Papua New Guinea is a federal state. Capital of Guinea. Capital of Papua New Guinea. People's Republic of China

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New Guinea

indon. Pulau Irian, English New Guinea, Tok Pisin Niugini

Political divisions of New Guinea

Characteristics

Square	786,000 km²

Highest point	4884 m

Population	9,500,000 people (2010)

Population density	12.09 people/km²

Location

5°19′ S w. 141°36′ E. d.


Water area	Pacific Ocean

Countries

Regions	West Papua, Papua, Momase, Papua, Highlands






New Guinea at Wikimedia Commons

New Guinea(Indon. Pulau Irian, English New Guinea, Tok Pisin Niugini) - an island in the west of the Pacific Ocean, the second largest island (after Greenland), the island area is 786 thousand km². Separated from Australia by the Torres Strait. From the south it is washed by the Arafura and Coral Seas. The climate is equatorial and subequatorial. Tropical rainforests grow. The western part of the island is a territory, and the eastern part is occupied by the state.

Geography

Located in the western Pacific Ocean, the island of New Guinea is located north of Australia (separated from it by the Torres Strait) and is its connecting link with. In terms of physical geography, it usually refers to. Politically, the island is divided approximately equally between and, so the western Indonesian part is often classified as Asia from a political and economic point of view. The island is the largest island divided between countries. The length of the island is more than 2000 km, width - more than 700 km.

In the western part rises mountain range Maoke, whose highest peak, called Puncak Jaya, reaches 4884 m above sea level. To the east are the Bismarck Mountains, whose highest point- Mount Wilhelm - totals 4509 m. The longest river on the island is the Sepik River.

Flora and fauna

New Guinea is a tropical island and therefore has a very large diversity of species. It is home to 11 thousand species of plants, 600 unique species of birds, over 400 species of amphibians, 455 species of butterflies and about a hundred known species of mammals.

Along the coast of the island of New Guinea there is a wide (in some places up to 35 km) strip of mangrove vegetation. This swampy area is completely impassable and can only be crossed by floating in rivers. Thickets of wild sugar cane grow along the rivers, and groves of sago palms grow in the wetlands.

Illustration “Birds of New Guinea” from a 1938 zooatlas.

Dense tropical rainforests, formed by hundreds of species of trees, rise up the slopes of the mountains. However, now there are also plantations and vegetable gardens. Coconut palms, bananas, sugar cane, melon trees, tubers such as taro, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava and other crops grow. Vegetable gardens alternate with forests. Plots of land are cultivated for only 2-3 years, then overgrown with forest for 10-12 years. In this way, fertility is restored.

Above 1000-2000 m, forests become more uniform in composition; coniferous species, especially Araucaria, begin to predominate in them. These trees are of economic importance: their wood is a valuable building material. However, delivery of sawn timber is difficult due to the paucity of good roads.

The highlands of New Guinea are covered with shrubs and grasslands. In the intermountain basins, where the climate is drier, herbaceous vegetation is common, which arose in place of forests mainly as a result of fires.

The fauna is represented by reptiles, insects and especially numerous birds. The mammal fauna, as in neighboring Australia, is characterized only by representatives of marsupials - bandicoot (marsupial badger), wallaby (tree kangaroo), cuscus, etc. There are many snakes, including poisonous ones, and lizards in the forests and on the coast. On the sea shores and in big rivers there are crocodiles and turtles. Typical birds include cassowaries, birds of paradise, crowned pigeons, parrots, and weed chickens. 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 across the island.

"Garden of Eden"

In 2005, a group of American researchers discovered a place in the tropical forests of the mountainous region of New Guinea that they called the “Garden of Eden.”

This area of about 300 thousand hectares is located on the slopes of the Foggia Mountains in the western part of New Guinea and was isolated from the influence of the outside world.

Scientists have discovered more than 20 previously unknown species of frogs, four new species of butterflies, five species of palm trees unknown to science, and many other plants in the Garden of Eden. Several species of the rarest marsupials have been discovered - tree kangaroos, as well as the six-feathered "bird of paradise" Berlepsha, previously considered extinct.

All animals - inhabitants of the highlands - are not afraid of humans, in particular, the rare long-beaked echidna allowed scientists to pull themselves together.

Story

Early history

In ancient times, New Guinea was connected to Australia. The division occurred as a result of rising global sea levels relatively recently. This explains the presence of numerous marsupial species living in Australia in New Guinea. Human settlement occurred at least 45 thousand years BC. e. from Asia. Subsequently, more than a thousand Papuan tribes emerged from the settlers. The absence of large animals suitable for domestication on the island hampered the development of agriculture and made cattle breeding impossible. This contributed to the preservation of the primitive communal system in large areas of New Guinea until the present day. The diversity of languages and many tribes was due to the isolation of people from each other due to the mountainous landscape and lack of technical means promoting communication and cultural exchange.

On the territory of New Guinea there is an ancient agricultural settlement of Kuka, showing the isolated development of agriculture over 7-10 thousand years and included in the List World Heritage UNESCO.

Discovery by Europeans

Long before the discovery of New Guinea by Europeans, residents of ancient Indonesian states hunted here for slaves and exotic birds. Already in the 8th century, the rulers of the Srivijaya Empire from the island gave the Chinese emperors of the Tang dynasty black slaves and many parrots caught on the New Guinea shores. On the bas-reliefs of the largest Javanese temple, Borobudur (first half of the 9th century), you can see images of such “orang papua” - curly-haired people.

The discoverers of New Guinea were also sailors at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1526 on northwest coast The Portuguese Don Jorge de Menezes landed on the islands; according to legend, he named the lands he discovered Ilhas dos Papuas- “Papua Islands”, from the Malay word meaning “curly”; Apparently, the coarse, curly hair of the Melanesian aborigines was meant.

Later, in 1545, the Spaniard Inigo Ortiz de Retes passed by the island on his way from the Moluccas to Mexico and named it “New Guinea” because the coast reminded him of the shores he had seen before. Perhaps he also noticed that in Africa and the land he had newly discovered near Australia were at opposite points on the globe, and it was this circumstance that prompted him to give the new land such a name.

The Portuguese governor of the Moluccas, Jorge de Menezes, named New Guinea “Ilhas dos Papuas” (Island of the Papuans). The name Nueva Guinea can already be found on the world map of the Flemish cartographer Mercator (1595). The Spaniard Luis Vaez de Torres, having set off in 1606 from () and, sailing south of a huge mountainous island, found a new route to the distant land of spices, opening the Torres Strait. Soon, Spanish merchants began to export gold, silver, coconuts, rubber and precious trees from New Guinea.

A significant contribution to the study of the peoples of New Guinea was made by the Russian scientist and traveler N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, who worked on the island in the 70s - 80s of the 19th century.

Colonial era

In 1828 the western Vogelkop Peninsula was acquired as the first power.

In the 1870s, the territory was explored by Russian scientists. In 1875, the scientist N. N. Miklouho-Maclay made a request to the government of the Russian Empire with a proposal to establish a Russian protectorate over part of the island, which was later named after the scientist the Miklouho-Maclay Coast, but Alexander II rejected his proposal.

