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Location: Southeastern Asia, group of islands including
the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea
and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia
Geographic coordinates: 6 00 S, 147 00 E
Map references: Oceania
Area:
total: 462,840 sq km
land: 452,860 sq km
water: 9,980 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than California
Land boundaries:
total: 820 km
border countries: Indonesia 820 km
Coastline: 5,152 km
Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March),
southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature
variation
Terrain: mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling
foothills
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wilhelm 4,509 m
Natural resources: gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber,
oil, fisheries
Land use:
arable land: 0.1%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 92.9%
other: 6% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: active volcanism; situated along the Pacific
"Rim of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes
severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis
Environment - current issues: rain forest subject to deforestation
as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution
from mining projects; severe drought
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia;
one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast
Geography
Southeastern Asia, group of islands including the eastern half of
the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific
Ocean, east of Indonesia.
Climate
Mainly tropical, but conditions vary greatly from one area to another.
Temperatures in the lowlands and coastal areas are high most of
the year(22°C-33°C).
In the Highlands where humidity is lower, temperatures drop is lower,
temperatures drop as low as 14°C at night, from a daytime high of
about 25°C. In Port Moresby the wet season occurs through March,
and the dry season runs from July through September.
Papua New Guinea is an independent country located in the Pacific
Ocean, north of Australia. It was formerly the Australian Territory
of Papua and New Guinea.
It became self-governing in 1973 and independent in 1975. It occupies
the eastern half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the
world. The western half of the island is Irian Jaya, a province
of Indonesia.
Papua New Guinea also includes the Bismarck Archipelago, the northern
part of the Solomon Islands, the Trobriand and D'Entrecasteaux islands,
and the Louisiade Archipelago.
Papua New Guinea lies about 160 kilometres across Torres Strait
from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.
The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in
the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south)
in 1885.
The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied
the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer
the combined areas until independence in 1975.
A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended
in 1997, after claiming some 20,000 lives.
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