86-524: The Tabar Group is an island group in Papua New Guinea , located 40 km (25 mi) north of New Ireland . It is a part of the Bismarck Archipelago . The Tabar group consists of a short chain of three main islands - Tabar Island (a.k.a. Big Tabar) in the south, Tatau Island in the center, and Simberi Island in the north - as well as a number of smaller offshore islets. The highest peak
172-431: A Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.84/10, ranking it 17th globally out of 172 countries. Mangrove swamps stretch along the coast, and in the inland it is inhabited by nipa palm (Nypa fruticans), and deeper in the inland the sago palm tree inhabits areas in the valleys of larger rivers. Trees such as oaks, red cedars, pines, and beeches are becoming predominant in the uplands above 3,300 feet. Papua New Guinea
258-708: A land bridge , particularly during ice ages when sea levels were lower than at present. As the Indo-Australian Plate (which includes landmasses of India , Australia, and the Indian Ocean floor in between) drifts north, it collides with the Eurasian Plate . The collision of the two plates pushed up the Himalayas , the Indonesian islands, and New Guinea's Central Range . The Central Range is much younger and higher than
344-471: A landslide hit the village of Kaokalam in Enga Province , about 600 kilometers (372 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby , at about 3 a.m. local time. The landslide buried more than 2000 people alive, caused major destruction to buildings, and food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country. The casualty figure surpasses the 2006 Southern Leyte mudslide tragedy where
430-443: A chain of earthquakes hit Hela Province , causing widespread landslides and the deaths of 200 people. Various nations from Oceania and Southeast Asia immediately sent aid to the country. Another severe earthquake occurred on 11 September 2022, killing seven people and causing damaging shaking in some of the country's largest cities, such as Lae and Madang , it was also felt in the capital Port Moresby . On May 24, 2024,
516-509: A colony named German New Guinea , while the southern part of the country became a British protectorate . In 1888, the British protectorate, as well as some adjacent islands, were annexed by Britain as British New Guinea. In 1902, Papua was effectively transferred to the authority of the new British dominion of Australia . With the passage of the Papua Act 1905, the area was officially renamed
602-521: A national election and within 12 months of the next election. In 2012, the first two (of three) readings were passed to prevent votes of no confidence occurring within the first 30 months. This restriction on votes of no confidence has arguably resulted in greater stability, although perhaps at the cost of reducing the accountability of the executive branch of government. Elections in PNG attract numerous candidates. After independence in 1975, members were elected by
688-465: A national election, a maximum of five years after the previous national election. In the early years of independence, the instability of the party system led to frequent votes of no confidence in parliament, with resulting changes of the government, but with referral to the electorate, through national elections only occurring every five years. In recent years, successive governments have passed legislation preventing such votes sooner than 18 months after
774-545: A select number of human rights : During the period of self-government from 1973 to 1975 during which the Constitution was drafted and arrangements for full sovereignty were made it was contemplated that as with most former colonies and trust territories in the British Commonwealth Papua New Guinea would wish to have its own indigenous head of state , and the Constitution specifically refers to
860-578: A short curve of the river's thalweg to where it meets the 141°01'10" E meridian flowing west, then southwards to the south coast. The 141° E meridian formed the entire eastern boundary of Dutch New Guinea according to its 1828 annexation proclamation. By the Treaty of The Hague (1895) the Dutch and British agreed to a territorial exchange, bringing the entire left bank of the Fly River into British New Guinea and moving
946-460: A total of 1,126 people lost their lives as the debris flow from a landslide followed 10 days of heavy rain. With over 2,000 reported dead by the Papua New Guinea government, this disaster has now emerged as the deadliest landslide of the 21st century. The climate on the island is essentially tropical, but it varies by region. The maximum mean temperature in the lowlands is 30 to 32 °C, and
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#17330852116041032-564: Is " autochthonous " (a constitutional term of art also used in Malaysia and meaning, literally, "aboriginal," indicating that legal continuity with the former metropolitan power was severed and the Constitution enacted by a constitutional convention of the newly independent state — as in the US after the American Revolution — rather than by an imperial parliament as in the case of
1118-610: Is Mount Beirari at 622 m (2,041 ft). The population of the island group was 3,920 at the 2000 Census. The Tabar Group is administered by the Sentral Niu Ailan Rural Local Level Government (LLG), New Ireland Province . The Tabar Group is the area of origin of Malagan art. The local language is Mandara (also known as Tabar), ISO 639-3 language code "tbf", an Austronesian language. Three dialects have been identified, Simberi, Tatau and Tabar. This New Ireland Province geography article
