History UsefulNotes / PapuaNewGuinea

The '''Independent State of Papua New Guinea''' ('''Tok Pisin:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini'', '''Hiri Motu:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini'', ''PNG'') is the [[SmallReferencePools third most known country]] in UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}}, after UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/{{New Zealand}}. Both PNG and New Zealand are nicknamed as the ''Island of the Birds'' due to the sheer diversity of avian wildlife. 'PNG also shares the unique position alongside the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAmerica where a bird is the uncontested apex predator. Speaking of birds, it is best known for its ''beautiful'' Birds-of-Paradise, but it is also known as ''[[Main/FeatheredFiend Cassowary Land]]'' due to the fact that it houses not only the largest population of Cassowaries, but all three subspecies of the bird. It is also the second biggest country of the region by population, with about 7 million people. The country itself is the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the western part belongs to UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}.

The New Guinea island has been settled since about 42,000 years ago. The people here, popularly called the Melanesians, are closely related to the UsefulNotes/TorresStraitIslanders, who live in the titular Torrest Strait Islands separating New Guinea from Australia. Despite their "African-like" looks, the Melanesians are actually ''less'' related to Africans than the Europeans, Asians, and indigenous Americans. The Melanesians are some of the earliest humans to expand outside of Africa, and since they settled New Guinea around 30,000 years ago, they have not significantly interbred with humans who migrated from Africa later. In this respect, they are second only to the UsefulNotes/AboriginalAustralians (who have not interbred with other humans since they settled Australia 50,000 years ago) in having the oldest claim to the land they live in. Melanesians were also the first people to settle the Malay archipelago (e.g. Indonesia, Malaysia, UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}), UsefulNotes/SolomonIslands, and UsefulNotes/{{Vanuatu}}, and they left some genetic imprint on the now-Austronesian-speaking population (their legacy is particularly strong in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, where the population are for the most part genetically Melanesian but linguistically Austronesian).

* '''Area:''' 462,840 km
(178,700 sq mi) (54th)

The New Guinea island has been settled since about 42,000 years ago. The people here, popularly called the Melanesians, are closely related to the UsefulNotes/TorresStraitIslanders who live in the Torres Strait Islands that separate New Guinea from Australia. Despite their "African-like" looks, the Melanesians are actually ''less'' related to Africans than the Europeans, Asians, and indigenous Americans. The reason usually posited is because the Melanesians are the remnant of one of the earliest expansions of humans from UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, i.e. those who didn't get assimilated by later migrants. But then, ''they'' are still babies compared to the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines Aboriginal Australians]], who are the most divergent of the entire ''[[HumanSubspecies Homo sapiens sapiens]]'' species, having diverged from the Africans since ''70,000'' years ago.

The official as well as unifying languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Though most of the population more or less understand the first three (Tok Pisin especially), that doesn't hide the fact that the country is incredibly diverse linguistically as well as culturally. There are 850 spoken languages in a country the size of UsefulNotes/{{California}} and the population of UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}} (disregarding actual language spread, that means that you can find one distinct language for every 8,000 people). Most of them are isolates from each other, too; the term Papuan is really just a placeholder to designate the languages of the entire New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

* '''Area:''' 462,840 km
(178,700 sq mi) (54th)

The official as well as unifying languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Though most of the population more or less understand the first three (Tok Pisin especially), that doesn't hide the fact that the country is incredibly diverse linguistically as well as culturally. There are 850 spoken languages in a country the size of UsefulNotes/{{California}} and the population of UsefulNotes/{{Michigan }} (disregarding actual language spread, that means that you can find one distinct language for every 8,000 people). Most of them are isolates from each other, too; the term Papuan is really just a placeholder to designate the languages of the entire New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

The official as well as unifying languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Though most of the population more or less understand the first three (Tok Pisin especially), that doesn't hide the fact that the country is incredibly diverse linguistically as well as culturally. There are 850 spoken languages in a country the size of California and the population of Michigan (disregarding actual language spread, that means that you can find one distinct language for every 8,000 people). Most of them are isolates from each other, too; the term Papuan is really just a placeholder to designate the languages of the entire New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

Despite the fact the country is so close to the equator, it actually snows in there. This snow, however, is limited to the peaks of the mountain ranges, and, due to the recent global warming, may disappear in the coming decades.

During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI it was taken by Australia (from UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}). In [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the sequel]] it was a major battleground between Australian, American and Japanese troops, particularly the gruelling Battle of the Kokoda Track. At the end of the war, north and south were united in a single country (until then, they were administered separately) administrated by Australia. They declared independence in 1975, though they, like Australia and New Zealand, are still part of the Commonwealth Realm (that means still recognizing the British monarch, currently Charles III, as the head of state).

During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI it was taken by Australia (from Germany). In [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the sequel]] it was a major battleground between Australian, American and Japanese troops, particularly the gruelling Battle of the Kokoda Track. At the end of the war, north and south were united in a single country (until then were administered separately) administrated by Australia. They declared independence in 1975, though they, like Australia and New Zealand, are still part of the Commonwealth Realm (that means still recognizing the British monarch, currently Charles III, as the head of state).

The New Guinea island has been settled since about 42,000 years ago. The people here, popularly called the Melanesians, are closely related to the UsefulNotes/TorresStraitIslanders who live in the Torres Strait Islands that separate New Guinea from Australia. Despite their "African-like" looks, the Melanesians are actually ''less'' related to Africans than the Europeans, Asians, and indigenous Americans. The reason usually posited is because the Melanesians are the remnant of one of the earliest expansions of humans from UsefulNotes/{{Africa,}} i.e. those who didn't get assimilated by later migrants. But then, ''they'' are still babies compared to the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines Aboriginal Australians]], who are the most divergent of the entire ''[[HumanSubspecies Homo sapiens sapiens]]'' species, having diverged from the Africans since ''70,000'' years ago.