In the 1880s, the rest of the island was divided between the Netherlands and the German Empire. The Netherlands retained the western half of New Guinea, the British acquired the southeast, the Germans acquired the northeast, which they called Kaiser Wilhelm Land. In 1885 and 1895, Great Britain and Germany, who owned lands in the eastern part of New Guinea, recognized Dutch authority over the western part of the island. The border between Dutch New Guinea and its eastern part ran along 141 degrees east longitude.

The British part was given to Australia in 1906, and the German part became an Australian Mandate of the League of Nations after the First World War.

The Second World War

During World War II the island was occupied. The Papuans, rejected by the atrocities of the Japanese military, helped the Allied forces as best they could, transporting equipment and wounded across the entire island. After the war, which became independent in 1949, laid claim to the western part of New Guinea, which, however, remained under the administration of the Netherlands.

Independence

Since 1957, the Netherlands and Australia began making plans to grant independence to a united New Guinea in the 1970s. In 1961, elections were held in the western part and a parliament was created. Not wanting such a political development, Indonesia responded by sending in its troops and announcing the annexation of the western half of the island of New Guinea to Indonesia. After this, mass deportations of the Papuan population began, replaced by settlers from Java. It is estimated that as a result of the “ethnic cleansing” of western New Guinea, about 300 thousand Papuans have died to date. In 1975, in the eastern part, Australia gave independence to the state of Papua New Guinea.

Notes

ISLAND DIRECTORY TABLES. ISLANDS BY LAND AREA. EARTHWATCH (18/02/1998).
New Guinea // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.:, 1969-1978.

Soviet encyclopedia

Literature Ignatiev G. M. Tropical Islands

Pacific Ocean / Reviewers: Dr. geogr. Sciences T.V. Vlasova, Ph.D. geogr. Sciences G. N. Grigoriev. - M.: Mysl, 1979. - P. 144-168. - 272, p. - 56,000 copies. The creation of the Central Irian Jaya Province was cancelled. Western Irian Jaya had already been created by that time (02/06/2006), but its future is still unclear. On February 7, 2007 it was renamed a province West Papua

Geography

(Indon. Papua Barat). Western New Guinea is washed in the north by the Pacific Ocean, in the west by the Seram Sea, in the south by the Arafura Sea, and in the east it borders Papua New Guinea. The area of 421,981 km² is 22% of Indonesia's total land area. Most Big city

The climate is predominantly tropical, humid and hot on the coast; the rainy season lasts from December to March, the dry season from May to October; characteristic slight seasonal temperature fluctuations. The climate is hot and very humid almost everywhere. Summer temperatures range from +24 … +32 °C, in winter +24 … +28 °C. In the mountains the temperature is lower, and in some places there are snow fields that never melt. The rains are very heavy, especially in summer, with precipitation levels ranging from 1300 to 5000 mm per year. Western New Guinea boasts the most long rivers Indonesia, such as Baliem, Mamberamo and Tariku. In the southwest, rivers have caused the formation of large mangrove swamps and tidal forests.

Flora and fauna

Considered a naturalist's paradise, Western New Guinea boasts an astounding diversity of flora and fauna. Vegetable world has representatives of mountains, meadows, swamps and bogs, tropical, tidal, deciduous and coniferous forests, in which you can find an endless variety of grasses, club mosses, ferns, moss, vines, flowers and trees. The fauna of the province is also very diverse. A variety of plants form a living carpet here, intertwining with the overhanging rainforest canopy. Freshwater and terrestrial vertebrates are almost indistinguishable from animals found in Australia, including marsupials. In forests and open grassy areas you can find many varieties of snakes, turtles, anteaters, porcupines, possums, bats and rats (including the world's largest water rats (English)Russian, capable of climbing trees), as well as giant lizards, tree-dwelling kangaroos, and quolls. Western New Guinea is known for its diversity of butterflies and its many, nearly seven hundred, unique species of birds, including 80 species of bird of paradise and the enormous flightless cassowary. In coastal waters you can find sea turtles and sirens.

East of Jayapura, on the shores of Humboldt Bay, is nature reserve Yotefa with many beautiful beaches, with the wrecks of several ships that were once sunk during hostilities at sea. From Sorong, Raja Empat Island Wildlife Sanctuary is easily accessible.

The end of Dutch rule coincided with a campaign of confrontation launched by President Sukarno, who sent over 2,000 Indonesian troops into the province to provoke an anti-Dutch uprising that ended in failure. The western part of New Guinea, which received the new name West Irian, gradually came under the control of the Indonesian government and the issue of annexing the territory to Indonesia was to be decided through a referendum. In 1963, there was the first attempt to proclaim the independent Republic of West Papua by the local population, which was suppressed by force by the Indonesian authorities.

Population

Western New Guinea is the least populated area of Indonesia, with a population of 3.59 million inhabitants, giving an average density of 8.64 people. per 1 km². More than three quarters of the population lives in rural areas small scattered groups. All settlements are usually located in the coastal zone or in several fertile valleys. Large areas inside the island are uninhabited. People travel between cities by plane or sea. Main settlements are Jayapura (population 150 thousand), Manokwari, Sorong, Merauke and Biak. Jayapura, the administrative center of the province of Papua and the largest Indonesian city on the island (261 thousand people according to the 2010 census), was founded at one time by the Dutch, who laid claim to the middle part north coast New Guinea. In the eastern suburbs of Jayapura is the building of the Chand Rawasih University. The university houses the Anthropological Museum, which houses a collection of objects of material culture of the Asmat tribe. The figures and weapons presented here, made by masters of this tribe, are distinguished by absolute harmony and aesthetic perfection and are highly valued by connoisseurs of primitivist art. The Asmat tribe lives on south coast New Guinea. Along the shores of Humboldt Bay there are settlements of the Sepik tribe, famous for their primitivist painting of tree bark and the production of carved tribal figures.

About 80% of the population speak Papuan and Melanesian languages. Papuans live throughout the island, including on the coast, while Melanesians live along the coast. Most Papuans live in small clan groups, isolated from each other. Of the high mountain areas, the Baliem Valley, located in its central part, is the most extensive and accessible - a 72-kilometer stone corridor through which the Baliem River flows. Here, in small villages scattered throughout this wide valley, more than 200 thousand people from the Dani tribe live. You can only get here by air. Trails and increasingly numerous vehicle tracks connect the center of the Wamena Valley with the rest of the villages. There are also places in Western New Guinea compact living and other peoples of Indonesia, including descendants of Chinese and Dutch settlers. There are approximately 300 languages spoken in Western New Guinea, most of which are distinct from each other. The Indonesian language, along with local dialects, is used as a language of interethnic communication.

Economy

Western New Guinea is the most remote and less developed part of Indonesia. Majority rural population lives off agricultural products, supplemented by hunting and collecting fruits and berries in the forest. The modern economy is concentrated in coastal cities and some central cities and is based on mineral resources. These are the world's largest copper reserves in Tembagapur, and the largest oil and natural gas deposits in Indonesia (about 40 km southwest of Mount Jaya). There are significant reserves of gold and uranium. There are large reserves of forest and fish. Copper and oil mining, timber processing and fishing have little effect on improving the standard of living of the local population. This situation helped the separatist organization “Movement for Free Papua” to gain support from the local population. This organization targeted the Tembagapur copper mine and forced the authorities to suspend production several times. After oil was discovered in western New Guinea half a century ago, the port city of Sorong grew up here (190 thousand inhabitants according to the 2010 census) with hotels and bars, where workers from other parts of Indonesia began to come.