1204-654: Is a megadiverse country . Many of the other islands within PNG territory, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, the Admiralty Islands , the Trobriand Islands , and the Louisiade Archipelago , were never linked to New Guinea by land bridges. As a consequence, they have their own flora and fauna; in particular, they lack many of the land mammals and flightless birds that are common to New Guinea and Australia. Australia and New Guinea are portions of
1290-570: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea , is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia (a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia ). It shares its only land border with Indonesia to
1376-734: Is a full member of the Commonwealth of Nations , the Pacific Community , the Pacific Islands Forum , and the United Nations . Papua is derived from a local term of uncertain origin. Regarding the islands of New Guinea, the Portuguese captain and geographer António Galvão wrote that: The people of all these islands are blacke, and have their haire frisled, whom the people of Maluco do call Papuas. "New Guinea" ( Nueva Guinea )
1462-465: Is famous for its frequent seismic activity, being on the Ring of Fire . On 17 July 1998, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck north of Aitape . It triggered a 50-foot-high tsunami, which killed over 2,180 people in one of the worst natural disasters in the country. In September 2002, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Wewak , Sandaun Province , killing six people. From March to April 2018,
1548-466: Is often the most efficient and reliable means of transportation. The highest peak is Mount Wilhelm at 4,509 metres (14,793 ft). Papua New Guinea is surrounded by coral reefs which are under close watch, in the interests of preservation. Papua New Guinea's largest rivers are in New Guinea and include Sepik , Ramu , Markham , Musa , Purari , Kikori , Turama , Wawoi and Fly . The country
1634-400: Is one of the few regions close to the equator that experience snowfall , which occurs in the most elevated parts of the mainland. The border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia was confirmed by a treaty with Australia before independence in 1974. The land border comprises a segment of the 141° E meridian from the north coast southwards to where it meets the Fly River flowing east, then
1720-511: Is paid a fee for his time, generally by the person bringing the case . In a remote environment with no police to back up and enforce his decision, the Committee Man needs considerable wisdom and diplomacy to make his verdict stick. Good Committee Men are impressive individuals and valuable sources of information about their local communities. The independence of the judiciary has been a particular problem in developing countries , though it
1806-420: Is part of the humid tropics, and many Indomalayan rainforest plants spread across the narrow straits from Asia, mixing with the old Australian and Antarctic floras. New Guinea has been identified as the world's most floristically diverse island in the world, with 13,634 known species of vascular plants. Papua New Guinea includes several terrestrial ecoregions : Three new species of mammals were discovered in
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#17330852116041892-410: Is rich in various species of reptiles, indigenous freshwater fish and birds, but it is almost devoid of large mammals. Papua New Guinea is a Commonwealth realm with Charles III as King of Papua New Guinea . The monarch's representative is the governor-general of Papua New Guinea , who is elected by the unicameral National Parliament of Papua New Guinea . Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are
1978-666: Is situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire , at the point of collision of several tectonic plates . Geologically, the island of New Guinea is a northern extension of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate , forming part of a single land mass which is Australia-New Guinea (also called Sahul or Meganesia ). It is connected to the Australian segment by a shallow continental shelf across the Torres Strait , which in former ages lay exposed as
2064-512: Is the final court of appeal : an appeal lay from the pre-independence Supreme Court to the High Court of Australia (but not directly to the Privy Council ); this was abolished at independence. The Supreme Court also has jurisdiction under the Constitution to give advisory opinions , called "references," on the constitutionality of legislation . In addition to its function as a trial court ,
2150-481: Is the most populous Pacific island country. The country is believed to be the home of many undocumented species of plants and animals. Papua New Guinea is classified as a developing economy by the International Monetary Fund ; nearly 40% of the population are subsistence farmers , living relatively independently of the cash economy. Their traditional social groupings are explicitly acknowledged by