Before the 1950s, the zone was known for [[OffWithHisHead headhunting]] and [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalism]]. Needless to say, you don’t get to see much of it today. The common stereotype now is that the entire country is infested with anthropologists doing ethnographic studies.

The New Guinea island has been settled since about 42,000 years ago. The people here, popularly called the Melanesians, are closely related to the UsefulNotes/TorresStraitIslanders who live in Torres Strait Islands that separate New Guinea from Australia. Despite their "African-like" looks, the Melanesians are actually ''less'' related to Africans than the Europeans, Asians, and indigenous Americans. The reason usually posited is because the Melanesians are the remnant of one of the earliest expansions of humans from Africa, i.e. those who didn't get assimilated by later migrants. But then, ''they'' are still babies compared to the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines Aboriginal Australians]], who are the most divergent of the entire ''[[HumanSubspecies Homo sapiens sapiens]]'' species, having diverged from the Africans since ''70,000'' years ago.

The '''Independent State of Papua New Guinea''' ('''Tok Pisin:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini'', '''Hiri Motu:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini'', ''PNG'') is the [[SmallReferencePools third most known country]] in UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}}, after UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/{{New Zealand}}. Both PNG and New Zealand are nicknamed as the ''Island of the Birds'' due to the sheer diversity of avian wildlife. 'PNG also shares the unique position alongside the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAmerica where a bird is the uncontested apex predator. Speaking of birds, it is best known for its ''beautiful'' Birds-of-Paradise, but it is also known as ''[[Main/FeatheredFiend Cassowary Land]]'' due to the fact that it house not only the largest population of Cassowaries, but all three subspecies of the bird. It is also the second biggest by population, with about 7 million people. The country itself is the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the western part belongs to UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}.

The '''Independent State of Papua New Guinea''' ('''Tok Pisin:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini'', '''Hiri Motu:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini'', ''PNG'') is the [[SmallReferencePools third most known country]] in UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}}, after UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/{{New Zealand}}. Both PNG and New Zealand are nicknamed as the ''Island of the Birds'' due to the sheer diversity of avian wildlife and it also shares the unique position alongside the Philippines and South America where a bird is the uncontested apex predator. Speaking of birds, it is best known for its ''beautiful'' Birds-of-Paradise, but it is also known as ''[[Main/FeatheredFiend Cassowary Land]]'' due to the fact that it house not only the largest population of Cassowaries, but all three subspecies of the bird. It is also the second biggest by population, with about 7 million people. The country itself is the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the western part belongs to UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}.

The '''Independent State of Papua New Guinea''' ('''Tok Pisin:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini'', '''Hiri Motu:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini'', ''PNG'') is the [[SmallReferencePools third most known country]] in UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}}, after UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/{{New Zealand}}. Both PNG and New Zealand is nicknamed as the ''Island of the Birds'' due to the sheer diversity of avian wildlife and it also shares the unique position alongside the Philippines and South America where a bird is the uncontested apex predator. Speaking of birds, it is best known for its ''beautiful'' Birds-of-Paradise, but it is also known as ''[[Main/FeatheredFiend Cassowary Land]]'' due to the fact that it house not only the largest population of Cassowaries, but all three subspecies of the bird. It is also the second biggest by population, with about 7 million people. The country itself is the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the western part belongs to UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}.

The '''Independent State of Papua New Guinea''' ('''Tok Pisin:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini'', '''Hiri Motu:''' ''Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini'') is the [[SmallReferencePools third most known country]] in UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}}, after UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} and UsefulNotes/{{New Zealand}}. It is also the second biggest by population, with about 7 million people. The country itself is the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the western part belongs to UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}.

The official as well as unifying languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Though most of the population more or less understand the three (Tok Pisin especially), that doesn't hide the fact that the country is incredibly diverse linguistically as well as culturally. There are 850 spoken languages in a country the size of California and the population of Michigan (disregarding actual language spread, that means that you can find one distinct language for every 8,000 people). Most of them are isolates from each other, too; the term Papuan is really just a placeholder to designate the languages of the entire New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

The official as well as unifying languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu. Though most of the population more or less understand the three (Tok Pisin especially), that doesn't hide the fact that the country is incredibly diverse linguistically as well as culturally. There are 850 spoken languages in a country the size of California and the population of Michigan (disregarding actual language spread, that means that you can find one distinct language for every 8,000 people). Most of them are isolates from each other, too; the term Papuan is really just a placeholder to designate the languages of the entire New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Papua_New_Guinea_map_7638.png]]

During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI it was taken by Australia (from Germany). In [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the sequel]] it was a major battleground between Australian, American and Japanese troops, particularly the gruelling Battle of the Kokoda Track. At the end of the war, north and south were united in a single country (until then were administered separately) administrated by Australia. They declared independence in 1975, though they, like Australia and New Zealand, are still part of the Commonwealth Realm (that means still recognizing the British monarch, currently [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]], as the head of state).

** Monarch: Elizabeth II

The official as well as unifying languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu, the latter two of which are English creoles. Though most of the population more or less understand the three (Tok Pisin especially), that doesn't hide the fact that the country is incredibly diverse linguistically as well as culturally. There are 850 spoken languages in a country the size of California and the population of Michigan (disregarding actual language spread, that means that you can find one distinct language for every 8,000 people). Most of them are isolates from each other, too; the term Papuan is really just a placeholder to designate the languages of the entire New Guinea and its surrounding islands.