Key Facts about Papua New Guinea

About Papua New Guinea:

• It is an island country that lies in the south-western Pacific.
• It includes the eastern half of New Guinea (the world’s second largest island) and many small offshore islands.
• Neighbours: Indonesia to the west, Australia to the south, and the Solomon Islands to the south-east.
• Terrain: It is mainly mountainous but has low-lying plains in southern New Guinea.
• The islands that constitute Papua New Guinea were settled over a period of 40,000 years by a mixture of peoples who are generally referred to as Melanesians.
• Language: English is the main language of government and commerce. In most everyday contexts, the most widely spoken language is Tok Pisin.
• Government:
  • The country is a constitutional monarchy and a member of the Commonwealth.
  • The British monarch, represented by a governor-general, is head of state, and the Prime Minister is head of government.
• Papua New Guinea’s rainforests are rich in biodiversity, housing rare species such as birds of paradise, tree kangaroos, and the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing butterfly.
• These forests represent only one per cent of Earth’s land but play a vital role in absorbing carbon and supporting the lives and traditions of Papua New Guinea’s indigenous peoples. 
• Capital: Port Moresby

Q1: What is Monarchy?

It is a political system in which supreme authority is vested in the monarch, an individual ruler who functions as head of state. It typically acts as a political-administrative organization and as a social group of nobility known as “court society.”

News:Papua New Guinea’s rainforests in danger; illegal logging crises fuel human rights abuses and threaten biodiversity