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Excerpt characterizing Western New Guinea

“We’ve been very unwell since the evening; we haven’t slept for three nights,” the orderly’s voice whispered intercessively. - You must wake up the captain first.
“Very important, from General Dokhturov,” said Bolkhovitinov, entering the open door he felt. The orderly walked ahead of him and began to wake someone up:
- Your honor, your honor - the courier.
- I'm sorry, what? from whom? – said someone’s sleepy voice.
– From Dokhturov and from Alexey Petrovich. “Napoleon is in Fominskoye,” said Bolkhovitinov, not seeing in the darkness who asked him, but by the sound of his voice, suggesting that it was not Konovnitsyn.
The awakened man yawned and stretched.
“I don’t want to wake him up,” he said, feeling something. - You're sick! Maybe so, rumors.
“Here’s the report,” said Bolkhovitinov, “I’ve been ordered to hand it over to the general on duty immediately.”
- Wait, I’ll light a fire. Where the hell do you always put it? – turning to the orderly, said the stretching man. It was Shcherbinin, Konovnitsyn's adjutant. “I found it, I found it,” he added.
The orderly was chopping the fire, Shcherbinin was feeling the candlestick.
“Oh, disgusting ones,” he said with disgust.
In the light of sparks, Bolkhovitinov saw the young face of Shcherbinin with a candle and in the front corner a still sleeping man. It was Konovnitsyn.
When the brimstones lit up with a blue and then a red flame on the tinder, Shcherbinin lit a tallow candle, from the candlestick of which the Prussians ran, gnawing it, and examined the messenger. Bolkhovitinov was covered in dirt and, wiping himself with his sleeve, smeared it on his face.
-Who is informing? - said Shcherbinin, taking the envelope.
“The news is true,” said Bolkhovitinov. - And the prisoners, and the Cossacks, and the spies - they all unanimously show the same thing.
“There’s nothing to do, we have to wake him up,” said Shcherbinin, getting up and approaching a man in a nightcap, covered with an overcoat. - Pyotr Petrovich! - he said. Konovnitsyn did not move. - To the main headquarters! – he said, smiling, knowing that these words would probably wake him up. And indeed, the head in the nightcap rose immediately. On Konovnitsyn’s handsome, firm face, with feverishly inflamed cheeks, for a moment there remained the expression of dreams of a dream far from the present situation, but then suddenly he shuddered: his face took on its usually calm and firm expression.
- Well, what is it? From whom? – he asked slowly, but immediately, blinking in the light. Listening to the officer’s report, Konovnitsyn printed it out and read it. As soon as he had read it, he lowered his feet in woolen stockings onto the earthen floor and began to put on his shoes. Then he took off his cap and, combing his temples, put on his cap.
-Are you there soon? Let's go to the brightest.
Konovnitsyn immediately realized that the news brought was of great importance and that there was no time to delay. Whether it was good or bad, he did not think or ask himself. He wasn't interested. He looked at the whole matter of war not with his mind, not with reasoning, but with something else. There was a deep, unspoken conviction in his soul that everything would be fine; but that you don’t need to believe this, and especially don’t say this, but just do your job. And he did this work, giving it all his strength.
Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn, just like Dokhturov, only as if out of decency was included in the list of so-called heroes of the 12th year - the Barclays, Raevskys, Ermolovs, Platovs, Miloradovichs, just like Dokhturov, enjoyed the reputation of a person of very limited abilities and information, and, like Dokhturov, Konovnitsyn never made plans for battles, but was always where it was most difficult; he always slept with the door open since he was appointed general on duty, ordering everyone sent to wake him up, he was always under fire during the battle, so Kutuzov reproached him for this and was afraid to send him, and was, like Dokhturov, alone one of those inconspicuous gears that, without rattling or making noise, constitute the most essential part of the machine.
Coming out of the hut into the damp, dark night, Konovnitsyn frowned, partly from the intensifying headache, partly from the unpleasant thought that came into his head about how this whole nest of staff, influential people would now be agitated by this news, especially Bennigsen, who was after Tarutin at knifepoint with Kutuzov; how they will propose, argue, order, cancel. And this premonition was unpleasant for him, although he knew that he could not live without it.
Indeed, Tol, to whom he went to tell the new news, immediately began to express his thoughts to the general who lived with him, and Konovnitsyn, who listened silently and tiredly, reminded him that he needed to go to His Serene Highness.

