PNG History

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’S EARLY HISTORY

Our ancient inhabitants are believed to have arrived in Papua New Guinea about 50-60,000 years ago from Southeast Asia during an Ice Age period when the sea was lower and distances between islands was shorter. New Guinea (as it used to be known), one of the first landmasses after Africa and Eurasia to be populated by modern humans, had its first migration at about the same time as Australia, placing us alongside one of the oldest continuous cultures on the planet.

New Guinea

Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7,000 BC, making it one of the few areas of original plant domestication in the world. A major migration of Austronesia speaking peoples came to our coastal regions roughly 2,500 years ago, along with the introduction of pottery, pigs, and certain fishing techniques.

Although all the climatic regions of Papua New Guinea are basically tropical, they are nevertheless varied. In the lowlands, mean annual maximum temperatures range from about 86 to 90 °F (30 to 32 °C), and the minimums are between 73 and 75 °F (23 and 24 °C).

Seasonal variation in temperature is slight, and the daily variation approximates the annual variation. Cooler conditions prevail in the Highlands, where night frosts are common above 7,000 feet (2,100 metres); daytime temperatures there generally exceed 72 °F (22 °C) regardless of season. Each variation in elevation creates new ecological zones for plant and animal life.

Rainfall, rather than temperature, is the determinant of season. Precipitation is dependent on two wind systems—the southeast trade winds and the northwesterly turbulence zone (the monsoon)—and on the three site characteristics of latitude, elevation, and exposure. The southeasterlies blow for approximately seven months (May to November) on the extreme southeast of the country (Milne Bay) and for gradually shorter periods in northern areas, predominating for only three months in the Admiralty Islands.

Conversely, northwesterlies are more common on the north coast and in the Bismarck Archipelago, but they affect Port Moresby for only three to four months of the year (the rainy season, December through March).

The Highlands seem to have their own airflow systems, receiving rain throughout the year—totaling between 100 and 160 inches (2,500 and 4,000 mm)—except for a midyear dry phase. With the northwesterlies, rain is frequently from heated saturated air that loses its moisture as it cools and rises (convectional storms), and rain shadow effects are reduced. With the southeasterlies, however, exposure is particularly important.

The Port Moresby coastal area is parched throughout the period of the southeasterlies, which flow parallel to the coast, yet where mountainous land lies athwart the airflow, as in New Britain or the southward-facing slopes of the Highlands, rainfall is extremely heavy, frequently exceeding 300 inches (7,600 mm).

Port Moresby receives less than 50 inches (1,300 mm) of precipitation annually, which affects the water supply and the generation of hydroelectric power.

EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OF PAPUA AND NEW GUINEA

The northern half of Papua New Guinea came into German hands in 1884 as German 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. That mandate was administered by the Australian Government until the Japanese invasion in December 1941 brought about its suspension. 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 to become the country of Papua New Guinea.

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 World War II, when Japanese forces invaded the northern parts of the islands in 1941 and began to advance on Port Moresby, suspending civil administration.

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, and Papua New Guinea was born.

FIRST CONTACT IN OUR HIGHLANDS REGION

Michael Leahy was an Australian prospector from rural Queensland who is known for making first contact with our highlands people in Papua New Guinea in 1932. Leahy and his brother Dan looked for gold and explored in the highlands for four years together with Patrol Officer James Taylor.

During his time here, Leahy documented his expedition in a daily journal and also captured an amazing series of photographs that were later discovered in 1983 by Australian writers and filmmakers Bob Connolly and Robyn Anderson. These two went on to make the award winning documentary, First Contact.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA, OCCUPATION AND WORLD WARS

During World War I, Papua New Guinea was occupied by Australia, which had begun administering British New Guinea, the southern part, as the re-named Papua in 1904. After World War I, Australia was given a mandate to administer the former German New Guinea by the League of Nations.
Papua, by contrast, was deemed to be an External Territory of the Australian Commonwealth, though as a matter of law it remained a British possession, an issue that had significance for the country’s post-Independence legal system after 1975. This difference in legal status meant that Papua and New Guinea had entirely separate administrations, both controlled by Australia.
The New Guinea campaign (1942-1945) was one of the major military campaigns of World War II. Approximately 216,000 Japanese, Australian and American soldiers, sailors and airmen died during the New Guinea Campaign. The two territories were combined into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea after World War II, which later was simply referred to as “Papua New Guinea”. The Administration of Papua became open to United Nations oversight.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA BECOMES A NATION

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. Papua New Guinea became self-governing on 1 December 1973 and achieved independence on 16 September 1975. The country joined the United Nations (UN) on 10 October 1975 by way of Security Council Resolution 375 and General Assembly resolution 3368.

SINCE INDEPENDENCE

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 another 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 to power Rabbie Namaliu, who a few weeks earlier had replaced Somare as leader of the Pangu Party.

Under legislation intended to enhance stability, new governments remain immune from no-confidence votes for the first 18 months of their incumbency.

The incumbent Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, came into office in 2011.

THE BOUGAINVILLE CONFLICT

A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville claimed some 20,000 lives. The rebellion began in early 1989, over opposition to the world’s largest open-cut copper mine, Panguna mine. Active hostilities ended with a truce in October 1997 and a permanent ceasefire was signed in April 1998. A peace agreement between the Government and ex-combatants was signed in August 2001 on the condition that a referendum on Bougainville’s political status would be held within twenty years. A referendum is scheduled to be held in June 2019.

MUST SEE

Learn about Papua New Guinea’s independence history at the new exhibition at Independence House in Port Moresby.
Take a tour of the relics and memories of World War II history through Kokopo and Rabaul in East New Britain.
Gain permission to visit the archaeological sites at Kuk Valley, in Western Highlands, the first place on earth to cultivate land for gardening.

Postal Address:

P.O Box 422, Waigani,
National Capital District (NCD)
Papua New Guinea (PNG)

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