For administrative purposes, Papua New Guinea is divided into administrative divisions called provinces. There are 22 provincial-level divisions, which include 20 provinces, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, and the National Capital District of Port Moresby.
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810, and since the division of Southern Highlands Province in May 2012 it is the most populous province. It includes the Huon Peninsula, the Markham River, and delta, and coastal territories along the Huon Gulf. The province has nine administrative districts. At least 101 languages are spoken, including Kâte and Yabem language. English and Tok Pisin are common languages in the urban areas, and in some areas pidgin forms of German are mixed with the native language.
Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea's national 2011 census, the total population of Southern Highlands is 515,511 spread across 15,089 square kilometers (5,826 sq mi).
Mount Hagen is the third largest city in Papua New Guinea, with a population of 46,250. It is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea, at an elevation of 1,677 m (5,502 ft).
The Kikori River is a major river in southern Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea. The river has a total length of 445 km (277 mi) and flows southeast into the Gulf of Papua, with its delta at the head of the gulf. The settlement of Kikori lies on the delta.
Papua New Guinea together with the West Papua region of Indonesia make up a major tropical wilderness area that still contains 5% of the original and untouched tropical high-biodiversity terrestrial ecosystems. PNG in itself contains over 5% of the world's biodiversity in less than 1% of the world's total land area. The flora of New Guinea is unique because it has two sources of origin; the Gondwana flora from the south and flora with Asian origin from the west. As a result, New Guinea shares major family and genera with Australia and the East Asia, but is rich in local endemic species. The endemicity is a result of mountainous isolation, topographic and soil habitat heterogeneity, high forest disturbance rates and abundant aseasonal rainfall year round. PNG boasts some 15–21,000 higher plants, 3,000 species of orchids, 800 species of coral, 600 species of fish, 250 species of mammals and 760 species of birds and 8 species of tree-kangaroos out of which 84 genera of animals are endemic. Ecosystems range from lowland forests to montane forests, alpine flora down to coastal areas which contains some of the most extensive pristine mangrove areas in the world. Much of this biodiversity has remained intact for thousands of years because the ruggedness of the terrain made the interior lands inaccessible; furthermore low population density and restrictions on the effectiveness of traditional tools, ensured that these biodiversity was never overexploited.
Mount Bosavi is a mountain in the Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea. It is the collapsed cone of an extinct volcano on the Great Papuan Plateau, part of the Kikori River basin. The crater is approximately 4 km wide and 1 km deep; it is home to a number of endemic species.
The Great Papuan Plateau is a karst plateau in the Southern Highlands, Hela and Western Provinces of Papua New Guinea. It is bordered the upper stretches of the Kikori River and the Strickland River on the east and west, respectively, and the Karius Range, the southern edge of the highlands, including Mount Sisa, to the north, and Mount Bosavi to the south.
Lake Kutubu is the second-largest lake in Papua New Guinea, after Lake Murray, and, at 800 m above sea level, the largest upland body of water, with an area of 49.24 km², and a total catchment area of 250 km². Lake Kutubu and Lake Sentani form an ecoregion on the WWF's Global 200. Kutubu lies in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, east of the Kikori River into which it drains, and about 50 km southwest of Mendi, the provincial capital. It is one of the few lakes in the country that occurs in a depression in the rugged interior mountains. The lake has a few islands, the largest of which is Wasemi in its northern part. The water of Lake Kutubu, fed by several streams originating mostly from underground sources, is clear and reaches a depth of 70 m (230 feet). The catchment is inhabited by two main ethnic groups, the Foe to the south and the Fasu to the north. Thirty-three villages lie in the catchment area, with a total estimated population of 10,885.
The New Guinea Highlands, also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera, is a long chain of mountain ranges on the island of New Guinea, including the island's tallest peak, Puncak Jaya, Indonesia, 16,024 ft (4,884 m), the highest mountain in Oceania. The range is home to many intermountain river valleys, many of which support thriving agricultural communities. The highlands run generally east-west the length of the island, which is divided politically between Indonesia in the west and Papua New Guinea in the east.
The Baiyer River Sanctuary is a nature reserve along the Baiyer River in Western Highlands Province of Papua-New Guinea. It was opened on 13 January 1968 by the then-Australian administration. It has been expanded to a current area of 740 hectares. The reserve lies at elevations of between 800 and 1200 meters.
A wildlife management area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife.
The Wasur National Park forms part of the largest wetland in Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia and has been one of the least disturbed by human activity. The high value of its biodiversity has led to the park being dubbed the "Serengeti of Papua". The vast open wetland, in particular Rawa Biru Lake, attracts a very rich fauna.
The Central Range montane rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion on the island of New Guinea. The ecoregion covers the Central Range of the New Guinea Highlands, which extends along the spine of the island. The montane rain forests of the ecoregion are distinct from the surrounding lowland forests, and are home to many endemic plants and animals.
The Tonda Wildlife Management Area is a wetland of international importance and the largest protected area in Papua New Guinea. It is located in the south-western corner of the Western Province and is contiguous with Wasur National Park of Indonesia. It forms part of the Trans Fly savanna and grasslands ecoregion.
YUS Conservation Area is a protected area on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. It was established in 2009 as Papua New Guinea's first conservation area, and named after the Yopno, Uruwa and Som rivers that flow through it. The 760 km2 area of tropical forests is stretching from coral reefs off the northern coast to the 4,000-metre peaks of the western Saruwaged Mountains. It is a critical habitat for the endangered endemic Matschie's tree-kangaroo.
The Papua New Guinea earthquake was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that occurred in the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea on 26 February 2018, at 3:44 a.m. local time. The earthquake's epicenter was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the town of Komo. The maximum felt intensity was IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. A total of 160 people were killed and many others were injured. An aftershock of M6.0 killed 11 people on 4 March, while another aftershock of M6.7 occurred at 00:13 local time on 7 March, killing at least 25 more. A 6.3 aftershock killed another 4 people on 7 April, more than a month after the first tremors hit the area.
The Bensbach River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Maro River in Merauke Regency, Indonesia, and just to the west of the Morehead River in Papua New Guinea.
Jane Mogina is a Papua New Guinea biodiversity specialist. After working as a lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea, she became the executive director of the Mama Graun Conservation Trust before, in 2012, joining ExxonMobil as a biodiversity adviser. In 2017, a previously unknown damselfly was discovered as a result of her company's biodiversity monitoring and was named Nososticta moginae, after her.
Miriam Supuma is a conservationist in Papua New Guinea (PNG). She was the co-founder and co-director of the PNG Institute of Biological Research (PNGIBR), a scientific research NGO. Her field research has centred around Birds of Paradise, particularly in relation to the use of their feathers for traditional adornment by people in the highlands of PNG.
