II, PNG was ruled by Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and Japan, respectively. After the Second World War, the Interim Administration Act passed in 1945-1946 formally annexed Papua and New Guinea into a unified territory under the name PNG and placed under an international mandate. In September 1975, PNG was given full independence.
Although it is a multicultural land with quite interesting nature, this small country has long been on the list of the least explored countries on the planet.
A villager in traditional costume and face painting of the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea. (Photo: AP).
PNG is considered one of the most rural countries with only 18% of the population living in urban areas.
The PNG Aboriginal tribes often have extremely colorful costumes. They use the bird of paradise – a symbol of charm and beauty to adorn their traditional costumes, ceremonial robes, and headdresses. In addition, PNG aborigines also painted faces and wore wigs.
In many parts of this particular country, currency is not used for exchange, but in kind.