Portal:New Guinea

New Guinea
Native name: Papua, Niugini, Niu Gini
Geography
Location	Oceania (Melanesia)
Archipelago	Melanesia and Malay Archipelago
Area	785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi)
Area rank	2nd

The New Guinea Portal

Introduction

A view at Piaynemo, one of the islands of the Raja Ampat Islands

New Guinea (Tok Pisin: Niugini; Hiri Motu: Niu Gini; Indonesian: Papua, fossilized Nugini, also known as Papua or historically Irian) is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km² (303,381 sq mi). It has the third-largest remaining rainforest globally, and the highest plant biodiversity of any island. (Full article...)

Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. It has a land border with Indonesia to the west and maritime borders with Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital is Port Moresby. The country's 462,840 km² (178,700 mi²) includes a large mainland and hundreds of islands. (Full article...)

Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region is also called West Papua (Indonesian: Papua Barat). It is one of the seven geographical units of Indonesia in ISO 3166-2:ID. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Image 1

Rabaul from the Vulcanology Observatory, with the old town to the left and the new town to the right

Rabaul (/rɑːˈbaʊl/) is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 km (370 mi) to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash from a volcanic eruption in its harbor. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air, and the subsequent rain of ash caused 80% of the buildings in Rabaul to collapse. After the eruption the capital was moved to Kokopo, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) away. Rabaul is continually threatened by volcanic activity, because it is on the edge of the Rabaul caldera, a flooded caldera of a large pyroclastic shield volcano.

Rabaul was planned and built around the harbour area known as Simpsonhafen (Simpson Harbour) during the German New Guinea administration, which controlled the region from 1884 and formally through 1919. Rabaul was selected as the capital of the German New Guinea administration in 1905, and the administrative offices were transferred there in 1910. Rabaul was captured by the British Empire during the early days of World War I. It became the capital of the Australian-mandated Territory of New Guinea until 1937, when it was first destroyed by a volcano. During World War II, it was captured by Japan in 1942 and became its main base of military and naval activity in the South Pacific. Settlements and military installations around the edge of the caldera are often collectively called Rabaul, although the old town of Rabaul was reduced to practical insignificance by the volcanic eruption in 1937.

As a tourist destination, Rabaul is popular for its volcanoes, scuba diving and for snorkelling sites, spectacular harbour and other scenery, World War II history, flora and fauna, and the cultural life of the Tolai people. Before the 1994 eruption, Rabaul was a popular commercial and recreational boating destination; fewer private small craft visit now, but 10 to 12 cruise ships visit Rabaul each year, including the Queen Elizabeth, carrying up to 2,000 passengers. Tourism is a major industry in Rabaul and East New Britain generally. (Full article...)
Image 2

Cyclone Rewa at its second peak intensity on 16 January

Severe Tropical Cyclone Rewa affected six countries and caused 22 deaths on its 28-day journey across the South Pacific Ocean in December 1993 and January 1994. Cyclone Rewa developed from a tropical disturbance on 28 December south of Nauru. After forming, Rewa moved southwest through the Solomon Islands, crossing the 160th meridian east from the South Pacific basin into the Australian region. The cyclone began to strengthen steadily and turned southward, paralleling the eastern Australian coast through 31 December. Rewa reached its initial peak intensity as a Category 4 tropical cyclone on 2 January. It maintained this intensity for about 12 hours before an increase in wind shear induced its weakening by 3 January. The cyclone turned southeastward and moved back into the South Pacific basin on 4 January, before it passed over New Caledonia between 5–6 January. After affecting New Caledonia, Rewa weakened to a tropical depression and turned northwestward before re-entering the Australian basin on 10 January.

Over the following days, the cyclone showed signs of restrengthening and executed an elongated cyclonic loop to the southeast of Papua New Guinea. Rewa subsequently entered a phase of quick intensification while proceeding southeastward, peaking in intensity as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone. It recurved toward the southwest while gradually weakening for several days. Although forecasters had predicted Rewa to make landfall near Mackay, Queensland, the cyclone began interacting with an upper-level trough on 18 January, causing it to divert to the southeast and move along the Queensland coast. Rewa transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on 20 January, with its remnants bringing heavy rain to New Zealand three days later.