2236-518: Is usually extremely effective; many people will work in town at some stage in their life and then have savings. Fines are levied against the transgressor and family , who then join together to pay the fine. The victim's family generally feel satisfied that they have received restitution when they receive the fine, reducing the risk of subsequent fighting. Having paid the fine, the transgressor's family usually make very sure that he behaves and may well make him slowly work to pay them back. The Committee Man
2322-645: The Matrimonial Causes Act is the extremely old English statute of 1857 which had been in force in the Australian States before the federal Divorce Act , 1964; the Companies Act ch 146 was substantially the English Companies Act 1948 ; it was replaced by the Companies Act , 1997, adopted from New Zealand . The judicial system consists of village magistrates courts , which remain
2408-538: The Chief Justice promptly resigned, a fifth having previously resigned over a related matter. The vacancies were, after a period of some uncertainty, filled by the first national justices, the new Chief Justice Buri Kidu , Mr Justice Mari Kapi (who eventually succeeded Kidu CJ), and Acting Justice Bernard Narokobi , together with expatriate justices who had had long experience in Papua New Guinea as trial lawyers or magistrates. Three considerable ironies emerged in
2494-581: The Denisovans , indicating that the ancestors of Papuans interbred in Asia with these archaic hominins. Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC, making it one of the few areas in the world where people independently domesticated plants. A major migration of Austronesian-speaking peoples to coastal regions of New Guinea took place around 500 BC. This has been correlated with
2580-560: The House of Lords , the English Court of Appeal , the English King's Bench and other English courts up until Papua New Guinea's independence are . The " customary law " portion of the "underlying law" was contemplated by the original framers of the Constitution as deriving from the regional customs of the country in the same way as the common law of England (that law which was "common" to
2666-538: The Papua New Guinea Constitution , which expresses the wish for "traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinean society" and protects their continuing importance to local and national community life. Papua New Guinea has been an observer state in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) since 1976, and has filed its application for full membership status. It
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2752-472: The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions , a pontifical institute, reestablished the mission on Woodlark Island, encountering sickness and resistance from local people. The country's dual name results from its complex administrative history before independence. Beginning in 1884, the region was split between two colonial powers. Germany ruled the northern half of the country for several decades as
2838-705: The Territory of New Guinea . In contrast to establishing an Australian mandate in former German New Guinea, the League of Nations determined that Papua was an external territory of the Australian Commonwealth; as a matter of law it remained a British possession. The difference in legal status meant that until 1949, Papua (former British protectorate Territory of Papua ) and New Guinea (former German territory German New Guinea ) had entirely separate administrations, both controlled by Australia. These conditions contributed to
2924-599: The Underlying Law Act 2000 which purports to mandate greater attention by the courts to custom and the development of customary law as an important component of the underlying law. Thus far the statute appears not to have effected such a result. Statute law is very largely adopted from overseas jurisdictions. For example, the Criminal Code is adopted from Queensland ; the Rules of Court are those of New South Wales ;
3010-462: The common law of Papua New Guinea, having resort to those rules of local custom in various regions of the country which may be taken to be common to the whole country. The responsibility has been given additional express warrant in the Underlying Law Act, 2000 which purports to mandate greater attention by the courts to custom and the development of customary law as an important component of
3096-811: The dark skin of the inhabitants. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans first arrived in Papua New Guinea around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago. They were descendants of migrants out of Africa , in one of the early waves of human migration. A 2016 study at the University of Cambridge by Christopher Klein et al. suggests that it was about 50,000 years ago that these peoples reached Sahul (the paleocontinent consisting of present-day Australia and New Guinea). The sea levels rose and isolated New Guinea about 10,000 years ago, but Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from each other genetically earlier, about 37,000 years BP. Evolutionary geneticist Svante Pääbo found that people of New Guinea share 4%–7% of their genome with
3182-625: The first-past-the-post system, with winners frequently gaining less than 15% of the vote. Electoral reforms in 2001 introduced the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV), a version of the alternative vote . The 2007 general election was the first to be conducted using LPV. Law of Papua New Guinea#Constitution The law of Papua New Guinea consists of the Constitution, ordinary statutes enacted by Parliament or adopted at independence from overseas (together with their pendant regulations) and judge-made law . The Constitution
