Papua New Guinea (PNG) is located 6º south of the equator and just north of Australia. It takes up the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, which is the second largest island in the world (second only to Greenland). Papua New Guinea is 178,703 square miles or about the size of the state of Texas, which includes several large islands and hundreds of smaller islands.
Climate: Papua New Guinea is primary a hot and humid rain-forest with some areas receiving up to 24 feet of rain a year. However, high peaks within the central mountain range actually receive snow. Temperatures range widely depending on the elevation, but on the coast it averages in the low 90s F. everyday, dropping into the low 70s F. at night, while in the higher elevations it averages much colder days and nights.
People: Papua New Guinea is one of the most rural countries in the world with 88% of its 7 million people living in the small rural communities. Subsistence farming is the primary occupation of the majority of the population, and most live in traditional bush houses.
Flora & Fauna: While most the country is jungle, there are no monkeys, tigers, or elephants as one might think. In fact there are very few large mammals at all, mainly just boar and cuscus, a type of possum. However in the southwest you can find some larger mammals like deer and tree kangaroos. But, most of the wildlife you will find in PNG consists of birds, insects, reptiles, and amphibians.
Languages: With more than 800 languages, Papua New Guinea boasts more than one tenth of the world’s languages, more than any other country in the world. Although English is one of the official languages along with Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu, most of the people of PNG use Tok Pisin to communicate between language groups, while English is only used by the highly educated and the government. Tok Pisin or Melanesian Pidgin developed when Europeans first made contact with Papua New Guineans. It was created by merging various aspects of some European and indigenous languages. Here is a phrase in Tok Pisin. See if you can figure out what it says (translation below).
Mi laik tok tankyu long ritim stori bilong PNG.
Translation: Thank you for reading about PNG.
Literally: I want to thank you for reading (this) story about PNG
Learn more about Papua New Guinea here:
A New Heart in Papua New Guinea 