Kutuzov, like all old people, slept little at night. He often dozed off unexpectedly during the day; but at night, without undressing, lying on his bed, he mostly did not sleep and thought.
So he lay now on his bed, leaning his heavy, large, disfigured head on his plump arm, and thought, with one eye open, peering into the darkness.
Since Bennigsen, who corresponded with the sovereign and had the most power in the headquarters, avoided him, Kutuzov was calmer in the sense that he and his troops would not be forced to again participate in useless offensive actions. The lesson of the Tarutino battle and its eve, painfully memorable for Kutuzov, should also have had an effect, he thought.
“They must understand that we can only lose by acting offensively. Patience and time, these are my heroes!” – thought Kutuzov. He knew not to pick an apple while it was green. It will fall on its own when it is ripe, but if you pick it green, you will spoil the apple and the tree, and you will set your teeth on edge. He, as an experienced hunter, knew that the animal was wounded, wounded as only the entire Russian force could wound, but whether it was fatal or not was a question that had not yet been clarified. Now, according to the dispatches of Lauriston and Berthelemy and according to the reports of the partisans, Kutuzov almost knew that he was mortally wounded. But more evidence was needed, we had to wait.
“They want to run and see how they killed him. Wait and see. All maneuvers, all attacks! - he thought. - For what? Everyone will excel. There's definitely something fun about fighting. They are like children from whom you can’t get any sense, as was the case, because everyone wants to prove how they can fight. That's not the point now.
And what skillful maneuvers all these offer me! It seems to them that when they invented two or three accidents (he remembered the general plan from St. Petersburg), they invented them all. And they all have no number!”
The unresolved question of whether the wound inflicted in Borodino was fatal or not fatal had been hanging over Kutuzov’s head for a whole month. On the one hand, the French occupied Moscow. On the other hand, undoubtedly with his whole being Kutuzov felt that that terrible blow, in which he, together with all the Russian people, strained all his strength, should have been fatal. But in any case, proof was needed, and he had been waiting for it for a month, and the more time passed, the more impatient he became. Lying on his bed on his sleepless nights, he did the very thing that these young generals did, the very thing for which he reproached them. He came up with all possible contingencies in which this certain, already accomplished death of Napoleon would be expressed. He came up with these contingencies in the same way as young people, but with the only difference that he did not base anything on these assumptions and that he saw not two or three, but thousands. The further he thought, the more of them appeared. He came up with all kinds of movements of the Napoleonic army, all or parts of it - towards St. Petersburg, against it, bypassing it, he came up with (which he was most afraid of) and the chance that Napoleon would fight against him with his own weapons, that he would remain in Moscow , waiting for him. Kutuzov even dreamed up the movement of Napoleon’s army back to Medyn and Yukhnov, but one thing he could not foresee was what happened, that crazy, convulsive rushing of Napoleon’s army during the first eleven days of his speech from Moscow - the throwing that made it possible something that Kutuzov still did not dare to think about even then: the complete extermination of the French. Dorokhov's reports about Broussier's division, news from the partisans about the disasters of Napoleon's army, rumors about preparations for departure from Moscow - everything confirmed the assumption that the French army was defeated and was about to flee; but these were only assumptions that seemed important to young people, but not to Kutuzov. With his sixty years of experience, he knew what weight should be attributed to rumors, he knew how capable people who want something are of grouping all the news so that they seem to confirm what they want, and he knew how in this case they willingly miss everything that contradicts. And the more Kutuzov wanted this, the less he allowed himself to believe it. This question occupied all his mental strength. Everything else was for him just the usual fulfillment of life. Such habitual fulfillment and subordination of life were his conversations with staff, letters to m me Stael, which he wrote from Tarutin, reading novels, distributing awards, correspondence with St. Petersburg, etc. n. But the death of the French, foreseen by him alone, was his spiritual, only desire.
On the night of October 11, he lay with his elbow on his hand and thought about it.
There was a stir in the next room, and the steps of Tolya, Konovnitsyn and Bolkhovitinov were heard.
- Hey, who's there? Come in, come in! What's new? – the field marshal called out to them.
While the footman lit the candle, Tol told the contents of the news.
- Who brought it? - asked Kutuzov with a face that struck Tolya, when the candle lit, with its cold severity.
“There can be no doubt, your lordship.”
- Call him, call him here!
Kutuzov sat with one leg hanging off the bed and his big belly leaning on the other, bent leg. He squinted his seeing eye to better examine the messenger, as if in his features he wanted to read what was occupying him.
“Tell me, tell me, my friend,” he said to Bolkhovitinov in his quiet, senile voice, covering the shirt that had opened on his chest. - Come, come closer. What news did you bring me? A? Has Napoleon left Moscow? Is it really so? A?
Bolkhovitinov first reported in detail everything that was ordered to him.
“Speak, speak quickly, don’t torment your soul,” Kutuzov interrupted him.
Bolkhovitinov told everything and fell silent, awaiting orders. Tol began to say something, but Kutuzov interrupted him. He wanted to say something, but suddenly his face squinted and wrinkled; He waved his hand at Tolya and turned in the opposite direction, towards the red corner of the hut, blackened by images.
- Lord, my creator! You heeded our prayer...” he said in a trembling voice, folding his hands. - Russia is saved. Thank you, Lord! - And he cried.

From the time of this news until the end of the campaign, all of Kutuzov’s activities consisted only in using power, cunning, and requests to keep his troops from useless offensives, maneuvers and clashes with the dying enemy. Dokhturov goes to Maloyaroslavets, but Kutuzov hesitates with the entire army and gives orders to cleanse Kaluga, retreat beyond which seems very possible to him.
Kutuzov retreats everywhere, but the enemy, without waiting for his retreat, runs back in the opposite direction.
Historians of Napoleon describe to us his skillful maneuver at Tarutino and Maloyaroslavets and make assumptions about what would have happened if Napoleon had managed to penetrate the rich midday provinces.
But without saying that nothing prevented Napoleon from going to these midday provinces (since the Russian army gave him the way), historians forget that Napoleon’s army could not be saved by anything, because it already carried in itself the inevitable conditions death. Why is this army, which found abundant food in Moscow and could not hold it, but trampled it under its feet, this army, which, having come to Smolensk, did not sort out the food, but plundered it, why could this army recover in the Kaluga province, inhabited by those the same Russians as in Moscow, and with the same property of fire to burn what they light?
The army could not recover anywhere. Since the Battle of Borodino and the sack of Moscow, it already carried within itself the chemical conditions of decomposition.
People of this former army they fled with their leaders without knowing where, wanting (Napoleon and each soldier) only one thing: to personally extricate themselves as quickly as possible from that hopeless situation, which, although unclear, they were all aware of.
That is why, at the council in Maloyaroslavets, when, pretending that they, the generals, were conferring, presenting different opinions, the last opinion of the simple-minded soldier Mouton, who said what everyone thought, that it was only necessary to leave as soon as possible, closed all their mouths, and no one , even Napoleon, could not say anything against this universally recognized truth.
But although everyone knew that they had to leave, there was still the shame of knowing that they had to run away. And an external push was needed that would overcome this shame. And this impulse came to right time. This was what the French called le Hourra de l'Empereur [imperial cheer].
The next day after the council, Napoleon, early in the morning, pretending that he wanted to inspect the troops and the field of the past and future battle, with a retinue of marshals and a convoy, rode along the middle of the line of troops. The Cossacks, snooping around the prey, came across the emperor himself and almost caught him. If the Cossacks did not catch Napoleon this time, then what saved him was the same thing that was destroying the French: the prey that the Cossacks rushed to, both in Tarutino and here, abandoning people. They, not paying attention to Napoleon, rushed to the prey, and Napoleon managed to escape.

The country's name comes from the Indonesian "papuwa", which means "curly-haired".

Capital of Papua New Guinea. Port Moresby.

Area of Papua New Guinea. 462840 km2.

Population of Papua New Guinea. 5049 thousand people

Location of Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is a state in the southwestern part, located mainly in New Guinea (eastern part), Bismarck (northern part) and occupies about 200 more islands.

Administrative division Papua New Guinea. The state is divided into 19 provinces and 1 capital district.

Form of government of Papua New Guinea. .

Head of State of Papua New Guinea. The Queen, represented by the Governor General.

Supreme legislative body of Papua New Guinea. Unicameral National Parliament.

Supreme executive body of Papua New Guinea. Government.

Major cities of Papua New Guinea. Lae, Madang.

Official language Papua New Guinea. English, Pidgin English, Hiri Motu.

Religion of Papua New Guinea. 34% - traditional beliefs, 22% - 16% - Lutherans, 8% - Presbyterians, Methodists and members of the London Missionary Society, 5% - Anglicans, 4% - members of the Evangelical Alliance, 1% - Seventh-day Adventists, 1 % - remaining Protestant communities.

Ethnic composition of Papua New Guinea. 84% - Papuans, 16% - Melanesians, Chinese, English, .

Currency of Papua New Guinea. Kina = 100 toya.

I’m starting to fulfill applications from, by the way, there are still 4 vacant places for your proposals - who missed it? And we read the proposed topic as a friend unis

Papua New Guinea is a state in Oceania, the main territory of which is located in the east of the island of New Guinea and neighboring, smaller islands (New Britain, New Ireland, etc.). Washed Pacific Ocean and its seas: Arafura and Coral.

The name of the country is formed from two parts: “Papua”, which translated from Malay means “land of people with curly hair” (that’s what the Malays called the local residents, whose hair is mostly straight) and “New Guinea” - because of the dark the skin color of the aborigines, which seemed to Europeans similar to the skin color of the natives from African Guinea.

Occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (this part of the country is considered the “mainland”), the Bismarck archipelago (with the large islands of New Britain and New Ireland), the islands of Bougainville and Buka in the Solomon Islands chain, the archipelagos of Louisiade, D'Entrecasteaux, Trobriand and a number of smaller islands that are now part of the state were in the past divided into two administrative units: Papua (the southeastern region of New Guinea with adjacent islands), which belonged to Australia, and the north-east. eastern part New Guinea with nearby islands, which had the status of a UN Trust Territory and was administered by Australia.

In 1949, both parts were integrated by the Australian authorities into the so-called. administrative union. This association in 1971 received the name Papua New Guinea, and in 1973 acquired internal self-government. On September 16, 1973, the country's independence was proclaimed. Papua New Guinea is a member of the UN and the British Commonwealth. Area 462,840 sq. km. Population 4599.8 thousand people (1998). The capital is Port Moresby on the southeastern coast of New Guinea.

The first settlers probably arrived in the area of what is now Papua New Guinea by sea from Southeast Asia ca. 30 thousand years ago, when New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania were connected by land bridges and formed a single land mass. These people, speakers of Papuan languages, were hunters and gatherers, and much later, they may have begun to cultivate and grow some plants. The second significant wave of population migration occurred approximately 6 thousand years ago. The newcomers, who spoke Austronesian languages, introduced more advanced economic and cultural traditions. In New Guinea they began clearing wet tropical forests and draining swamps in intermountain basins to cultivate sweet potatoes, taro and other crops brought from Southeast Asia. Narrowly specialized communities of potters, salt makers, canoe builders, and stone cutters appeared. Residents of the coastal areas were skilled sailors and regularly traveled in large canoes to distant islands, offering their products and jewelry there. The shores of New Guinea became known to Portuguese and Spanish merchants heading to the East Indies in the 16th century. They were followed by Dutch, French and English expeditions. The number of foreign ships entering these waters increased due to the establishment of the British colony in Australia in the late 18th century. and the development of whaling in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century. In 1847, Catholic missionaries settled on Murua (Woodlark) Island, located in the Solomon Sea, and traders and travelers established contacts with many coastal tribes.

However, for a long time Europeans could not penetrate hinterland New Guinea with its rugged terrain, dense forests and vast swamps - breeding grounds for malaria. Besides, local residents had a bad reputation as cannibals. In 1872, the London Missionary Society established a mission on the islands in the Torres Strait, and then on the southern coast of New Guinea. A Wesleyan Methodist mission was established in the Duke of York Islands in 1875, and a Catholic mission in eastern New Britain in 1882. Other Europeans who entered the area were motivated by more earthly motives: they began to trade with the natives, acquiring copra and sea cucumbers, and fishing for pearls and shells or rushed to search for the legendary gold South Seas. Although Melanesians from the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides were mainly recruited to work on the plantations of Queensland, Fiji and Samoa, the recruiters did not ignore the inhabitants of the coastal and inland regions of modern Papua New Guinea. Australia showed increased interest in this territory, and in 1883 Queensland annexed the eastern part of New Guinea, ostensibly acting on behalf of Great Britain.

Rainwater and underground streams combined underground to create a labyrinth of tunnels known as Ora Cave in Papua New Guinea. (Stephen Alvarez, National Geographic)

However, due to pressure from Australia and taking into account Germany's intentions to create its own Pacific empire, Great Britain in 1884 captured the southeastern part of New Guinea with neighboring islands and created a colony there called British New Guinea. Germany annexed the northeastern part of New Guinea and the islands to the east of it to its empire; this colony was named German New Guinea. The German administration attempted to establish trade with its colony, but commercial manufacturing projects were hampered by malaria and difficulties in pacifying local tribes and recruiting labor, especially in the coastal lowlands. Nevertheless, German companies began producing copra on plantations in the Bismarck Archipelago. Then plantations appeared on Bougainville Island. The German colonial authorities treated the Melanesians strictly and even harshly, but at the same time sought to impart practical knowledge to them. German Catholic and Protestant missionaries were motivated by the idea that their efforts would contribute to the "enlightenment" of the aborigines.

Missionaries intensified their activities in British New Guinea, which was considered an unpromising territory. In 1888, gold was discovered in the Louisiade Archipelago, and hundreds of Australian prospectors flocked to the interior of New Guinea. In the 1920s, rich gold-bearing placers were discovered along the Bulolo River. In 1906, British New Guinea was transferred to Australia and renamed the Territory of Papua. Governor Hubert Murray was in charge of its affairs from 1908 to 1940. At the beginning of the First World War in 1914, German New Guinea was occupied by Australian troops. At the end of the war, Australia received a mandate from the League of Nations to govern the former German colony, which became known as the Territory of New Guinea. German plantations and trading companies also became Australian property.

The plantation economy in this mandated territory, unlike Papua, developed successfully until the economic crisis of the 1930s. Over the next 20 years, prospectors, missionaries, and government officials flocked to New Guinea's vast intermountain valleys. The population of coastal areas and islands, who were mainly engaged in subsistence farming, gradually began to introduce cash crops into circulation. However, the development of commodity-money circulation was more facilitated by men who were hired to work on plantations or gold mines for a modest wages and nutrition. Religious missions provided the Melanesians with some education and assistance. medical care. Before World War II, all these changes gradually occurred on the plains, but little affected the mountainous areas.

In 1942, Japanese troops captured the northern part of New Guinea, part of the Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville Island. They occupied some areas for four years. The rest of what is now Papua New Guinea remained under Australian control. During the war, over a million Australian and American troops visited New Guinea. Part of the indigenous population, especially in the Sepik Valley and Bougainville, suffered greatly due to military operations and bombings.

Killed American soldiers in Papua New Guinea.

In some places, for example on Manus Island, large military bases were located. Residents of mountainous areas were little affected by the war. After the war, the northeastern part of New Guinea came under Australian control as a UN trust territory, and in 1949 it was united with Papua. The new administrative unit was named Papua New Guinea.

Australia tried to promote the country's socio-economic development and improve the welfare of the Melanesian population. Measures were taken to strengthen centralized management with the participation of representatives of the local population. Particular attention was paid to overpopulated mountainous areas, contacts with which were established relatively recently. In 1953, the first road from the coast through the Kassam Pass to the mountains was built. The administration sought to improve the systems of medical care and education, and religious missions carried out considerable work in this direction. In 1964, general elections were held and a Legislative Assembly was formed, where the majority of seats were occupied by aborigines. New ones have emerged government agencies, and the old ones were converted.

Laws that infringed on the rights of Melanesians were repealed. Also in 1964, the University of Papua New Guinea opened in Port Moresby. In the 1970-1980s the main lever economic development The country has become a mining industry. In 1972, the exploitation of copper and gold deposits began in Bougainville, where plantation farming was replaced by a more modern industry with advanced technologies. Similar trends have emerged in some other areas of Papua New Guinea, where new roads, towns and ports have been built. In 1967, the national political party Pangu Pati was founded. After the 1972 elections, it formed a coalition government led by Michael T. Somare, which decisively sought to grant the country independence. This goal was achieved on September 16, 1975.

