Papua - New Guinea (full name: Independent State of Papua New
Guinea) - a state in Oceania, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean,
occupies the eastern part of New Guinea island, the Bismarck
archipelago, the northern part of the Solomon Islands (Bougainville
island, Bougainville,) D'Antrcasto Islands and others. Area -
462,840 km². The population is 7,275,324 (2011), mainly Papuans and
Melanesians. The urban population is 15.2% (1991).
The
official languages are English, Tok-Pisin, and Hiri-Motu. Most of
the population is Christians, the rest adhere to local traditional
beliefs. Administrative division: 20 provinces. The capital is Port
Moresby. Included in the Commonwealth of Nations. The head of state
is the British Queen, represented by the Governor General.
Legislature - National Parliament.
The name "Papua" comes from the Malay word "papuva", which translated
into Russian means "curly" (according to another version - from "orang
papua" - "curly black-headed man"). This name was given to the island of
New Guinea by the Portuguese Jorge de Menezes in 1526, noting the shape
of the hair of the locals. In 1545, Iñigo Ortiz de Retes visited the
island and gave it the name "New Guinea", because, in his opinion, the
locals were similar to the natives of Guinea in Africa (he may have seen
the similarity between the outlines of the coasts of the new island and
the territory of African Guinea).
From the beginning of European
colonization until independence, the country changed its official name
several times. The southeastern part in 1884-1906 was called British New
Guinea, and in 1906-1949 - Papua (under the control of Australia). The
northeastern part was at first a colony of Germany and in 1884-1920 was
called German New Guinea (from 1914 under the control of Australia), and
in 1920-1949, according to the decision of the League of Nations, it was
renamed the Territory of New Guinea, mandated by Australia. In 1949, the
two Australian colonies were united into one - the Territory of Papua
and New Guinea. In 1972, the province was renamed the Territory of Papua
New Guinea. Since 1975, the name Papua New Guinea has become the
official name for the new independent state.
Geographical position and relief
The state of Papua New Guinea
is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, north of
Australia and not far from the equator. The country occupies the
eastern part of the island of New Guinea, located to the northeast
of it, the Bismarck archipelago (which includes the large islands of
New Britain, New Ireland, as well as the Admiralty Islands, Tabar,
Lihir, Tanga, Feni, St. Matthias and others), located to the east,
the northern part of the Solomon Islands (with the largest islands
of Bougainville and Buka), located southeast of the main island of
D'Entrecasteaux, Murua (Woodlark), Trobriand, the Louisiade
archipelago, as well as other nearby islands and reefs (over 600 in
total) .
Papua New Guinea is washed by the Arafura, Coral,
Solomon and New Guinea Seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean. The
country is separated from Australia by the Torres Strait, about 160
km wide. The state has a land border only with Indonesia (in the
west), which is drawn along the 141 meridian and only in a small
area deviates to the west along with the Fly River. It borders
Australia (to the south), Solomon Islands (to the southeast), Nauru
(to the east) and the Federated States of Micronesia (to the north)
by sea.
The island of New Guinea and most of the country's
other islands are mountainous. The height of a significant part of
the territory is more than 1000 m above sea level, and some peaks of
New Guinea reach 4500 m, that is, the belt of eternal snow. Many of
the mountain ranges are chains of volcanoes. Papua New Guinea has 18
active volcanoes. Most of them are located in the north of the
country. Strong, sometimes catastrophic earthquakes are also
associated with volcanic activity.
The main ranges of the
eastern part of the island of New Guinea begin with a strip of 50 km
directly from the border with Indonesia (the Star Mountains, which
are a continuation of the Snowy Mountains), gradually expanding to
250 km in the central part (the Central Range, the Bismarck Range
with the country's highest point - Mount Wilhelm - 4509 m high,
Schroeder Ridge, Muller Ridge and others). Further to the southeast,
the mountains become narrower and lower (they pass into the Owen
Stanley Range, with a maximum height of 4072 - Mount Victoria) and
at the southeastern tip of the island they submerge under water.
Some peaks rise above the water, forming the Louisiade archipelago.
The northern slopes of these mountains are steep, while the southern
slopes are gentle. The southern foothill zone of the Central Range
is commonly referred to as the Papua Plateau. The closer to the sea,
the lower this plateau is, and gradually turns into a swampy
lowland.
