Papua New Guinea 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 3 Papua New Guinea 4 Pacific Islands 5 Chapter 2 7 Political Overview 7 History 8 Political Conditions 10 Political Risk Index 27 Political Stability 41 Freedom Rankings 57 Human Rights 68 Government Functions 71 Government Structure 72 Principal Government Officials 84 Leader Biography 86 Leader Biography 86 Foreign Relations 94 National Security 97 Defense Forces 98 Chapter 3 101 Economic Overview 101 Economic Overview 102 Nominal GDP and Components 104 Population and GDP Per Capita 106 Real GDP and Inflation 107 Government Spending and Taxation 108 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 109 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 110 Data in US Dollars 111 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 112 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 113 World Energy Price Summary 114 CO2 Emissions 115 Agriculture Consumption and Production 116 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 118 Metals Consumption and Production 119 World Metals Pricing Summary 122 Economic Performance Index 123 Chapter 4 135 Investment Overview 135 Foreign Investment Climate 136 Foreign Investment Index 138 Corruption Perceptions Index 151 Competitiveness Ranking 163 Taxation 172 Stock Market 172 Partner Links 173 Chapter 5 174 Social Overview 174 People 175 Human Development Index 177 Life Satisfaction Index 181 Happy Planet Index 192 Status of Women 201 Global Gender Gap Index 204 Culture and Arts 213 Etiquette 214 Travel Information 214 Diseases/Health Data 223 Chapter 6 229 Environmental Overview 229 Environmental Issues 230 Environmental Policy 231 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 232 Global Environmental Snapshot 243 Global Environmental Concepts 255 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 269 Appendices 293 Bibliography 294 Papua New Guinea Chapter 1 Country Overview Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 1 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea Country Overview PAPUA NEW GUINEA Papua New Guinea is a South Pacific island country. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast part of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands, and Britain took control of the southeast section known as Papua. Australia assumed administration of the British territory in 1902, and seized the German territory during World War I. In 1920 the League of Nations granted Australia a mandate to New Guinea. Being occupied by Japan in World War II, Papua and New Guinea were united as an Australian territory after the war. The country gained independence in 1975. Papua New Guinea had to deal with separatist forces on the island of Bougainville in the 1990s. Up to 20,000 people were killed in the nine-year conflict that ended in 1997. A peace deal signed in 2001 provided the framework for the election in 2005 of an autonomous government for Bougainville. Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, particularly minerals, forests and fisheries. But rugged terrain and inadequate infrastructure have hampered the exploitation and development of these resources. About 75 percent of the population engages in agriculture, mostly at a traditional subsistence level. Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 2 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea Key Data Key Data Region: Pacific Islands Population: 6672429 Tropical; northwest monsoon (Dec.-March), southeast monsoon (May-Oct.); Climate: slight seasonal temperature variation; cooler at high elevations English Pidgin English Languages: Motu Total of 650--700 tribal languages Currency: 1 kina (K$) = 100 toea Holiday: Independence Day is 16 September (1975), Queen's Birthday is 10 June Area Total: 461690 Area Land: 451710 Coast Line: 5152 Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 3 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Country Map Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 4 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea Pacific Islands Regional Map Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 5 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 6 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea Chapter 2 Political Overview Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 7 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea History Early History Human habitation on the island is of immense antiquity. Estimates of its duration range as far back as 60,000 years, and in any case more than 40,000. Archaeological evidence indicates that people most likely arrived by sea from Southeast Asia during an ice age period when the sea was lower and distances between islands shorter. Although the first arrivals were hunters and gatherers, early evidence shows that people managed the forest environment to provide food. There also are indications of gardening having been practiced at the same time that agriculture was developing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Early garden crops - many of which are indigenous - included sugarcane, Pacific bananas, yams and taro, while sago and pandanus