Western Province is the largest province in Papua New Guinea by area. It shares a land border with the Indonesian province of Papua and a sea border with Australia. There are several large rivers that run through the province, including the Fly River, PNG’s biggest, and the Strickland and Ok Tedi Rivers. Lake Murray, PNG’s largest lake, is also in the province.
Western Highlands Province’s capital Mount Hagen is the third-largest city in Papua New Guinea, but it has a rural appearance, with its grass huts and terraced gardens where kaukau and other fruit and vegetables are grown in the Wahgi Valley. The people have a reputation for being industrious, goal-oriented and thrifty and they have been significant players in some key industries in PNG, notably: trucking, vehicle hire, taxis and buses, and agriculture.
Southern Highlands Province has lush, high valleys sandwiched between limestone peaks. Most of the natural vegetation is rainforest, with alpine woods and grasslands above 3000 metres. Swamps occur at all levels.
Sandaun Province (formerly West Sepik) is the outer province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the border of West Papua, which is Indonesia. The capital, Vanimo, is only 30 kilometres from the Indonesian border, which is closed to tourists. The province is the site of the headwaters of the Sepik River, which is covered in thick, forested mountains.
Oro Province is located to the east of the Owen Stanley mountain range, the barrier that separates the western and eastern parts of New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has announced a date for the signing of the gas agreement for the US$13 billion Papua LNG project. Opening the PNG Petroleum and Energy Summit in Port Moresby yesterday, he also outlined some of the key elements the agreement will contain.
Post-Brexit deal signed with Papua New Guinea and Fiji, new digital identity scheme and upgrades to Tari Airport in Hela. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.
Click TV’s new Board Advisor and a new Exploration Manager at Kingston Resources.
Most of the rest of the province’s geography is dominated by the Sepik River, one of the largest rivers in the world in terms of water flow.The Sepik, which flows 1126 kilometres from source to the sea, frequently floods and the river’s level can alter by as much as five metres over the course of the year. The southern areas of the province are taken up by the Hunstein Ranges.
New Ireland is one of the northernmost islands of Papua New Guinea. It is long, narrow and mountainous, with vast stretches of white sandy beaches. The island is part of the Bismarck Archipelago and although 360 km in length, the width is never more than 40 km.