Parallel to the central mountains, the low spurs of
the Northern Coastal Mountains enter the territory of Papua New
Guinea from Indonesia: partly the Bevani Mountains (up to 1960 m
high), the Torricelli Mountains (the highest point is Sulen
Mountain, 1650 m high), the Prince Alexander Mountains (the highest
point is Mt. Turu, 1240 m high). Coastal mountains end in lowlands
(valleys of the Sepik and Ramu rivers). As part of these mountains,
the Adelbert Mountains (the highest point is Mount Mengam, 1718 m
high), lying on the right bank of the Ramu River near the mouth, as
well as the Finistere and Saruvaged Mountains located on the Huon
Peninsula, with the highest height of 4121 m (Mount Bangeta ). In
addition to the main island, there are significant ridges on the
islands of New Britain (Whiteman Ridge, Nakani and Baining
Mountains, with the highest height of 2334 m - Ulawun Volcano) and
New Ireland (Scheinitz and Worron Ranges, with heights up to 2340
m).
Papua New Guinea is located in a geologically active region at the
junction of the Australian (moving north at a speed of 7 cm/year) and
the Pacific (moving west at a speed of 10 cm/year) lithospheric plates.
The island of New Guinea is located at the northern tip of the
Australian Plate and is part of the prehistoric supercontinent Sahul
(Meganesia). Geologically, the country is divided into two main
geological provinces: the Fly platform, located on the Australian Plate,
and the New Guinea orogenic zone, located at the junction of the plates.
The Fly platform is a lowland composed of sedimentary deposits
accumulating from the Mesozoic era to the Quaternary period. The
orogenic zone of New Guinea consists of various deformed sedimentary,
metamorphic and volcanic rocks (including intrusive ones). This zone
includes areas of folding (Papuan, New Guinean thrust belt, Oeun-Stanley
thrust belt), island arcs (Melanesian arcs), and inland small marine
basins.
The Papua folded region with the Central Range and the
Papua Plateau is formed by horizontal compression of rocks and is
covered with a thick layer of sedimentary carbonate deposits of the
Miocene time. The New Guinean thrust belt is located north of the Papuan
folding and is represented in the relief by the Coastal Mountains. It is
composed mainly of gneisses formed at moderate pressures during the
metamorphism of sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Less common are gneisses
formed at high pressures. The thrust belt was formed in two stages: in
the southern part, activity was noted in the Late Cretaceous, and in the
northern part, the Eocene-Oligocene (with the formation of intrusive
gabbro and basalt minerals in the Torricelli Mountains). The
Owen-Stanley thrust belt was formed southwest of the Papuan folded area
as a result of a strike-slip, which is hardly noticeable in the modern
relief. The belt is composed of sedimentary rocks accumulated from the
Cretaceous to the Miocene, with inclusions of high-pressure metamorphic
rocks. The islands of the Melanesian arc (New Britain, New Ireland, the
Admiralty Islands and other smaller ones) are composed mainly of
intrusive volcanic rocks of the Eocene-Oligocene time with small
inclusions of remains of older rocks. In the Miocene and early Pliocene,
volcanic processes in this area weakened and the surface of the islands
was covered with a series of carbonate deposits. From the Pliocene to
the present, volcanic activity has been observed only on New Britain and
the Umboy-Manam chain of islands. The lavas are predominantly carbonate
in composition.
Minerals
The country has industrially
significant reserves of some minerals. The first of the mineral deposits
(gold) was discovered back in 1888 on the island of Vanatinai, but it
was soon exhausted. As of 2008, copper, gold, molybdenum, silver,
tellurium, nickel, cobalt, natural gas, oil and cement raw materials are
commercially mined.
4 large copper deposits are known: Nena
(Sandaun province, reserves are estimated at 32 million tons of ore with
a copper content of 2.3%), Ok-Tedi (Western province, reserves are
estimated at 510 million tons of ore with a copper content of 0.69%),
Panguna (Autonomous Region of Bougainville, reserves are estimated at
710 million tons of ore with a copper grade of 0.4%), Wafi (Province of
Morobe, reserves are estimated at 19 million tons of ore with a copper
grade of 1.4%). Commercial production is carried out only at the Ok-Tedi
field, where development is carried out in an open pit. In 2008, 187,000
tons of copper were mined from this deposit. The Panguna field has not
been developed since May 1989 due to civil conflicts on the island. It
is planned to resume production.