were two commonly exploited native forest crops. Today's staples - sweet potatoes and pork - are later arrivals, but shellfish and fish have long been mainstays of coastal dwellers' diets. European Arrival When Europeans first arrived, inhabitants of New Guinea and nearby islands - while still relying on bone, wood, and stone tools - had a productive agricultural system. They traded along the coast, where products mainly were pottery, shell ornaments and foodstuffs, and in the interior, where forest products were exchanged for shells and other sea products. The first Europeans to sight New Guinea were probably Portuguese and Spanish navigators sailing in the South Pacific in the early part of the 16th century. In 1526-27, Don Jorge de Meneses accidentally came upon the principal island and is credited with naming it "Papua," a Malay word for the frizzled quality of Melanesian hair. A Spaniard, Ynigo Ortis de Retez, applied the term "New Guinea" to the island in 1545 because of a fancied resemblance between the islands' inhabitants and those found on the African Guinea coast. Although European navigators visited the islands and explored their coastlines for the next 170 Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 8 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea years, little was known of the inhabitants until the late 19th century. New Guinea Spurred by Europe's growing need for coconut oil, Godeffroy's of Hamburg, the largest trading firm in the Pacific, began trading for copra (dried meat of the coconut) in the New Guinea islands. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the main island and put its administration in the hands of a chartered company. In 1899, the German imperial government assumed direct control of the territory, thereafter known as German New Guinea. In 1914, Australian troops occupied German New Guinea, and it remained under Australian military control until 1921. The British government, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, assumed a mandate from the League of Nations for governing the Territory of New Guinea in 1920. It was administered under this mandate until the Japanese invasion in December 1941 brought about the suspension of Australian civil administration. New Guinea and adjoining seas was the scene of some of World War II's fiercest and most climactic battles. Following the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, civil administration of Papua as well as New Guinea was restored, and under the Papua New Guinea Provisional Administration Act, 1945-46, Papua and New Guinea were combined in an administrative union. Papua On Nov. 6, 1884, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the southern coast of New Guinea (the area called Papua) and its adjacent islands. The protectorate, called British New Guinea, was annexed outright on Sept. 4, 1888. The possession was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1902. Following the passage of the Papua Act of 1905, British New Guinea became the Territory of Papua and formal Australian administration began in 1906. Papua was administered under the Papua Act until the Japanese invaded it in 1942. During the war, Papua was governed by a military administration from Port Moresby, where Gen. Douglas MacArthur occasionally made his headquarters. As noted, it was later joined in an administrative union with New Guinea during 1945-46 following the surrender of Japan. Postwar Developments The Papua and New Guinea Act of 1949 formally approved the placing of New Guinea under the international trusteeship system and confirmed the administrative union of New Guinea and Papua Papua New Guinea Review 2016 Page 9 of 306 pages Papua New Guinea under the title of "The Territory of Papua and New Guinea." The act provided for a Legislative Council (established in 1951), a judicial organization, a civil service, and a system of local government. A House of Assembly replaced the Legislative Council in 1963, and the first House of Assembly opened on June 8, 1964. In 1972, the name of the territory was changed to Papua New Guinea. Elections in 1972 resulted in the formation of a ministry headed by Chief Minister Michael Somare, who pledged to lead the country to self-government and then to independence. The nation became self-governing in December 1973 and achieved independence on Sept. 16, 1975. The 1977 national elections confirmed Michael Somare as prime minister at the head of a coalition led by the Pangu Party. However, the first Somare government fell upon a vote of no confidence in 1980 and was replaced by a new cabinet headed by Sir Julius Chan as prime minister. A revolving-door succession of prime ministers has continued to characterize Papua New Guinea's political scene. For instance, Somare resumed the post of prime minister in 1982, but relinquished it again in 1985. National elections take place once every five years, but interim changes in government have frequently occurred as a result of parliamentary no-confidence votes. Under legislation intended to enhance stability, new governments remain immune from no-confidence votes for the first 18 months of their incumbency.