Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975 after having been administered [Page 1208]as Papua and New Guinea since 1949. Located in the South Pacific, north of Australia, it remains one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world with 848 languages, although 12 have no known living speakers. Papua New Guinea also has a heavily rural society with only 18 percent of the population living in urban areas.

The many indigenous tribes in Papua New Guinea developed a range of agricultural techniques that some of them still use. The arrival of European visitors beginning in the 16th century and settlers in the 19th century changed the region, with Germany taking control of the northern part as German New Guinea, and the British ...