Sir Julius Chan served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He is Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won the seat in the 2007 national election. He is also the current Governor of New Ireland Province, since 2007. On 26 May 2019, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced he would soon resign and that he wished for Sir Julius to succeed him. An outgoing Prime Minister does not, however, have the power to appoint his successor, and the following day O'Neill delayed his own formal resignation.
New Ireland Province, formerly New Mecklenburg, is the most northeastern province of Papua New Guinea.
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea.
East Sepik is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Wewak. East Sepik has an estimated population of 433,481 people and is 43,426 km square in size.
Manus Province is the smallest province in Papua New Guinea with a land area of 2,100 km², but with more than 220,000 km² of water. The provincial town of Manus is Lorengau and the total population is 60,485.
Namatanai is a town on the island province of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. It is the second largest settlement on the island and connected to the largest and provincial capital of Kavieng by the Boluminski Highway. In 2005, Namantanai was estimated to have a population of 1300 people. It is the seat of Namatanai Rural LLG.
The Kuot language, or Panaras, is a language isolate, the only non-Austronesian language spoken on the island of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Lindström estimates that there are 1,500 fluent speakers of Kuot. Perhaps due to the small speaker base, there are no significant dialects present within Kuot. It is spoken in 10 villages, including Panaras village of Sentral Niu Ailan Rural LLG in New Ireland Province.
The Tabar Group is an island group in Papua New Guinea, located 40 km 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 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 is Mount Beirari at 622 metres.
Namatanai Rural LLG is a local government area in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The LLG is located in Namatanai District and the LLG headquarters is Namatanai.
Sentral Niu Ailan Rural LLG is a local government area in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The LLG administers the central area of the island of New Ireland especially the people of Barok, Mandak, Kuot, Notsi and the Tabar Group. The LLG is located in Namatanai District and the LLG headquarters is Konos.
Konoagil Rural LLG is a local government area in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The LLG administers the southern peninsula of the island of New Ireland. The LLG is located in Namatanai District and its population is 10,503. Languages in the area are Siar-Lak language, Kandas language, and Label language.
Nimamar Rural LLG is a local government area in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The LLG administers the Lihir Group of islands. The LLG is located in Namatanai District and contains the Lihir Gold Mine, which is the second largest gold deposit in the world. Main language spoken here is the Lihir language. Many speakers of other languages are present here due to the mining on the island. Commonly are Niwer Mil language, Kuanua language and Mandara language.
Kalagunan is a village on the west coast of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. There is a point here known as Kalagunan Point It is located in Sentral Niu Ailan Rural LLG.
Labur is a village on the west coast of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. It is located to the south of Kalagunan, on Labur Bay. It is located in Namatanai Rural LLG.
Rasirik is a village on the west coast of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. It is located to the south of Labur. The government has exploited timber reserves in the area. It is located in Namatanai Rural LLG.
Nokon is a village on the south-eastern coast of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. According to Alexander H. Bolyanatz, "Tekedan, Himaul, and Nokon form something of a sociological cluster." It contains a United Church. It is located in Namatanai Rural LLG.
James Byron Chan is a Papua New Guinean politician and the son of the former Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan. He was a People's Progress Party member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2002 until 2017, representing the electorate of Namatanai Open. The son of former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Julius Chan, he defeated the late Ephraim Apelis at the 2002 election, and was twice re-elected before being defeated by Walter Schnaubelt at the 2017 election. Prior to his defeat, he served as Minister for Mining in the government of Peter O'Neill.
Ephraim T. Apelis from Varangansau village, in the Matalai Rural LLG of Namatanai District was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea representing the Namatanai Open Seat in New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea from 1997-2002.
Namatanai Open Seat is an Electorate in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The Member of Parliament representing this seat is Walter Schnaubelt. Former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Sir Julius Chan represented this electorate from 1968–1997. Ephraim Apelis became the second Member for Namatanai from 1997–2002. Byron Chan became Member for Namatanai in 2002-2017 until his subsequent defeat to his cousin Walter Schnaubelt in the 2017 National Elections.
Tanga people are a tribe of Papua New Guinea that lives in the Tanga Islands and Feni Islands of Tanir Rural LLG and three villages in the Matalai Rural LLG of Namatanai District of New Ireland Province. The people are closely related to the Tolai people and Sursurunga people of New Ireland and they speak the Tangga language which has since been split into three separate languages which are now spoken by the Tangans. These languages are: Niwer Mil, Warwar Feni and Fanamaket. Their population according to the 2011 Papua New Guinea Census Report is 12,466 people. Tubuan, Sokapana and Ingiet are the secret societies practised by the Tanga people. F.L.S. Bell has a collection on Tanga Islands in the University of Sydney Library in Australia.