Madang Lagoon is the largest on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The political situation in the young state became complicated due to the separatist movement on Bougainville Island. The roots of this movement go back to 1884, when Germany annexed part of the Solomon Islands to its colony of New Guinea, disrupting the ethnolinguistic ties of the population of this archipelago. Separatist sentiments were in the air for many years and appeared on the eve of the declaration of independence of Papua New Guinea. The creation of the Northern Solomon Islands provincial government in 1976 calmed the situation, but did not solve the problem itself. The situation has worsened due to the construction of a giant copper ore mining complex in Bougainville. The reason for the armed conflict that broke out in 1988 was initially the dissatisfaction of local landowners with the amount of compensation received from the Bougainville Copper mining company. Other claims then emerged, and eventually a demand was made for Bougainville's independence. As a result of clashes between local groups and army units and the police of Papua New Guinea, 15-20 thousand people on both sides were killed. Repeated attempts to achieve calm in the area remained unsuccessful for a long time. Only in 1998 did peace negotiations begin and there was hope for their successful completion.

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 by sea with Australia (in the south), Solomon Islands(in the southeast), Nauru (in the east) and the Federated States of Micronesia (in the north).

The island of New Guinea and most of the country's other islands have mountainous terrain. The altitude 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. In Papua New Guinea 18 active volcanoes. Most of them are located in the north of the country. WITH volcanic activity strong, sometimes catastrophic earthquakes are also associated.

The main ridges of the eastern part of the island of New Guinea begin as 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 (Central Range, Bismarck Range with the highest point of the country - Mount Wilhelm - 4509 m high, Schröder Ridge, Müller 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 plunge under water. Some peaks rise above the water forming the Luisada Archipelago. The northern slopes of these mountains are steep and the southern slopes are gentle. The southern foothills of the Central Range are 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, low spurs of the Northern Coast Mountains enter the territory of Papua New Guinea from Indonesia: partially the Bevani Mountains (up to 1960 m high), the Torricelli Mountains (the highest point is Mount Sulen, 1650 m high), the Prince Alexander Mountains (the highest point is Mt. Turu, 1240 m high). The coastal mountains end in lowlands (the valleys of the Sepik and Ramu rivers). As part of these mountains, the Adelbert Mountains are often considered (the highest point is Mount Mengam, 1718 m high), lying on the right bank of the Ramu River near the mouth, as well as Mount Finister and Saruvaged, located on the Huon Peninsula, with a maximum height of 4121 m (Mount Bangueta ). In addition to the main island, there are significant ridges on the islands of New Britain (Whiteman Ridge, Mount Nakani and Bayning, with a maximum height of 2334 m - the Ulawun volcano) and New Ireland (Sheinitz and Worron ridges, with heights up to 2340 m).

Year	date	Events
1824		Holland declared the lands of the island of New Guinea west of 141° east. d. his property.
1884	the 3rd of November	Germany declares a protectorate over the northeastern part of the island (east of 141° E), called German New Guinea.
1884	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 northern part Solomon Islands (Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Choiseul Island, Shortland Island, Santa Isabel Island, Ontong Java Atoll (Lord Howe)).
1886		British New Guinea becomes a British colony.
1899	November 14	Germany transfers to the British Protectorate of the Solomon Islands: Ontong Java Atoll, Choiseul Island, Shortland Island, Santa Isabel Island. Buka Island and Bougainville Island were included in the colony of German New Guinea.
1906	September 1	Great Britain transferred the colony of British New Guinea to the Commonwealth of Australia, renamed Papua.
1914	11th of November	German New Guinea is occupied by Australia and renamed North-East New Guinea.
1920	December 17	Australia receives a League of Nations mandate to govern North-East New Guinea, called the Territory of New Guinea.
1942	January 21	The beginning of the Japanese occupation of the island of New Guinea.
1942	April 10th	Australia territorially united Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, under the name - Territory of Papua and New Guinea.
1949		Administrative unification of lands.
1971	July 1	The Australian authorities gave a new name: the Territory of Papua New Guinea.
1973	December	The territory of Papua New Guinea gained self-government.
1975	16 of September	The independent state of Papua New Guinea within the Commonwealth was proclaimed and a constitution was adopted.

The national cuisine of Papua New Guinea is a rather motley mixture of the culinary traditions of various peoples of Oceania and Southeast Asia. As a rule, the basis of most dishes are various root vegetables and types of meat such as pork and various poultry (including game).
One of the most common dishes among the local population is mumu, which is an oven-cooked stew of pork, sweet potatoes, rice and several local herbs. For the first course, they usually serve “bugandi” - a simple soup seasoned with egg. In coastal regions, meat dishes are usually replaced by various types of fish, which are caught in abundance in the seas washing the shores of Papua New Guinea. In most cases, rice or sorghum is a side dish for meat or fish; yams and the unique-tasting colocasia grass are also popular.

Various salads made from vegetables and those root vegetables that can be eaten raw are popular as appetizers before the main course. Bread is often replaced by specially fried breadfruit.
For dessert, a variety of fruits are offered - from bananas and mangoes to passion fruit and pineapples. Also popular is the dessert "dia" - sliced bananas, sago and coconut cream. Sago is also used to make sweet pies with various fillings. Dishes made from sweet sugar cane stalks are especially popular in coastal areas.
You can quench your thirst in Papua New Guinea with local lemonade (muli wara), good local coffee or an incredible variety of fresh fruit juices, including those made from a mixture of different fruits.
European cuisine is found mainly in the capital, Port Moresby, and in the main areas tourist routes.

Port Moresby is the capital of New Guinea, a city located in the southeastern part of the young island of New Guinea. In addition to being the capital of the state of Papua New Guinea, it is also the center of the Port Moresby district.

In general, the population here consists of Melanesians and Papuans. The official language is Pidgin English (adapted English). Despite this, more than 700 languages are spoken here, and this is not counting the various dialects. The thing is that the tribal system flourishes on the island, and the language directly depends on belonging to a particular tribe. In addition to the indigenous population, Europeans and Australians also live in Port Moresby.
Christianity flourishes in the city. According to statistics, 30% of the population are Catholics, 60% are Protestants. The remaining 10% consider themselves atheists or profess animist faith.

The city was founded back in 1873, when John Moresby arrived on the island. The Englishman liked the beautiful and quiet bay, and he named it in honor of himself. So this untouched area became Port Moresby.

In 1884, the future capital of papua new Guinea became part of New Guinea, which at that time was a British colony. Then the colony of Papua came under Australian rule, and only 43 years later it merged with New Guinea. In 1964, the first elections were held, as a result of which the aborigines gained power. In the same year, the National University of Papua New Guinea was opened. In 1975, the young state finally became independent and began to actively develop. Port Moresby became the capital of Papua New Guinea.

The central part of the city, along which the port line runs, is simply called Town by local residents. Ela Beach Park is located in the southern part of the city. Architectural monuments are mainly located in the center, in the historical part. They stand out strongly among modern buildings. For example, between office buildings and hotels, the El Church, built in 1890, is hard to miss.

Government buildings, as well as the business part of the city, are located in the north. There is also a large sports center there. He has been working here since 1980.
Cultural assets include the National University and the Papua New Guinea Museum. The flag is as unusual as the capital itself: a black ship is drawn on a yellow background, symbolizing the port city. Below it in black letters is the name of the city - Port Moresby.