3268-743: The judiciary is independent from executive interference, as established by the English Bill of Rights , 1689; however, the principle does not extend, as was established in Australia during the early years of the Australian federation , to preventing the courts from rendering advisory opinions to the executive ; nor are there any implications with respect to the quasi-judicial function of administrative tribunals , also an issue at one time in Australia (see Separation of powers in Australia ). The principle
3354-817: The provincial governments , with senior officer requiring gazetting at the national level through the Village Courts and Land Mediation Secretariat. The Village Court Act establishes the court's jurisdiction , but includes general jurisdiction over any events that would disturb order in the community . In practice, the Village Court's accessibility, especially in remote areas, creates tremendous pressures for actors to exceed their jurisdiction in order to provide some justice to isolated communities that would otherwise be isolated from assistance. In remote regions in which few people have paid employment it might seem that large fines would be unlikely to be paid. The system
3440-514: The "Head of State" rather than to the King or the Crown . In the event, PNG chose to retain the monarchy and there have been no serious moves to alter that arrangement. In practice, the governor-general , chosen by free vote of sitting members of parliament , functions as a de facto non-executive president . Criminal proceedings are brought in the name of "The State" rather than "The King" or "R.";
3526-534: The 16th of September 1975 as the date of independence. Whitlam and then- Prince Charles attended the independence ceremony, with Somare continuing as the country's first Prime Minister. A secessionist revolt in 1975–76 on Bougainville Island resulted in an eleventh-hour modification of the draft Constitution of Papua New Guinea to allow for Bougainville and the other eighteen districts to have quasi-federal status as provinces. A renewed uprising on Bougainville started in 1988 and claimed 20,000 lives until it
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3612-528: The Bench to the indigenising of the laws of Papua New Guinea; she was also critical of a Supreme Court Justice's enjoining of a deportation order by the Executive . The then- Chief Justice , Sir William Prentice , called a special sitting of the full bench to condemn the minister for what the court characterised as interference with judicial independence . Mrs Rooney responded by stating that she had "no confidence in
3698-432: The Bench, notwithstanding extensive overseas jurisprudence permitting comment on the courts in countries with similar constitutional arrangements whose constitutions include near-identical guarantees of rights and freedoms to those contained in the Constitution of Papua New Guinea. On the other hand, it must be said that legal commentators in the neighbouring common law countries of Singapore and Malaysia are — to
3784-588: The Chief Justice and other Judges....It appears that the foreign judges on the bench are only interested in administration of foreign laws and not the feelings and aspirations of the nation's political leaders ." The court then convicted Mrs Rooney of contempt in respect of the initial letter and of scandalising the court in respect of the subsequent comments and sentenced her to eight months in prison . The Prime Minister released her on licence after she had served one day of her sentence and four judges including
3870-632: The Constitution, " customary law " derived from the "custom" of the various peoples of Papua New Guinea , and the common law of England as it stood at the date of Papua New Guinea's independence on 16 September 1975. That is to say, decisions of the High Court of Australia , the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council , not being part of the common law of England , and indeed of the pre-independence courts of Papua New Guinea itself are not part of Papua New Guinea law; but decisions of
3956-532: The Constitutions of Canada and Australia ). It is " entrenched ," meaning that its provisions overbear any ordinary statutory enactments which the courts find to be inconsistent with it, in accordance with the constitutional authority of Marbury v. Madison , the case which established the principle of judicial review in the USA , the first modern state to have an entrenched constitution. The Constitution contains
4042-623: The King's effigy does not appear on banknotes or coins ; apart from a few institutions having a royal warrant, such as the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and the Royal Papua Yacht Club , the formal link with the monarchy is largely invisible, and there is little general awareness of it. The Constitution declares the "underlying law" — that is, the separate common law of Papua New Guinea — to consist of
4128-538: The National Court also functions as a court of disputed returns hearing " Electoral Petitions " by unsuccessful candidates for Parliament ; Leadership Tribunals hearing cases of alleged misconduct in office referred by the Ombudsman Commission consist of one National Court judge and two District Court magistrates . The Supreme Court has a special responsibility for developing the "underlying law," i.e.