The cyclone caused the deaths of 22 people on its course, affecting parts of the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Eastern Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand. Nine people in a banana dinghy en route to Rossel Island went missing at the height of the storm; they were presumed drowned after wreckage from their boat turned up at the island. In Queensland, three people died in traffic accidents caused by the storm, and another fatality occurred when a boy became trapped in a storm pipe. One death took place in New Caledonia, while flooding caused eight drownings in Papua New Guinea. Because of the severe impacts that Rewa brought, the name was retired. (Full article...)
Image 3

Papua New Guinea Defence Force emblem

The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into being in January 1973 and having its antecedents in the Pacific Islands Regiment. The PNGDF is a small force, numbering around 3,600 personnel, and consists of a Land Element, an Air Element and a Maritime Element. It is a joint force tasked with defending Papua New Guinea and its territories against external attack, as well as having secondary functions including national-building and internal security tasks.

Defence accounts for less than 2% of GDP, while also receiving significant assistance and training support from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and other nations.

The PNGDF Land Element includes two infantry battalions, an engineer battalion, a signal squadron, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, and a preventive medicine platoon. The Air Element is a small air wing operating three light transport aircraft and two leased helicopters. The Maritime Element consists of four Guardian-class patrol boats and two landing craft. The army is under the direct command of Headquarters PNGDF, while the air wing and navy have their own commanding officers. The PNGDF does not have a Commander-in-Chief but rather a Commander who advises the Minister for Defence. Allegiance is sworn to the King of Papua New Guinea, presently Charles III, and the realm of Papua New Guinea. The PNGDF is under the control of the National Executive Council through the Minister for Defence. (Full article...)
Image 4

West Papua (Indonesian: Papua Barat), formerly Irian Jaya Barat (West Irian), is an Indonesian province located in Indonesia Papua. It covers most of the two western peninsulas of the island of New Guinea: the eastern half of the Bird's Head Peninsula (or Doberai Peninsula) and the whole of the Bomberai Peninsula, along with nearby smaller islands. The province is bordered to the north by the Pacific Ocean; to the west by Southwest Papua Province, the Halmahera Sea and the Ceram Sea; to the south by the Banda Sea; and to the east by the province of Central Papua and the Cenderawasih Bay. Manokwari is the province's capital and largest city. With an estimated population of 587,645 in mid-2025 (comprising 308,424 males and 279,221 females), West Papua is the second-least-populous province in Indonesia after South Papua, following the separation off in December 2022 of the western half of the Bird's Head Peninsula to create the new province of Southwest Papua, containing 52% of what had been West Papua's population. Its population density is similar to that of Russia.

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Dutch remained in New Guinea until 1962 when they transferred the control of the region to the Indonesian government as a part of the New York Agreement. West Papua was legally created as a province in 1999 (out of the original Papua Province), but it was not inaugurated until 2003. Consisting until 2022 of twelve regencies and one city, the province has a special autonomous status as granted by Indonesian legislation.

West Papua has a medium Human Development Index. The Indonesian government has launched the building of ambitious infrastructure projects including the Trans-Papua Highway, airports, and other facilities. Detractors claim that these projects threaten Southeast Asia's and Oceania's last large regions of tropical rainforests and native cultures. According to Bank Indonesia, West Papua recorded an economic growth rate of 7.7% during 2018, which is higher than the national economic growth. (Full article...)
Image 5

Port Moresby International Airport (IATA: POM, ICAO: AYPY), also known as Jacksons International Airport, is an international airport located 8 kilometres (5 miles) outside of Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. It is the largest and busiest airport in Papua New Guinea, with an estimated 1.6 million passengers using the airport in 2025, and is the main hub for Air Niugini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea, as well as the main hub for PNG Air. It replaced the original Port Moresby airport, in what is now the suburb of Waigani, whose airstrip remained until the 1990s but no trace of which remains, having been built over. (Full article...)
Image 6