Local residents not only revere their city, but also try to develop it in every possible way, so the island has excellent service and tourist holiday.

Population— 6.1 million (estimate as of July 2010)

Population growth- 2.0% (fertility - 3.5 births per woman)

Density— 13 people/km²

Fertility— 27 per 1000 people

Mortality— 6.6 per 1000 people

Infant mortality- 44.6 per 1000 babies

Life expectancy of men— 63.8 years

Life expectancy of women— 68.3 years

Infection with the immunodeficiency virus (HIV)— 1.5% (2007 estimate)

Literacy- 63% men, 51% women (according to the 2000 census)

Urban population share — 12 %

Proportion of population over 65 years of age — 3,5 %

Proportion of population under 15 years of age — 36,9 %

Ethno-racial composition - Melanesians, Papuans, Negritos, Micronesians, Polynesians.

Languages - official: Tok Pisin (most common), English (knows 1%), Hiri Motu (knows 2%). Over 800 indigenous languages.

Religions - Catholics 27%, Lutherans 19.5%, United Church 11.5%, Adventists 10%, Pentecostals 8.6%, Evangelicals 5.2%, Anglicans 3.2%, Baptists 2.5%, other Protestants 8 .9%, Baha'is 0.3%, aboriginal and other beliefs 3.3% (according to the 2000 census).

In Papua New Guinea, the bulk of the population still lives in villages and engages in subsistence farming, while at the same time market relations are beginning to take shape. Some agricultural products are produced for sale. The number of people employed in the mining, manufacturing and service industries is growing. The dominant slash-and-burn farming system is focused on the cultivation of tropical starch-bearing plants, primarily tubers. Every year new areas are cleared and cultivated, and the land allocated for fallow land after the harvest is again overgrown with bushes. In mountainous areas, the main crop is sweet potato. Yams, bananas, taro, coconut palms and a variety of vegetables and fruits are also grown in the lowlands. To prepare plots for farming, men cut down and burn trees and bushes during the dry season, while women do the sowing, weeding and harvesting. Mixed crops are practiced, when several are grown on one plot. different cultures. IN mountainous areas Slope terracing is carried out to regulate surface runoff, reduce soil erosion on steep slopes and extend the growing season. Many tribes, engaged in field work, perform rituals in the hope of a rich harvest. Plots are usually fenced off from pigs. These animals are cared for by women and children, although a man's status in society is determined by the number of pigs he owns.

Pork is eaten exclusively on holidays. It is customary to highlight land members of the community for only one growing season, and after harvesting, return them to the property of the clan or clan. This traditional land use system does not accommodate the cultivation of such perennial tree and shrub crops as chocolate and coffee trees, coconut and oil palms, tea, which grow in one place for 20-50 years. After the Second World War, Australian authorities encouraged the development of commodity production in the countryside, which in many areas was combined with traditional farming systems. As a result, small farms are outpacing plantation farms, which were leaders during the colonial period, in terms of production. Currently, in the coastal lowlands of New Guinea and other islands, coconut palms are grown, from the nuts of which copra is obtained, and in the north of New Guinea and on an even larger scale in New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville, chocolate trees are grown.

In 1997, the second most valuable agricultural export (after coffee) was palm oil from New Britain. Coffee, the main commodity in the mountainous regions, was introduced and became widespread in the 1950s. Another important product is exported from mountainous regions - tea. All market tree and shrub crops are grown both on small farms and on plantations, initially created thanks to foreign investment, but gradually passing into the hands of local cooperative associations. The production of cocoa, coffee, tea and palm oil requires equipment that, as a rule, is available only to large plantation-type enterprises. Of secondary commercial importance are the cultivation of pyrethrum at altitudes above 1800 m, the production of fruits and vegetables for city markets, and livestock raising. A special place is occupied by the betel nut culture, which has a stimulating effect on humans and is highly valued in local markets. The country has exceptionally rich mineral resources, which led to the development of the mining industry, which in 1996 provided 27% of GDP, i.e. about the same as agriculture, forestry and fishing combined. Large-scale copper and gold mining began in Panguna on Bougainville Island in 1972.

Ore reserves were estimated at 800 million tons, with a copper content of 0.46% and gold - 15.83 g per 1 ton. Production was carried out by the Bougainville Copper company, owned by the international monopoly Conzinc Riotinto. The huge Ok Tedi copper deposit in the northwestern part of mountainous New Guinea is estimated at 250 million tons (1 ton of copper ore contains 0.852% and gold 0.653 g). In the late 1980s, gold mining began at Porgera near Ok Tedi, on Mishima Island off the southeastern coast of New Guinea, and on Lihir Island off the coast of New Ireland. According to experts, Papua New Guinea can become the world's largest supplier of gold (displacing South Africa). Porgera is already one of the top ten exploited gold deposits in the world. Any problems in the mining industry have profound effects on the entire economy of Papua New Guinea. Due to the closure of the Bougainville mine in 1989, an armed conflict broke out between local separatists and the central government, which could not come to terms with the loss of an important source of income. In 1997, due to severe drought, the surface flow in the Fly River basin, through which the products of the Ok-Tedi and Porgera fields are transported, sharply decreased. Oil and natural gas reserves have been discovered in Papua New Guinea.

The first gas pipeline project to Australia has been proposed, and more are likely to follow. About 60% of the energy used in the country comes from charcoal, 35% from imported petroleum products and only 5% from hydropower. IN last years Forest harvesting is carried out by foreign companies, mainly Asian. In 1994, when world timber prices rose sharply, forest products accounted for 19% of Papua New Guinea's exports. They are almost entirely destined for the Japanese and South Korean markets, and therefore the economic crisis that has engulfed Asian countries in the second half of the 1990s, led to a noticeable decrease in the income received by Papua New Guinea from this industry. The natural beauty of Papua New Guinea and the unique cultures of the peoples inhabiting it should also be considered as a potential resource for the development of foreign tourism. Undoubtedly, this country is more promising for tourism development than the Cook Islands or Samoa.

, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu

Capital Port Moresby The largest city Port Moresby Form of government A constitutional monarchy Queen
Governor General
Prime Minister Elizabeth II
Polias Matane
Michael Somare Territory
Total
% water surface 54th in the world
462,840 km²
2 Population
Grade ()
Density
6,057,263 people (104th)
13 people/km² GDP
Total()
Per capita
14.363 billion (126th)
2,418 Currency Kina Internet domain .pg Telephone code +675 Timezone UTC +10

Papua New Guinea, full title Independent State of Papua New Guinea(English) Papua New Guinea [ˈpæpuːə njuː ˈɡɪni](also ˈpɑːpuːə, ˈpæpjuːə), Tok Pisin Papua Niugini, Hiri Motu Papua Niu Gini) - a state in Oceania, in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, occupies the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the northern part of the Solomon Islands (Bougainville Islands, Buka) , D'Entrecasteaux Islands, etc. Area - 462,840 km². The population is about 6 million people (), mainly Papuans and Melanesians. Urban population - 15.2% (). official languages- English, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu. Most of the population are Christians, the rest adhere to local traditional beliefs. Administrative division: 20 provinces. The capital is Port Moresby. Member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The head of state is the Queen, represented by the Governor-General. The legislative body is the National Parliament.