In 2008, 65 tons of gold were
mined in the country. According to the US Geological Survey, Papua New
Guinea ranks 11th in the world in gold mining, and the total gold
reserves are estimated at 2300 tons. The largest deposits are: Lihir
(Province of New Ireland, reserves are estimated at 188 million tons of
ore with a gold grade of 3, 6 g/t; 24 tons of gold mined in 2008),
Ok-Tedi (reserves are estimated at 510 million tons of ore with a gold
grade of 0.63 g/t; 16 tons of gold were mined in 2008), Panguna
(reserves are estimated at 710 million tons of ore with a gold grade of
0.49 g/t), Porgera (Enga province, reserves are estimated at 65.4
million tons of ore with a gold grade of 4.6 g/t; 19 tons of gold were
mined in 2008), Tolukuma (Central province, reserves are estimated at
700 thousand tons of ore with a gold grade of 13.3 g/t, 2 tons of gold
were mined in 2008) and others. Mining is carried out both in open pits
and in mines. According to the results of geological exploration, new
deposits are discovered, many of which may be of industrial importance.
The largest silver deposit in the country was the Mishima mine,
located on the island of the same name in the province of Milne Bay. In
1991, 100 tons of silver were mined on it. The deposit had reserves of
35.7 million tons of ore with a silver content of 11.0 g/t. Due to the
depletion of reserves in 2001, the mine was closed. In 2008, 52 tons of
silver were mined at two mines: in the Ok-Tedi deposit (48 tons of
silver) and in the Porgera deposit (4 tons of silver). The large Panguna
deposit remains mothballed (reserves are estimated at 530 million tons
of ore with a silver content of 1.18 g/t). There are also industrially
significant deposits of molybdenum (reserves are estimated at 21,300
tons), tellurium, nickel and cobalt (it is reported that they are ready
to mine 31,500 tons of nickel and 3,300 tons of cobalt annually for 20
years), which have not yet been developed.
Papua New Guinea also
has significant hydrocarbon reserves. There is one natural gas field
(Hydes Gasfield, Southern Highlands province) - in 2008, 135 million m³
of gas was produced here; and several oil fields - mainly in the area of
Lake Kutubu (as of 2008, reserves are estimated at 12.1 million
tons; crude oil production - 12.400 million barrels).
Hydrology
The islands that make up Papua New Guinea have a fairly dense river
network. Rivers originate in the mountains and flow into the ocean.
During heavy rains, rivers overflow and flood large areas, turning many
areas into swamps. There are especially many swamps on the island of New
Guinea. With the wide distribution of wetlands, the spread of malaria is
also associated.
The climate of the country is tropical, in most of the territory it
is humid. Temperature changes throughout the year are insignificant. The
average daily temperature is about 26°. Seasons differ only in the
amount of precipitation - the dry season and the rainy season. In
different places, these seasons fall on different months.
However, only coastal areas can be considered hot climate. The
mountainous regions are significantly different in their climate from
the plains. The temperature is lower there, there is more rainfall.
Above 2500-3000 m, the average daily air temperature is not more than 10
°C. There almost all the time there is a fine, drizzling rain, sometimes
hail falls. These areas are not populated.
The flora and fauna of Papua New Guinea are rich and varied. More
than 20 thousand plant species grow there. Along the coast of the island
of New Guinea, a wide (in some places up to 35 km) strip of mangrove
vegetation stretches. This swampy zone is completely impassable and can
only be crossed by sailing along the rivers. Thickets of wild sugarcane
grow along the rivers, and groves of sago palms grow in wetlands.
Dense rainforests, formed by hundreds of tree species, rise up the
slopes of the mountains. However, now there are also plantations and
orchards. Grow coconut palms, bananas, sugar cane, melon tree, tubers -
taro, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava and other crops. Gardens alternate
with forests. Plots of land are cultivated for only 2-3 years, then
overgrown with forest for 10-12 years. Thus fertility is restored.