Landscape in the New Guinea Highlands

The New Guinea Highlands, also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera, is a long chain of mountain ranges on the island of New Guinea, including the island's highest peak, Puncak Jaya, Indonesia, 16,024 ft (4,884 m), the highest mountain in Oceania. The range is home to many intermountain river valleys, many of which support thriving agricultural communities. The highlands run generally east-west the length of the island, which is divided politically between Indonesia in the west and Papua New Guinea in the east. These mountains stretch from the Weyland Mountains starting in Wondama Bay Regency in the west to the Milne Bay Province in the east. (Full article...)
Image 7
Dadi Toka Jr (born 8 August 1977) is a Papua New Guinean businessman and the Chairman of the Motu Koita Assembly, a traditional landowner representative group established as an Assembly by an act of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea. The Chairman of the Motu Koita Assembly is also Deputy Governor of National Capital District, which was established on the lands of the Motu and Koitabu people. (Full article...)
Image 8
The Independent State of Papua New Guinea and the People's Republic of China (PRC) established official diplomatic relations in 1976, soon after Papua New Guinea became independent. The two countries currently maintain diplomatic, economic and, to a lesser degree, military relations. Relations are cordial; China is a significant provider of both investments and development aid to Papua New Guinea.

The current ambassador of Papua New Guinea in China is Don Sawong. The current ambassador of China in Papua New Guinea is Zeng Fanhua. (Full article...)
Image 9

Great flying fox in flight

The great flying fox (Pteropus neohibernicus), also known as the greater flying fox or Bismarck flying fox, is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus, found throughout lowland areas of New Guinea and in the Bismarck Archipelago. Conflicting evidence suggests that its closest relative is either the spectacled flying fox or, jointly, the Pelew and insular flying foxes. Two subspecies are recognized. At up to 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) in weight, it is among the heaviest bats in the world and the largest bat in Melanesia. It is a gregarious animal which roosts with hundreds or thousands of individuals. In part due to its wide variation in color, it has many taxonomic synonyms, including Pteropus degener, Pteropus papuanus, and Pteropus sepikensis. It may forage during the day or night in search of fruit, including figs or fruits from the family Sapotaceae. It is considered a least-concern species by the IUCN, though its numbers have been negatively impacted by what appeared to be a disease, as well as by hunting for bushmeat that occurs across its range. (Full article...)
Image 10

Raggiana bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana)

The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. They are found mainly in New Guinea, as well as eastern Australia and the Maluku Islands. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of the species, the majority of which are sexually dimorphic. The males of these species tend to have very long, elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings, tail, or head. For the most part, they are confined to dense rainforest habitats. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek-type polygamy. Notably, the long tail feather of the Greater bird-of-paradise is used as a decorative element in the Shripech, the royal crown of Nepalese monarchs.

A number of species are threatened by hunting and habitat loss. (Full article...)
Image 11

The Morning Star flag (Indonesian: Bendera Bintang Fajar or Bendera Bintang Kejora, Dutch: Morgenstervlag) is a flag that was used in Netherlands New Guinea for official purposes in addition to the flag of the Netherlands. It was first raised on 1 December 1961. The territory came under the administration of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on 1 October 1962, and was transferred to Indonesian control on 1 May 1963. The flag has come to represent the Republic of West Papua, a proposed country consisting of the Western New Guinea region, which since 1963 is administered as part of Indonesia.

The flag is used by the Free Papua Organization and other independence supporters. Under Papua's Special Autonomy Law, ratified in 2002, the flag may be raised in Western New Guinea (West Papua) region so long as the flag of Indonesia is raised higher than it at the same time. (Full article...)
Image 12
Papua New Guinea Premier Soccer League is the men's top division of professional soccer in Papua New Guinea. Formed in 2006 as the National Soccer League by the Papua New Guinea Football Association, it replaced the Papua New Guinea National Club Championship as the country's major soccer competition, and was renamed the Premier Soccer League in 2022.