4214-566: The Territory of Papua, and the Australian administration became formal in 1906. Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Australian forces captured German New Guinea and occupied it throughout the war. After Germany and the Central Powers were defeated in the war, the League of Nations authorised Australia to administer this area as a League of Nations mandate territory, which became
4300-673: The ancient supercontinent of Gondwana , which started to break into smaller continents in the Cretaceous period, 65–130 million years ago. Australia finally broke free from Antarctica about 45 million years ago. All the Australasian lands are home to the Antarctic flora , descended from the flora of southern Gondwana, including the coniferous podocarps and Araucaria pines, and the broad-leafed southern beech ( Nothofagus ). These plant families are still present in Papua New Guinea. New Guinea
4386-496: The complexity of organising the country's post-independence legal system. The highland valleys were first explored by Australians in the 1930s and were found to be inhabited by over a million people. During World War II , the New Guinea campaign (1942–1945) was one of the major military campaigns and conflicts between Japan and the Allies . Approximately 216,000 Japanese, Australian, and U.S. servicemen died. After World War II and
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#17330852116044472-484: The conventions of the English common law world and is adversarial rather than inquisitorial ; German law was wholly displaced by Anglo-Australian law in the former German New Guinea after 1914 when Australia seized the Territory and there are no traces of it in modern Papua New Guinea. The Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea is The Honourable Sir Gibbs Salika, KBE . Despite attempts to incorporate customary law ,
4558-481: The country is the eastern half of New Guinea island, where the largest towns are also located, including Port Moresby (capital) and Lae ; other major islands within Papua New Guinea include New Ireland , New Britain , Manus and Bougainville . Located north of the Australian mainland, the country's geography is diverse and, in places, extremely rugged. A spine of mountains, the New Guinea Highlands , runs
4644-409: The extent that they are aware of events in Papua New Guinea — somewhat admiring of the extent to which Papua New Guinea's judiciary has maintained its independence as this is unusual in their political environments. In 2006 the independence of the judiciary was briefly challenged when Sir Arnold Amet , the immediately retired Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea , who was in the process of inaugurating
4730-634: The first Papua New Guinean Chief Minister of the Territory. In December, Whitlam was elected as Prime Minister at the 1972 Australian federal election . The Whitlam Government then instituted self-governance under the rule of Somare in late 1973. Over the next two years, further arguments for independence were forwarded, culminating in the Whitlam Government passing the Papua New Guinea Independence Act 1975 in September 1975, citing
4816-639: The first administrator of this new council. In 1964, the Council was replaced by the 64-member House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea , which for the first time had a majority of Papua New Guinean members. The Assembly increased to 84 members in 1967 and 100 by 1971. Debate began over Australian administration both in Papua New Guinea and Australia, with the Bougainville independence movement pushing for greater autonomy as Australian mining company Rio Tinto 's exploitative practices became extremely controversial to
4902-560: The forests of Papua New Guinea by an Australian-led expedition in the early 2010s. A small wallaby, a large-eared mouse and a shrew-like marsupial were discovered. The expedition was also successful in capturing photographs and video footage of some other rare animals such as the Tenkile tree kangaroo and the Weimang tree kangaroo. Nearly one-quarter of Papua New Guinea's rainforests were damaged or destroyed between 1972 and 2002. Papua New Guinea had
4988-420: The introduction of pottery, pigs, and certain fishing techniques. In the 18th century, traders brought the sweet potato to New Guinea, where it was adopted and became a staple food . Portuguese traders had obtained it from South America and introduced it to the Moluccas . The far higher crop yields from sweet potato radically transformed traditional agriculture and societies. Sweet potato largely supplanted
5074-594: The island until the 19th century, although Portuguese and Spanish explorers, such as Dom Jorge de Menezes and Yñigo Ortiz de Retez , had encountered it as early as the 16th century. Traders from Southeast Asia visited New Guinea beginning 5,000 years ago to collect bird-of-paradise plumes. Christianity was introduced to New Guinea on 15 September 1847 when a group of Marist missionaries came to Woodlark Island . They established their first mission on Umboi Island . Following that year, they were forced to withdraw their mission endeavour. Five years later on 8 October 1852,
5160-421: The island's long houses, a demonstration of past practices. According to Marianna Torgovnick, writing in 1991, "The most fully documented instances of cannibalism as a social institution come from New Guinea, where head-hunting and ritual cannibalism survived, in certain isolated areas, into the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies, and still leave traces within certain social groups." Little was known in Europe about