Name

Name "Papua" comes from the Malay word "papuwa", which translated into Russian means “curly-haired” (according to another version, from “orang papua” - “curly-haired black-headed man”). The Portuguese Menezes gave this name to the island of New Guinea in 1526, noting the shape of the hair of the local residents. In 1545, Ortiz de Retes visited the island and gave it the name “New Guinea”, since, in his opinion, the local inhabitants were similar to the natives of Guinea in Africa (perhaps he saw similarities between the coasts of the new island and African Guinea).

From the beginning European colonization and before gaining independence the country changed its official name. The southeastern part was called British New Guinea from 1884-1906, and Papua (under Australian control) from 1906-1949. The northeastern part was first a colony of Germany and in 1884-1920 was called German New Guinea (since 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 merged into one, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. In 1972, the province was named the Territory of Papua New Guinea. Since 1975, the name Papua New Guinea has become official for the newly independent state.

Physiographic characteristics

Geographical location and relief

The state of Papua New Guinea is located in the western Pacific Ocean, north of Australia and close to the equator. The country occupies the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, located to the northeast of it is the Bismarck Archipelago (which includes large islands New Britain, New Ireland, as well as the Admiralty Islands, Tabar, Lihir, Tanga, Feni, St. Matthias and others), the northern part of the Solomon Islands located to the east (with largest islands with Bougainville and Buka), located southeast of the main island of D'Entrecasteaux, Murua (Woodlark), Trobriand, the Louisiades archipelago, as well as other nearby islands and reefs (more than 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 by sea with Australia (in the south), the Solomon Islands (in the southeast), Nauru (in the east) and the Federated States of Micronesia (in the north).

The Fly Platform is a lowland composed of sediments that accumulated from the Mesozoic era to the Quaternary period. The New Guinea orogenic zone consists of a variety of deformed sedimentary, metamorphic and volcanic rocks (including intrusive rocks). This zone includes fold regions (Papuan, New Guinea, and Oeun-Stanley thrust belts), island arcs (Melanesian arcs), and internal small marine basins.

The Papua folded region with the Central Range ridges and the Papua plateau is formed by horizontal compression rocks and is covered with a thick layer of sedimentary carbonate deposits of Miocene time. The New Guinea thrust belt is located north of the Papuan fold and is represented in relief by the Coast Mountains. It is composed predominantly of gneisses, formed at medium 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 in the Eocene-Oligocene (with the formation of intrusive gabbro and basalt minerals in the Torricelli Mountains). The Owen-Stanley thrust belt formed southwest of the Papuan folded region as a result of shear, which is little noticeable in the modern topography. The belt is composed of sedimentary rocks that accumulated from the Cretaceous to the Miocene, with inclusions of high-pressure metamorphic rocks.

Soils

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 periods of heavy rain, rivers overflow and flood large areas, turning many areas into swamps. There are especially many swamps on the island of New Guinea. The widespread occurrence of wetlands is also associated with the spread of malaria.

Climate

Above 1000-2000 m, forests become more uniform in composition, coniferous species, especially Araucaria, begin to predominate in them. These trees are of economic importance: their wood is a valuable building material. However, delivery of sawn timber is difficult due to the paucity of good roads.

The country's fauna is represented by reptiles, insects and especially numerous birds. The mammal fauna, as in neighboring Australia, is characterized only by representatives of marsupials - bandicoot (marsupial badger), wallaby (tree kangaroo), cuscus, etc. There are many snakes, including poisonous ones, and lizards in the forests and on the coast. Crocodiles and turtles are found along the seashores and in large rivers. Typical birds are cassowaries, birds of paradise, crowned pigeons, parrots, and weed chickens (ancestors of domestic chickens). 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.

Story

By the time of European colonization, what is now Papua New Guinea was inhabited by Papuans and Melanesians. They lived under Stone Age conditions, 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 Ortiz de Retiz in 1545, seeing the similarity of the population with the population of African Guinea.

Exploration of the island and the penetration of Europeans there began only in the 19th century. Thus, the Russian researcher N. Miklouho-Maclay lived among the Papuans for a total of almost four years (in the 1870s and early 1880s).

The northeastern part with the adjacent islands - the Bismarck archipelago and others (this territory was later given the name New Guinea) was captured by Germany in the 1880s, after the First World War, and in 1920 transferred to Australia as a mandate territory of the League of Nations (later - UN trust territory).

Papua New Guinea is very rich natural resources, however, their use is difficult due to terrain conditions and 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 2009 was 2.3 thousand dollars (182nd place in the world).

Industry (37% of GDP) - oil production and refining, gold, silver, copper ore mining, copra processing, palm oil production, wood processing, construction.

Agriculture (33% of GDP, 85% of workers) - coffee, cocoa, copra, coconuts, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables, vanilla; seafood, poultry, pigs.

Service sector - 30% of GDP.

Exports - $5.7 billion in 2008 - oil, gold, copper ore, timber, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crabs, shrimp.

The main export buyers are Australia 27.2%, Japan 9.2%, China 5.1%.

Imports - $3.1 billion in 2008 - vehicles, industrial goods, food, fuel.

The main import suppliers are Australia 42.6%, Singapore 15.6%, China 11%, Japan 5.8%, Malaysia 4.3%.

Culture

Social sphere

Notes

(Russian) . Geography.su: Geographical atlas for students. - Invasion, part 1. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
Butinov, N. A. Brief historical information // Peoples of Papua New Guinea (From tribal system to independent state) / Ed. A. M. Reshetova. - St. Petersburg: Petersburg Oriental Studies, 2000. - P. 17-20. - 382 s. - ISBN 5-85803-146-3
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Birds of Paradise Island. History of Papua New Guinea (Malakhovsky K.V.) (Russian). Geography.su: Geographical atlas for students. - Colonial Partition, Part 3. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
Birds of Paradise Island. History of Papua New Guinea (Malakhovsky K.V.) (Russian). Geography.su: Geographical atlas for students. - Under Australian Dominance, Part 2. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
Birds of Paradise Island. History of Papua New Guinea (Malakhovsky K.V.) (Russian). Geography.su: Geographical atlas for students. - Under Australian Dominance, Part 5. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
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Ingrid Gascoigne Geography // Papua New Guinea. Cultures of the World Series. - 2. - Marshall Cavendish, 2009. - P. 7,8. - 144 s. - ISBN 9780761434160
ON THE. Butinov Natural conditions// Papuans of New Guinea / S.A. Tokarev. - Moscow: "Science", 1968. - P. 13-19. - 254 s.
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Papua New Guinea is a federal state. Capital of Guinea. Capital of Papua New Guinea. People's Republic of China

Geography

Flora and fauna

"Garden of Eden"

Story

Early history

Discovery by Europeans

Colonial era

The Second World War

Independence

see also

Notes

Soviet encyclopedia

Geography

Flora and fauna

Population

Economy

see also

Write a review on the article "Western New Guinea"

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Excerpt characterizing Western New Guinea

Name

Physiographic characteristics

Geographical location and relief

Soils

Hydrology

Climate

Story

Culture

Social sphere

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