Hekari United have won ten editions of the competition, while Lae City have won seven; the two clubs have met in two grand finals, in 2015–16 and 2019, with Lae City winning both. Gulf Komara are the reigning champions, having won their first title in 2025. The 2026 season, contested by a record 12 clubs, is ongoing. (Full article...)
Image 13
Tolai dancers

The Tolai are the indigenous people of the Gazelle Peninsula and the Duke of York Islands of East New Britain in the New Guinea Islands region of Papua New Guinea. They are ethnically close kin to the peoples of adjacent New Ireland and tribes like the Tanga people and are thought to have migrated to the Gazelle Peninsula in relatively recent times, displacing the Baining people who were driven westwards.

The majority of Tolais speak Kuanua as their first language (~100,000). Two other languages are spoken as first languages: Lungalunga and Bilur, each with approximately 2,000 speakers.

The Tolais almost universally define themselves as Christian and are predominantly Roman Catholic and United Church. Christianity was introduced to the island when Methodist ministers and teachers from Fiji arrived in the New Guinea islands region in 1875. However, in 1878 when some of the tribespeople ate four of the missionaries, the Englishman who led the missionaries, George Brown, directed and took part in a punitive expedition that resulted in a number of Tolais being killed and several villages burnt down. (Full article...)
Image 14

The yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris), also known as the yellow-bellied sheathtail or yellow-bellied pouched bat, is a microbat species of the family Emballonuridae found extensively in Australia and less commonly in parts of Papua New Guinea.

Although found throughout most parts of Australia, very little is known about its ecology due to the small size, nocturnal activity, and general elusiveness of most microbat species, making them difficult to study. They are sometimes mistaken for the endangered and less widely distributed bare-rumped sheathtail bat where the two species occur sympatrically, as well as other similar Emballonuridae species, but upon inspection are quite distinct and easily identified.

At present, the yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat is the only member of the Microchiroptera that has been positively identified as a carrier of Australian bat lyssavirus. (Full article...)
Image 15

Birds in Auri Island, Cendrawasih Bay NP

Teluk Cenderawasih National Park is the largest marine national park of Indonesia, located in Cenderawasih Bay, south-east of Bird's Head Peninsula. It includes the islands of Mioswaar, Nusrowi Island, Roon, Rumberpon, Anggrameos and Yoop. The park protects a rich marine ecosystem, with over 150 recorded coral species, for which it is considered a potential World Heritage Site. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that in 1984, more than 10,000 Papuans from West Papua crossed into Papua New Guinea as refugees due to a government crackdown?
... that the Papua New Guinean government almost ran out of foreign exchange reserves during a financial crisis in 1994?
... that Nancy Sullivan and ten other activists were sued by the Papua New Guinean government as retribution for opposing the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone?
... that the 11.7 million people of Papua New Guinea speak more than 800 languages?
... that changes in land use and forestry turned Papua New Guinea's contribution to climate change from being a net carbon sink to a net emitter?
... that Sudjarwo Tjondronegoro advanced Indonesia's claim to Western New Guinea in the United Nations, and later accepted control over the territory?

