Papua New Guinea
In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives
Papua New Guinea
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483359878.n493
Subject: Conflict Studies
- Entry
- Reader's Guide
- Entries A-Z
- Subject Index
-
Papua New Guinea (PNG) received its name from Spanish explorers in the early 1500s. Papua referred to the natives’ frizzy hair and New Guinea extended the name when a later explorer decided the locals resembled the peoples in Africa’s Guinea. The area was extremely diverse, with more than 700 languages spoken by the ethnic groups that inhabited the interior. Traditionally, PNG ethnicities participated in low-level, continual endemic warfare, meaning that the groups’ warrior classes frequently clashed. Pig theft and other petty crimes fueled interethnic disputes. Some tribes even chose to cannibalize their enemies, a process these warriors believed would allow them to take revenge and assume that person’s power.
For more than 300 years, the imperialist nations took little interest in the area. The Spanish and ...
-
-
- [0-9]
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Y
- Z
-
174357- Loading...
Also from SAGE Publishing
- CQ Library American political resources opens in new tab
- Data Planet A universe of data opens in new tab
- Lean Library Increase the visibility of your library opens in new tab
- SAGE Journals World-class research journals opens in new tab
- SAGE Research Methods The ultimate methods library opens in new tab
- SAGE Stats Data on demand opens in new tab