5246-485: The legally distinct Territory of New Guinea being established out of the former German colony as a League of Nations mandate . The nation was the site of fierce fighting during the New Guinea campaign of World War II . Papua New Guinea became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1975 with Elizabeth II as its Queen. Since Elizabeth II's death in 2022, Charles III has been the King . There are 840 known languages of Papua New Guinea (including English), making it
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#17330852116045332-458: The length of the island of New Guinea , forming a populous highlands region mostly covered with tropical rainforest , and the long Papuan Peninsula , known as the 'Bird's Tail'. Dense rainforests can be found in the lowland and coastal areas as well as very large wetland areas surrounding the Sepik and Fly rivers. This terrain has made it difficult for the country to develop transportation infrastructure. This has made it so that air travel
5418-412: The long term from the Rooney Affair: (1) The vigorous criticism of the Bench by a member of the executive (or indeed the general public) would certainly not have occasioned so drastic response by the judiciary in other common law jurisdictions such as Canada and the USA which also have a constitution ally-guaranteed right of freedom of expression . (2) Notwithstanding the immediate departure of
5504-533: The minimum 23–24 °C. In the highlands above 2100 metres, colder conditions prevail and night frosts are common there, while the daytime temperature exceeds 22 °C, regardless of the season. Many species of birds and mammals found on New Guinea have close genetic links with corresponding species found in Australia. One notable feature in common for the two landmasses is the existence of several species of marsupial mammals , including some kangaroos and possums , which are not found elsewhere. Papua New Guinea
5590-411: The most linguistically diverse country in the world. It is also one of the most rural countries, with only 13.25% of its population living in urban centres in 2019. Most of its people live in customary communities . Although government estimates reported the country's population to be 11.8 million, it was reported in December 2022 that its population was in fact closer to 17 million. Papua New Guinea
5676-435: The mountains of Australia, so high that it is home to rare equatorial glaciers . There are several active volcanoes , and eruptions are frequent. Earthquakes are relatively common, sometimes accompanied by tsunamis . On 25 February 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 and depth of 35 kilometres struck the middle of Papua New Guinea. The worst of the damage was centred around the Southern Highlands region. Papua New Guinea
5762-456: The old guard of colonial -era expatriate justices and their replacement by national justices , the Supreme Court did not then undertake any radical new departures by way of indigenising Papua New Guinea jurisprudence and indeed has been notably cautious in undertaking judicial law reform by way of implementing social policy . And (3) Since the Rooney Affair members of the Executive have been notably timorous in articulating criticism of
5848-524: The only court remaining the administrative responsibility of the executive branch , district courts in urban centres presided over by stipendiary magistrates , the National Court which is the superior trial court and the Supreme Court which is functionally an appellate division of the National Court: it is not separately constituted, its Chief Justice is also the Chief Justice of the National Court and its bench consists of National Court judges sitting as an ad hoc appellate tribunal. The Supreme Court
5934-419: The only realms in which the governor-general is elected by parliament, although the governor-general is still formally appointed by the monarch in accordance with the parliamentary vote. The national constitution provides for the executive to be responsible to parliament as the representative of the Papua New Guinean people. The prime minister of Papua New Guinea is elected by the National Parliament, while
6020-416: The other ministers are appointed by the governor-general on the prime minister's advice and form the National Executive Council , which acts as the country's cabinet. The National Parliament has 111 seats, of which 22 are occupied by the governors of the 22 provinces and the National Capital District . Candidates for members of parliament are voted upon when the prime minister asks the governor-general to call
6106-447: The previous staple, taro , and resulted in a significant increase in population in the highlands. Although by the late 20th century headhunting and cannibalism had been practically eradicated, in the past they were practised in many parts of the country as part of rituals related to warfare and taking in enemy spirits or powers. In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua , missionary Harry Dauncey found 10,000 skulls in
6192-561: The region's indigenous landowners, with demands for compensation being made. Australian Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam visited Papua New Guinea in 1970 and 1971, amid further calls for independence by the Tolai people in Gazelle Peninsula . He called for self-governance for the Territory as early as 1972. At the 1972 Papua New Guinean general election in July, Michael Somare was elected as
6278-526: The southern border east to the Torasi Estuary . The maritime boundary with Australia was confirmed by a treaty in 1978. In the Torres Strait it runs close to the mainland of New Guinea, keeping the adjacent North Western Torres Strait Islands ( Dauan , Boigu and Saibai ) under Australian sovereignty. Maritime boundaries with the Solomon Islands were confirmed by a 1989 treaty . Papua New Guinea