Above 1000-2000 m, the forests become more uniform in composition;
conifers, especially araucaria, begin to predominate in them. These
trees are of economic importance: their wood is a valuable building
material. However, the delivery of sawn timber is difficult due to the
paucity of good roads.
The highlands of New Guinea are covered
with shrubs and meadows. In the intermountain basins, where the climate
is drier, herbaceous vegetation is widespread, which arose in place of
forests mainly as a result of fires.
The fauna of the country is
represented by reptiles, insects and especially numerous birds. For the
fauna of mammals, as in neighboring Australia, only representatives of
marsupials are characteristic - bandicoot (marsupial badger), wallaby
(tree kangaroo), couscous, etc. In the forests and on the coast there
are many snakes, including poisonous ones, and lizards. Crocodiles and
turtles are found near the sea coasts and in large rivers. Of the birds,
cassowaries, birds of paradise, crowned pigeons, parrots, weed chickens
are characteristic. Europeans brought domestic chickens, dogs and pigs
to the island. Feral pigs, as well as rats, field mice and some other
animals have spread widely throughout the country.
By the time of European colonization, the territory of present-day
Papua New Guinea was inhabited by Papuans and Melanesians. They lived in
the conditions of the Stone Age, hunting, fishing and gathering.
New Guinea was discovered in 1526 by the Portuguese navigator Jorge de
Menezes. The name of the island was given by the Spanish navigator Iñigo
Ortiz de Retes in 1545, seeing the similarity of the population with the
population of African Guinea.
The exploration of the island and
the penetration of Europeans there began only in the 19th century. Thus,
the Russian researcher N. Miklukho-Maclay lived among the Papuans for a
total of almost four years (in the 1870s and early 1880s).
In the
19th century, Papua New Guinea was also visited by other Europeans -
merchants, whalers, missionaries. Europeans brought the first iron tools
to Papua New Guinea.
Since 1884, the southeastern part of about.
New Guinea (Papua) was under the rule of the British Empire, which at
the beginning of the 20th century transferred it to Australia.
The northeastern part with the adjacent islands - the Bismarck
Archipelago and others (later the name New Guinea was assigned to this
territory) was captured by Germany in the 1880s, after the First World
War, in 1920 transferred to Australia as a mandated territory of the
League of Nations (later - UN Trust Territory).
In 1949, both
parts (Papua and New Guinea) were administratively united by the
Australian authorities.
In 1973, the territory of Papua New
Guinea received internal self-government. In September 1975 it became an
independent state.
In 1988-1997, a guerrilla war was going on on
the island of Bougainville - the Revolutionary Army of Bougainville
fought for the separation of the island from Papua New Guinea. To fight
against the partisans, the government of Papua New Guinea used almost
all the country's armed forces (about 2 thousand soldiers and officers),
and also asked Australia for help, which sent a small military
contingent, and hired a group of professional mercenaries. During this
war, about 20 thousand people died.
In 2012, a cannibal sect
disrupted the elections by terrorizing the local population.
1824
Holland declared the lands of the island of New Guinea to the west of
141°E. e. their property.
1884 November 3 Germany declares a
protectorate over the north-eastern part of the island (east of 141 °
E), called German New Guinea.
1884 On November 6, Great Britain
declares a protectorate over the southeastern part of the island (east
of 141 ° E), called British New Guinea.
1885 April Germany
establishes a protectorate over the northern part of the Solomon Islands
(Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Choiseul Island, Shortland Island,
Santa Isabel Island, Ontong Java (Lord Howe) Atoll).
1886 British New
Guinea becomes a British colony.
1899 November 14 Germany hands over
Ontong Java Atoll, Choiseul Island, Shortland Island and Santa Isabel
Island to the British Protectorate of the Solomon Islands. Buka Island
and Bougainville Island are included in the colony of German New Guinea.
1906 On September 1, Great Britain transferred to the Commonwealth of
Australia the colony of British New Guinea, renamed Papua.
1914
November 11 German New Guinea occupied by Australia, renamed North East
New Guinea.
1920 December 17 Australia receives a League of Nations
mandate to administer North East New Guinea, named Territory of New
Guinea.
1942 January 21 The beginning of the Japanese occupation of
the island of New Guinea.
1942 April 10, Australia territorially
united Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, under the name - Territory
of Papua and New Guinea.
1949 Administrative association of the
lands.
