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. Officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, it shares its only land border with Indonesia to the west and it is directly adjacent to Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The country is the world's third largest island country, with an area of 462,840 km2 (178,700 sq mi).
The indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is one of the most heterogeneous in the world. Papua New Guinea has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people. Divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities have engaged in endemic warfare with their neighbors for centuries. It is the second most populous nation in Oceania, with a total population estimated variously as being between 9.5 and 10.1 million inhabitants.
Port Moresby, also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of New Guinea. The city emerged as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century. During World War II, it was a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas.
Tourism in Papua New Guinea is a fledgling industry but there are attractions for the potential visitor which include culture, markets, festivals, diving, surfing, hiking, fishing and the unique flora and fauna. Papua New Guinea receives an increasing number of visitors each year, with approximately 184,000 international arrivals in 2015.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea is a Protestant church denomination located in Papua New Guinea that professes the Lutheran branch of the Christian faith. The Church is incorporated by a 1991 Act of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea and it has a baptized membership of approximately 900,000 members.
Religion in Papua New Guinea is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with traditional animism and ancestor worship often occurring less openly as another layer underneath or more openly side by side with Christianity. The Catholic Church has a plurality of the population. The courts, government, and general society uphold a constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and beliefs. A secular state, there is no state religion in the country, although the government openly partners with several Christian groups to provide services, and churches participate in local government bodies.
The Bank of Papua New Guinea is the central bank of Papua New Guinea, which has a core mandate to ensure price stability and maintain macroeconomic growth. To achieve this, it discharges four main functions; 1. responsible for the formulation and implementation of monetary policy, 2. ensure financial system development and stability, 3. ensure the payment system remain efficient, and 4. provide a banking role to the Government. It also manages the country's foreign reserves, issue the country's currency, manages the gold and foreign exchange of Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea–United States relations refers to the diplomatic relations between Papua New Guinea and the United States of America. The two countries established diplomatic relations following Papua New Guinea's independence on September 16, 1975. The two nations belong to a variety of regional organizations, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum; the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF); the Pacific Community (SPC); and the South Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP).
Education is compulsory in Burundi for the six years between the ages of seven and 13. Theoretically, primary education is free at point of use.
Education in Niger, as in other nations in the Sahelian region of Africa, faces challenges due to poverty and poor access to schools. Although education is compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen, with primary and secondary school leading into optional higher education, Niger has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. With assistance from external organizations, Niger has been pursuing educational improvement, reforming how schools utilize languages of instruction, and exploring how the system can close gender gaps in retention and learning.
Education in Kiribati is free and compulsory from age 6 to 14, which includes primary school through grade six, and Junior Secondary School for three additional grade levels. In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 84.4 percent, and net primary enrollment rate was 70.7 percent. School quality and access to education are better in urban areas; schools in small communities on isolated islands are expensive to maintain. Mission schools are slowly being absorbed into the government primary school system.
The Papua New Guinea Academic and Research Network (PNGARNET) is a nonprofit organisation owned and operated by the Papua New Guinea Vice-Chancellors Committee. PNGARNET's stated mission is to expand the availability of cost-effective Internet services to the nation's universities and research centres.
Life expectancy in Papua New Guinea (PNG) at birth was 64 years for men in 2016 and 68 for women.
Education in Nauru is compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 16. There are eleven schools in Nauru, including three primary schools and two secondary schools. There is an Able/Disable Centre for children with special needs. Education at these schools is free. In 2011, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reported that 3,026 children were enrolled at Nauru's schools. The Minister for Education is the Hon. Charmaine Scotty, MP from 2013.
Eriku is a suburb of Lae in the Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is officially known as the Independent State of Papua New Guinea after gaining absolute independence from Australia on September 16, 1975. PNG is the largest country in the South Pacific region and comprises the eastern side of New Guinea including its islands. Crime in Papua New Guinea, both violent and non-violent, have contributed to the developing country's crime rate being one of the highest in the world.
Dame Rosalina Violet Kekedo, better known as Rose Kekedo, was a leading educator in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the first woman to be chancellor of the University of Papua New Guinea.
Anne Dickson-Waiko (1950–2018) was an academic from Papua New Guinea (PNG) who taught history and pioneered the teaching of gender studies in the country.
Julienne Kaman, from Papua New Guinea (PNG), is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Goroka in PNG's Highlands Region.
Sir Ebia Olewale (1940–2009) was a politician in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He was elected as a member of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea in 1968 and went on to hold several ministerial positions during the period of self-governance and after PNG's independence in 1975, including that of deputy prime minister. He was knighted in 1983 and served as chancellor of the University of Goroka from 2000 to 2006. From 2002 until his death, he was a director of the Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program.