6364-501: The third-largest island country . Papua New Guinea is part of the Australasian realm , which also includes Australia , New Zealand , eastern Indonesia , and several Pacific island groups, including the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu . Including all its islands, it lies between latitudes 0° and 12°S , and longitudes 140° and 160°E . It has an exclusive economic zone of 2,402,288 km (927,529 sq mi). The mainland of
6450-467: The underlying law. In practice the courts have found great difficulty in applying the vastly differing custom of the many traditional societies of the country in a modern legal system and the development of the customary law according to indigenous Melanesian conceptions of justice and equity has been less thorough than may have been anticipated in 1975; the Underlying Law Act does not yet appear to have had significant effect. Advocacy follows
6536-468: The victim and their family and community , more than an offence against the law . The affected family require compensation in the form of money or goods . In remote areas, Village Courts are the primary source of formal justice . The Village Courts grew from colonial systems, and were most recently redefined through the Village Courts Act of 1989. Five types of officials can be appointed through
6622-546: The victory of the Allies, the two territories were combined into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea . This was later referred to as "Papua New Guinea." After World War II, Australia administered the two newly combined territories of Papua and New Guinea. By 1951, a 28-member Legislative Council was instituted, although this was largely dominated by Australian administrative members, with only 3 seats allocated to Papua New Guineans. Sir Donald Cleland , an Australian soldier, became
6708-652: The west and its other close neighbours are Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital, located on its southern coast, is Port Moresby . The country is the world's third largest island country , with an area of 462,840 km (178,700 sq mi). Split in the 1880s between German New Guinea in the North and the British Territory of Papua in the South, all of present-day Papua New Guinea came under Australian control following World War I , with
6794-486: The whole country) had done prior to 1189, deemed to be " time immemorial " in English law . In practice the courts have found great difficulty in applying traditional custom in a modern legal system and the development of the customary law according to indigenous Melanesian conceptions of justice and equity has been less thorough than may have been anticipated in 1975. In 2000 the National Parliament enacted
6880-404: The writ of the 'National Courts' is felt less keenly in the more remote villages . Victims of crime can choose to have their cases heard in the national courts but this means transporting all those involved to the nearest town . Additionally, national courts hand down sentences that do not generally compensate the victim directly. Melanesian custom tends to see crime as an offence against
6966-430: Was a choice between greater autonomy within Papua New Guinea and full independence for Bougainville, and voters voted overwhelmingly (98.31%) for independence. Negotiations between the Bougainville government and national Papua New Guinea on a path to Bougainville independence began after the referendum, and are ongoing. At 462,840 km (178,704 sq mi), Papua New Guinea is the world's 54th-largest country and
7052-411: Was confirmed early in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea's Constitution purports to adopt the principle of the separation of powers , enunciated in US jurisprudence in an environment where the three branches of government are indeed separate, the executive not being responsible to the legislature . In PNG as in Australia , the principle is in fact somewhat artificially defined simply to mean that
7138-414: Was quickly tested in Papua New Guinea. In 1979, four years after Independence, the then-Minister of Justice, Mrs Nahau Rooney , wrote a widely circulated letter critical of what she perceived as a lack of sensitivity by the then entirely expatriate -personnel Supreme Court to a "growing national consciousness ": in particular Mrs Rooney was impatient with the purportedly excessively legalistic approach of
7224-615: Was resolved in 1997. Bougainville had been the primary mining region of the country, generating 40% of the national budget. The native peoples felt they were bearing the adverse environmental effects of the mining, which contaminated the land, water and air, without gaining a fair share of the profits. The government and rebels negotiated a peace agreement that established the Bougainville Autonomous District and Province. The autonomous Bougainville elected Joseph Kabui as president in 2005, who served until he died in 2008. He
7310-463: Was succeeded by his deputy John Tabinaman as acting president while an election to fill the unexpired term was organised. James Tanis won that election in December 2008 and served until the inauguration of John Momis, the winner of the 2010 elections. As part of the current peace settlement, a non-binding independence referendum was held, between 23 November and 7 December 2019. The referendum question
7396-564: Was the name coined by the Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez . In 1545, he noted the resemblance of the people to those he had earlier seen along the Guinea coast of Africa. Guinea, in its turn, is etymologically derived from the Portuguese word Guiné . The name is one of several toponyms sharing similar etymologies , ultimately meaning "land of the blacks" or similar meanings, in reference to
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