1971 July 1 Australian authorities gave a new name: Territory
of Papua New Guinea.
1973 December The territory of Papua New Guinea
became self-governing.
1975 September 16 The independent state of
Papua New Guinea is proclaimed as part of the Commonwealth, a
constitution is adopted.
There is a world-famous tradition of woodcarving on the Sepik River.
These carvers create forms of plants or animals because they believe
they are their ancestors and because they feel beautiful. They also
create traditional skull portraits. Also, the Malagan artistic
traditions of New Ireland are widely represented in the collections of
museums around the world.
Population
The population of Papua
New Guinea is 8,947,027 as of 2020.
Urbanization
As of 2021,
the population of Papua New Guinea is concentrated in the highlands and
on the eastern coastal regions of the island of New Guinea; almost the
entire population of the country is rural, only a fifth of the
population lives in urban areas; only 13.5% of Papua New Guinea's
population lives in cities.
Age and sex structure of the
population
0-14 years old: 31.98% (boys 1,182,539 / girls 1,139,358);
15-24 years old: 19.87% (men 731,453 / women 711,164);
25-54 years
old: 37.68% (men 1,397,903 / women 1,337,143);
55-64 years: 5.83%
(men 218,529 / women 204,717)
65 years and older: 4.64% (male 164,734
/ female 171,916) (2020 figures)
Average age
Overall
indicator: 24 years
Men: 24 years old
Women: 24 years (2020
figures)
Population growth
The population has grown by 1.61%
from 2020 to 2021;
Fertility rate: 22.08;
Mortality rate: 5.97;
Net migration is 0 migrant per 1,000 inhabitants (91st in the world,
2021 data)
Gender composition of the population
At birth: 1.05
males / female
0-14 years old: 1.04 men / female
15-24 years old:
1.03 men / female
25-54 years old: 1.05 men / female
55-64 years
old: 1.07 men / female
65 years and over: 0.96 men / female
The
ratio of the total number: 1.04 male. / female (as of 2020)
infant mortality rate
Overall rate: 40.33 deaths/1000 births
Male:
45.32 deaths/1000 births
Female: 35.09 deaths/1000 births (as of
2021)
Average life expectancy
Overall indicator: 69.86 years
Men: 67.37 years
Women: 72.48 years (as of 2021)
total
fertility rate
The total fertility rate for 2021 is 2.79 births per
woman
Ethnic composition of the population
Ethno-racial
composition - Melanesians, Papuans, Negrito, Micronesians, Polynesians
The linguistic composition of the population
Languages -
official: Tok Pisin (the most common), English (knows 1% -2%), Hiri Motu
(knows less than 2%). There are over 839 indigenous languages. The
country with the most languages (about 12% of the total number of
languages in the world), many languages are spoken by less than 1000
people. One of the explanations is the lack of communication between
peoples living in valleys fenced off by mountains.
Religion
Protestantism - 64.3% (Lutherans - 18.4%, Adventists - 12.9%,
Pentecostals - 10.4%, United Church of Papua New Guinea - 10.3%,
Evangelicals - 5.9%, Anglicans - 3 .2%, Baptist 2.8%, Salvation Army
0.4%); Catholics - 27%; other Christians, 5.3%; other religions - 1.4%;
n.a. 3.1% (2011 est.).
Education
According to The World
Factbook, which defines literacy as the percentage of the population
aged 15 and over who can read and write, as of 2015, 64.2% of Papua New
Guinea's population; men - 65.6%, women - 62.8%, was competent. This
figure is the lowest in Oceania.
A constitutional monarchy. The head of state is King Charles III,
represented by the Governor General (since February 28, 2017 - Bob
Dadae). The Governor General is appointed by the King at the choice of
the Parliament of Papua New Guinea.
Parliament - unicameral, 109
seats, of which 89 deputies are elected by the population for 5 years,
another 20 are appointed from the provinces.
Represented in
Parliament:
National Alliance - 30 seats;
Party of Papua New
Guinea - 8 seats;
People's Action - 6 seats;
Pangu - 5 seats;
People's Democratic Movement - 5 seats;
United Resources Party - 5
seats;
People's Progress Party - 5 seats;
People's National
Congress - 5 seats.
