Papua New Guinea (PNG; /ˈpaːpuːə njuː ˈɡɪniː/; Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini; Hiri Motu: Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an Oceanian country that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua...Read more:Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world; 848 languages are listed for the country, of which 12 have no known living speakers.[9] Most of the population of over 7 million people live in customary communities, which are as diverse as the languages.[10] It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its people live in urban centres.[11] The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior...Read more:Papua New Guinea
Strong growth in Papua New Guinea's mining and resource sector led to the country becoming the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world in 2011,[13] although growth is expected to slow once major resource projects come on line in 2015.[14] Mining remains a major economic factor, however, with talks of resuming mining operations in the previously closed-off Panguna mine ongoing with the local and national governments. Nearly 40 per cent of the population lives a self-sustainable natural lifestyle with no access to global capital...Read more: Papua New Guinea