Papua New Guinea country guidePapua New Guinea country guide

Papua New Guinea with its capital Port Moresby is located in Oceania. It covers an area of approximately 462.840 square kilmoters. Roughly 5.921.000 people live in Papua New Guinea. English (en-PG), Hiri Motu (ho), (meu) and (tpi) are spoken here. When looking for domains, their top-level-domain is .pg. Dial +675 to reach a number in Papua New Guinea. The currency in Papua New Guinea is Kina.

Info about Papua New Guinea

To say Papua New Guinea (PNG) is remote would understate its degree of isolation. The nation stretches across half of the mountainous island of New Guinea it shares with Indonesia, to the jungle lowlands and dozens of islands out to the Pacific. 

Hundreds of different cultures are evident in a relatively small amount of land. Communities have replicated the effect of isolated evolution and cultures have grown into wild forms. As evidence of the drastic isolation, some mountain communities have only just discovered neighboring tribes, despite living in close proximity for thousands of years. Some communities may still have had no contact with the outside world. Even Port Moresby, PNG's capital and largest city, has no roads connecting it to other major towns. Such drastic separation has fostered more than 800 languages and a multitude of diverse customs and cultures. Yet the nation is unusually unified in religion as Christian missionaries have converted 96 percent of the country.

With almost no connecting paved roads, Air travel is mandatory for getting around the country, even though there are only four paved runways. Airplanes flying over the jungle were worshiped in “cargo cults” for years, especially in WWII. Locals would watch mesmerised at new airport runways as their spirits descended from the heavens. Airline safety has apparently not improved since and travelers wanting to avoid prematurely turning into spirits themselves should review recent airline safety information.

Intrepid travelers take to the jungle and mountains on foot. The most famous route in the country is the Kokoda Track, a 60 mile (96km) hike popular with Australian tourists. The region it covers saw intense fighting between Japanese and Australian forces in WWII. Highland trekking is also a tempting but dangerous. The mountain isolation is extreme and fighting between tribes can endanger tourists. Yet for the undeterred July through August is the best weather to go. Surfers can best hit the waves from November to April in the north and June to September in the south.

PNG's diversity means two trips can never be the same so travelers are welcome to explore their own piece of this wild land.      

Images from Papua New Guinea

Pre-emptive reconciliation at Mendi using traditional Moka System
Uploaded by: Ian Stehbens on Panoramio.com

Thunderstorm over Tari valley
Uploaded by: kristine hannon (www.traveltheglobe.be on Panoramio.com

Badu Island
Uploaded by: laura valerio on Panoramio.com

Badu Island, boat
Uploaded by: laura valerio on Panoramio.com

Thursday Island, airport
Uploaded by: laura valerio on Panoramio.com

Badu Island
Uploaded by: laura valerio on Panoramio.com

Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners.

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