12 parties have from 4 to 1 seats in parliament,
and 16 deputies are non-partisan. The composition of party factions
often changes as deputies change party affiliations. In total, before
the parliamentary elections in July 2007, 45 political parties were
officially registered in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea's foreign policy is based on close ties with
Australia and other traditional allies, as well as cooperative relations
with neighboring countries. Her views on international political and
economic issues are generally moderate. Papua New Guinea has diplomatic
relations with 56 countries.
Papua New Guinea is a member of a
number of regional organizations, including:
Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC);
Asian Development Bank
ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF) In the ASEAN+2 format (Australia and New Zealand) - Papua New
Guinea is an observer member of ASEAN;
East Asia Summit (EAS) - Papua
New Guinea emerges as a potential candidate
East Asia Community (EAC)
- Papua New Guinea - Candidate
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
or Commission for the South Pacific (SPC);
Pacific Islands Forum
(PHOTO);
Plan of Colombo;
Commonwealth of Nations;
Secretariat
of the Pacific Community;
Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation Council
(APSC);
South Pacific Regional Program for Environmental Protection,
etc.
Relations with countries
Australia
Relations with
Australia strained in 2006 when Prime Minister Michael Somare was
accused of aiding the escape of Julian Moti to the Solomon Islands. Moti
was wanted in Australia on serious charges of alleged child sex crimes.
In retaliation, the Australian government banned Somara from Australia;
all negotiations between Canberra and Port Moresby were suspended.
Relations thawed in September 2007 and in December 2007 the new
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met Sir Michael in Bali. Rudd
announced, “This relationship has gone through a very difficult period
of late. In reality, there was a freezing of contacts between the
governments at the ministerial level of the two countries. I don't
believe this is a viable option for a future relationship."
Cuba
In the late 2000s, Papua New Guinea began to strengthen its relationship
with Cuba. Cuba provides medical assistance to the country. In September
2008, the Government of Papua New Guinea hosted the first Ministerial
Meeting of Cuba and the Pacific Islands in Havana to "strengthen
cooperation" between Cuba and the Pacific island countries, in
particular in combating the effects of climate change.
Fiji
Start date of relationship: 1976.
As of November 2005, relations
with Fiji's Pacific neighbor were tense, as a number of Fiji mercenaries
operated illegally on Bougainville, arming and training the militia.
France
Official diplomatic relations were established in 1976.
Papua New Guinea is a member of the UN Special Committee on
Decolonization. The French government noted that it finds Port Moresby's
"moderate" attitude towards the decolonization of New Caledonia - which,
like Papua New Guinea, is in Melanesia. The French National Assembly
maintains friendly relations with Papua New Guinea.
Indonesia
Indonesia shares a 760-kilometer land border with Papua New Guinea,
which has kept diplomatic relations tense for decades. Indonesia is
represented in Papua New Guinea by an embassy in Port Moresby and a
consulate in Vanimo.
People's Republic of China
The
Independent State of Papua New Guinea and the People's Republic of China
(PRC) established formal diplomatic relations in 1976, shortly after
Papua New Guinea's independence. The two countries currently maintain
diplomatic, economic and, to a lesser extent, military relations.
Relations between the countries are quite warm, China is a major
investor, and also provides assistance in the development of Papua New
Guinea.
Philippines
In March 2009, the Philippines and Papua
New Guinea entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will
enhance cooperation between the two countries in fisheries development.
The MoU will promote technology transfer in aquaculture development,
promotion of shipping ventures, investment, technical training, joint
research, and "strategic complement" plans of each country in the Coral
Triangle. In the same year, Papua New Guinea turned to the Philippines
for help in facilitating its entry into ASEAN.
Great Britain
Papua New Guinea and Great Britain are under the rule of King Charles
III. Diplomatic relations with England have been established since 1975,
when Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia.
USA
The US and Papua New Guinea signed the US-Pacific Islands
Multilateral Tuna Fishing Treaty, under which the US pays $63 million a
year to the islands and they grant US access to their fishing vessels.
The US also supports Papua New Guinea's biodiversity efforts;
International Coral Reef Initiative to protect reefs in tropical
countries such as Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea and the
Commonwealth of Nations
Papua New Guinea has been a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations since 1975 when it gained independence from
Australia.
