The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the annexation but in 1884 a Protectorate was proclaimed over the territory, then called "British New Guinea". There is a certain ambiguity about the exact date on which the entire territory was annexed by the British. The Papua Act 1905 recites that this happened "on or about" 4 September 1888. On 18 March 1902, the Territory was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia. Resolutions of acceptance were passed by the Commonwealth Parliament, who accepted the territory under the name of Papua.
The Papua New Guinea national football team is the national team of Papua New Guinea and is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association. Its nickname is the Kapuls, which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus.
The Papua New Guinea national cricket team, nicknamed the Barramundis, is the team that represents the country of Papua New Guinea in international cricket. The team is organised by Cricket PNG, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1973. Papua New Guinea previously had One Day International (ODI) status, which it gained by finishing fourth in 2014 World Cup Qualifier. Papua New Guinea lost both their ODI and T20I status in March 2018 after losing a playoff match against Nepal during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, a result that earned ODI and T20I status for their opponents. On 26 April 2019, at the final World Cricket League 2 fixture; PNG defeated Oman to finish at the fourth position and reclaim their ODI status.
Badminton Oceania (BOC) is the governing body of badminton in Oceania. It is one of the 5 continental bodies under the flag of the Badminton World Federation (BWF). As of 2017, the confederation has 15 member countries. Papua New Guinea is the newest member, which was granted membership in late 2016.
Today, the languages of Papua New Guinea number over 850. These languages are spoken by the inhabited tribal groups of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In 2006, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stated that "Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages " making it the most linguistically diverse place on earth. Its official languages are Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Tok Pisin, an English-based creole, is the most widely spoken, serving as the country's lingua franca. Papua New Guinean Sign Language became the fourth official language in May 2015, and is used by the deaf population throughout the country.
The Oceania Cup is an international rugby union competition for countries and territories from Oceania with national teams in the developmental band. It is administered by Oceania Rugby.
The Papua New Guinea national rugby sevens team competes in the Oceania Sevens, where they finished third in 2009, and fourth in 2010, 2015 and 2016.
The Oceania Women's Sevens is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Oceania. The tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend. It is sanctioned and sponsored by Oceania Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.
Papua New Guinea competed at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China between July 16 and 31, 2011.
The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team represents Papua New Guinea in international rugby sevens tournaments, particularly the Oceania Women's Sevens Championship and Pacific Games. PNG's first international was in 2007 while hosting the first ever Pacific women's sevens championship in Port Moresby. In 2017, the team participated for the first time in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series as an invited team at the 2017 Sydney Women's Sevens. Papua New Guinea made its debut at the Women's Sevens World Cup in 2018.
The Papua New Guinea national under-17 football team is the national U-17 team of Papua New Guinea and is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association.
Papua New Guinea competed at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain between 19 July and 4 August 2013.
Israel Eliab is a Papua New Guinea professional rugby league footballer who played for the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup. A Papua New Guinea international, most notably at the 2013 World Cup. Eliab previously played for the London Broncos in the Championship.
Fourteen teams participated in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. In August 2014 it was announced that seven teams had been granted automatic qualification, with four regional qualification tournaments selecting the remaining seven teams. Qualification began in earnest on 9 May 2015 when Spain played Latvia in a knock-out match, although the European Group B competition began on 17 May 2014.
Papua New Guinea competed at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015.
The Papua New Guinea U-20 women's national football team is the national under-20 women's association football team of Papua New Guinea in international women's football. They are controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association and they are the only team besides New Zealand who have competed in a U-20 Women's World Cup]], they did this when they hosted the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
The Papua New Guinea Hockey Federation is the governing body of field hockey in Papua New Guinea, Oceania. Its headquarters are in Boroko, NCD, Port Moresby. It is affiliated to IHF International Hockey Federation and OCF Oceania Hockey Federation.
Wartovo Puara Jr is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Barrow Raiders in the Betfred Championship. He has previously played for the Papua New Guinea Hunters in the Queensland Cup since their inception in 2014. He has represented the Papua New Guinean national team, most notably at the 2017 World Cup. He primarily plays as a hooker.
Ashley Seeto is a Papua New Guinean swimmer. He competed in the men's 50 metre breaststroke event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. He also competed in six events for Papua New Guinea at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
