TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93CT1818> <link 89TT2704> <title> Papua New Guinea--History </title> <history> Compact ALMANAC--CIA Factbook Australia & Oceania Papua New Guinea </history> <article> <source>CIA World Factbook</source> <hdr> History </hdr> <body> Archeological evidence indicates that humans arrived on New Guinea at least 50,000 years ago, probably 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. Furthermore, evidence also shows proof of gardening 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 taros, while sago and pandanus were two commonly exploited native forest crops. Today's staples--sweet potatoes and pig--are later arrivals, but shellfish and fish have long been mainstays of coastal dwellers' diets. 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 the 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. The term "New Guinea" was applied to the island in 1545 by a Spaniard, Ynigo Ortis de Retez, 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 years, little was known of the inhabitants until the late 19th century. New Guinea With Europe's growing need for coconut oil, Godeffroy's of Hamburg, the largest trading firm in the Pacific, began trading for copra in the New Guinea islands. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the 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. Following the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, civil administration of both Papua and New Guinea was restored, and under the Papua New Guinea Provisional Administration Act, 1945-46, both Papua and New Guinea were combined in an administrative union. Papua On November 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 September 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 it was invaded by the Japanese in 1942 and civil administration suspended. During the war, Papua was governed by a military administration from Port Moresby, where Gen. Douglas MacArthur occasionally made his headquarters. It was later joined in an administrative union with New Guinea during 1945-46 following the surrender of Japan. Postwar Development 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 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 public 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 Somare, who pledged to lead the country to self-government and then to independence. Papua New Guinea became self-governing in December 1973 and achieved independence on September 16, 1975. The 1977 national elections confirmed Michael Somare as prime minister at the head of a coalition led by the Pangu Party. However, his government lost a vote of confidence in 1980 and was replaced by a new cabinet headed by Sir Julius Chan as prime minister. The 1982 elections increased Pangu's plurality, and parliament again chose Somare as prime minister. In November 1985, the Somare government lost a vote of no confidence, and the parliamentary majority elected Paias Wingti, at the head of a five-party coalition, as prime minister. A coalition headed by Wingti, was victorious in very close elections in July 1987. In July 1988, a no confidence vote toppled Wingti and brought Rabbie Namaliu, who a few weeks earlier had replaced Somare as leader of the Pangu Party, to power. Current Political Conditions Papua New Guinea's democracy is genuine and vigorous with strong roots in widely diffused Christian values and in the Melanesian tradition of nonhereditary, village-level political leadership based on charisma and accomplishment. There is a lively opposition, elections are well contested, and the public takes an interest in politics. Papua New Guinea's human rights record is excellent, and there is complete freedom of the press and expression, as well as strong respect for the rights of the individual. No major ideological differences exist between the political parties, but regional differences (and occasionally tensions) are still significant. Major public and political concerns center on economic and social development. The country's rapid evolution, in combination with its slow-to- stagnant economic growth, has generated a major problem of youth unemployment and crime, particularly, but not exclusively, in urban areas. National political debate centers on how to increase economic growth with fuller participation for Papua New Guineans, and with fewer disruptive social consequences. Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, July 1989. </body> </article> </text>