Papua New Guinea is a member of the British Commonwealth,
and in other member states of this organization, its embassies are
headed by "high commissioners" with the rank of ambassador.
The armed forces of Papua New Guinea are recruited on a voluntary contract basis by males over the age of 16 (with parental consent and after graduating from 12 grades of school), forced conscription is not carried out.
Papua New Guinea is very rich in natural resources, but their use is
difficult due to the conditions of the terrain and the high costs of
infrastructure development. Nevertheless, the development of deposits of
copper ore, gold and oil provides almost two-thirds of foreign exchange
earnings.
GDP per capita in 2017 - 2.782 thousand dollars (158th
place in the world).
Industry (37% of GDP) - oil extraction and
processing, gold, silver, copper ore mining, copra processing, palm oil
production, wood processing, construction.
Agriculture (33% of
GDP, 85% of employees) - coffee, cocoa, copra, coconuts, tea, sugar,
rubber, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables, vanilla; seafood, poultry,
pigs.
Service sector - 30% of GDP.
Exports - $8.522 billion in 2017 - liquefied natural gas, oil, gold,
copper ore, nickel, cobalt, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, copra, spices
(turmeric, vanilla, ginger and cardamom), seafood.
Main export
buyers: Australia - 18.9%, Singapore - 17.5%, Japan - 13.8%, China -
12.7%, Philippines - 4.7%, Netherlands - 4.2%, India - 4, 2%.
Imports - $1.878 billion in 2017 - machinery, equipment and vehicles,
manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals.
The main suppliers of
imports: Australia - 30.1%, China - 17.3%, Singapore - 10.2%, Malaysia -
8.2%, Indonesia - 4%.
It is a member of the international
organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
Human rights violations
Claims of world human rights activists are
caused by cases of police use of force against children, bullying and
sexual abuse of children in police stations. Children affected by police
injuries often do not receive medical care. The practice of ritual
murders of women suspected of witchcraft persists. According to
statistics, two-thirds of women in Papua New Guinea are constantly
exposed to domestic violence, half of the women, according to surveys,
have experienced forced sex. Witchcraft is prosecuted by law, usually
cases of witchcraft are dealt with by village courts, which are
deliberately biased against the defendants. This practice is opposed by
local human rights activists and the Catholic Church. There have been
cases of missing and murders of human rights activists, including those
who campaign for women's rights.
Crime
According to the United
Nations Human Settlements Program, the crime rate in the country as a
whole is quite high, which "is one of the most serious problems
affecting urban development and governance in Papua New Guinea."
Large cities are especially criminogenic (for example, Port Moresby,
Lae), which is largely due to the presence in these cities of such a
social and criminal phenomenon as reskolizm.
The death penalty
The death penalty in the country was banned from 1954 to 1991, in 1991
the parliament introduced the death penalty for premeditated murder, but
in fact there is a moratorium, not a single death penalty was carried
out during this period. However, the murder of a mother of four of her
children in 2009 raised the question of lifting the moratorium in
society.
witchcraft law
The Witchcraft Act was passed in Papua
New Guinea in 1971. Although he does not claim that sorcerers and
witchcraft actually exist, however, the text of this act establishes
that people who consider themselves "bewitched" are not responsible for
their actions. This provision is used as a mitigating circumstance in
court in cases where the alleged sorcerer is killed. Often, women who
came from other tribes and had no relatives became victims of lynching
in connection with accusations of witchcraft. In February 2013, a
20-year-old girl was lynched in the city of Mount Hagen. She was accused
of killing the boy with the help of witchcraft, after which the
relatives of the child burned the suspect alive in front of the crowd.
UN officials condemned the deed. In 2012, a cult of witch hunters was
operating in the country, who killed sorcerers of both sexes and ate
fragments of their bodies. According to the gang members, spirits helped
them to distinguish a sorcerer from an ordinary person. Due to the
actions of cannibals, the country's authorities even had to extend the
elections taking place in the country, as many residents were afraid to
go to the polls, for fear that they would be eaten.
In April
2013, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O'Neill, promised to
repeal the witchcraft law in force in the country. In May of the same
year, it was reported that this legal act was canceled in the state; in
addition, the authorities of the country decided after a break of 60
years to resume the death penalty in an attempt to stem the tide of
violent crime.