General images -

The following are images from various New Guinea-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1U.S troops landing in Tanahmerah Bay during Operation Reckless, 1944 (from Western New Guinea)
Image 2West Papuan separatists raising the Morning-Star flag in the jungles of Papua, 1971 (from Western New Guinea)
Image 3Dutch and Papuan officials during the opening of the Central Hospital in Hollandia, 1959 (from Western New Guinea)
Image 4Map of New Guinea, with place names as used in English in the 1940s (from New Guinea)
Image 5Skouw border checkpoint, on the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border (from Western New Guinea)
Image 6Sentani International Airport in Jayapura is the principal point of entry to Papua (from Western New Guinea)
Image 7
  Southwest Papua province
  West Papua province
  Papua province
  Central Papua province
  Highland Papua province
  South Papua province
(from New Guinea)
Image 8
  Central Papua
  Highland Papua
  Papua
  South Papua
  Southwest Papua
  West Papua
(from Western New Guinea)
Image 9Highlands of Papua New Guinea (from New Guinea)
Image 10The Sukarno-era West Irian Liberation Monument in Lapangan Banteng, Jakarta. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 11The floristic region of Malesia (from New Guinea)
Image 12Culture parade in Biak (from Western New Guinea)
Image 13Yali tribesman in the Baliem Valley (from New Guinea)
Image 14Dutch colonial civil servant in the Baliem Valley, 1958 (from Western New Guinea)
Image 15M.S. Rumagesan, Silas Papare, N.L.Suwages, Soegoro Atmoprasodjo, and A.H. Nasution in Putra-putra Irian Barat ('Sons of Irian Barat') Conference in Cibogo Bogor, 14–15 April 1961 (from Western New Guinea)
Image 16Hoisting the German flag at Mioko in 1884 (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 17A section of Trans-Papua Highway connecting Deiyai and Mimika in Central Papua (from Western New Guinea)
Image 18Trans-New Guinea languages (multi-coloured), Austronesian languages (gold), and other languages (grey) (from Western New Guinea)
Image 19Australian soldiers resting in the Finisterre Ranges of New Guinea while en route to the front line (from New Guinea)
Image 20Dutch expeditions in Netherlands New Guinea 1907–1915. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 21Free West Papua protest in Melbourne, Australia, August 2012. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 22Before the 1970s, the Korowai people of Papua were an uncontacted people. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 23Yali Mabel, Kurulu Village War Chief at Baliem Valley (from New Guinea)
Image 24Fort Du Bus in 1828 (from Western New Guinea)
Image 25Fishing boats in Biak (from Western New Guinea)
Image 26Political divisions of New Guinea (2006) (from New Guinea)
Image 27Papuans on the Lorentz River, photographed during the third South New Guinea expedition in 1912–13 (from New Guinea)
Image 28Kerepunu women at the marketplace of Kalo, British New Guinea, 1885 (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 29Youtefa Bridge, currently the longest bridge in Papua (from Western New Guinea)
Image 30Sago is a typical Papuan food, which is usually made into papeda. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 31Grasberg Mine in Mimika Regency. Mining is the most important sector in the province (from Western New Guinea)
Image 32A map of British and German New Guinea before the First World War, with a stamp noting it was lent to the Paris Peace Conference following the war (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 33Papeda, a notable dish originating from Eastern Indonesia (from Western New Guinea)
Image 34Coral reefs in Papua New Guinea (from New Guinea)
Image 35 Paradisaea apoda, native to Papua, displaying its feathers (from Western New Guinea)
Image 36Koiari village near Bootless Inlet, British New Guinea (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 37New Guinea located in relation to Melanesia (from New Guinea)
Image 38Regions of Oceania: Australasia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Australasia includes the Australian landmass (including Tasmania), New Zealand, and New Guinea. (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 39Rp 0.12 Indonesian stamp of 1963. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 40Flag under German control of New Guinea. (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 41New Guinea crocodile (from New Guinea)
Image 42Australian troops at Milne Bay, Papua.The Australian garrison was the first to inflict defeat on the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II at the Battle of Milne Bay of Aug–Sep 1942. (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 43The continent of Sahul before the rising ocean sundered Australia and New Guinea after the last ice age (from New Guinea)
Image 44A Japanese military map of New Guinea from 1943 (from New Guinea)
Image 45A typical map from the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. Australasia during the Golden Age of Dutch exploration and discovery (ca. 1590s–1720s): including Nova Guinea (New Guinea), Nova Hollandia (mainland Australia), Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), and Nova Zeelandia (New Zealand). (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 46Dorcopsis hageni, native to northern region of New Guinea. (from Western New Guinea)
Image 47Yali in the Yahukimo Regency (from Western New Guinea)
Image 48A 1644 map of New Guinea and the surrounding area (from New Guinea)
Image 49British flag raised after Queensland declared it was annexing part of the island in 1883 (from History of Papua New Guinea)
Image 50New Guinea from 1884 to 1919. Germany and Britain controlled the eastern half of New Guinea. (from History of Papua New Guinea)