Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially named the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua) and numerous offshore islands. It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region described since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. According to recent data, 841 different languages are listed for the country, although 11 of these have no known living speakers. There may be at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of about 6.2 million. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its people live in urban centres. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.
Strong growth in Papua New Guinea's mining and resource sector has led to PNG becoming the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world as of 2011. Despite this, many people live in extreme poverty, with about one-third of the population living on less than US$1.25 per day. The majority of the population still live in traditional societies and practice subsistence-based agriculture. These societies and clans have some explicit acknowledgement within the nation's constitutional framework. The PNG Constitution expresses the wish for "traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinean society", and for active steps to be taken in their preservation.
After being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. It became a separate Commonwealth realm with Her Majesty Elizabeth II as Queen of Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is a Commonwealth realm, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II reigning as its Sovereign and Head of State. It was expected by the constitutional convention, which prepared the draft constitution, and by Australia, the outgoing metropolitan power, that Papua New Guinea would choose not to retain its link with the Commonwealth monarchy. The founders, however, considered that imperial honours had a cachet that the newly independent state would not be able to confer with a purely indigenous honours system, so the monarchy was retained. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, currently Michael Ogio. Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are unusual among Commonwealth realms in that Governors-General are selected by the legislature rather than by the executive branch. Actual executive power lies with the Prime Minister, who heads the cabinet of 31 MPs from the ruling Coalition, which make up the government.
Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, including mineral and renewable resources, such as forests, marine (including a large portion of the world's major remaining tuna stocks), and in some parts for agriculture. The rugged terrain, including high mountain ranges and valleys, swamps and islands, and high cost of developing infrastructure, combined with other factors, including serious law and order problems in some centres, and the system of customary land title makes it difficult for outside developers, whilst local developers are also handicapped by years of deficient investment in education, health, ICT and access to finance. Agriculture, both for subsistence and cash crops provides a livelihood for 85% of the population and continues to provide some 30% of GDP. Mineral deposits, including gold, oil, and copper, account for 72% of export earnings. Oil palm production has grown steadily over recent years (largely from estates, but with extensive outgrower output), with palm oil now the main agricultural export, but in terms of households participating coffee remains the major export crop (produced largely in the Highlands provinces), followed by cocoa and coconut oil/copra from the coastal areas, each largely produced by smallholders and tea, produced on estates and rubber. [source: wikipedia]
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RT news
written by Staff
Monday April 8, 2013
Two elderly women were beheaded in Papua New Guinea after enduring lengthy torture, a report said Monday, the latest in a string of sorcery-related crimes.
Police were present during the killings last week, but were outnumbered by an aggressive mob and were unable to prevent the horrific deaths, The Post-Courier newspaper reported on Monday.
"We were helpless. We could not do anything," Bougainville police inspector Herman Birengka told the paper, saying his officers were threatened with violence when they tried to secure the women's release.
The mob accused the pair of using magic to kill a teacher.
"The two women were rounded up and taken to Lopele village after they were suspected of practicing sorcery and blamed for the death of the former teacher, who was from Lopele village," he said.
The killings were "barbaric and senseless," Birengka added.
The victims, whose identities have not been released, were tortured for three days, suffering knife and axe lacerations, before being beheaded in front of police who had been called to the village to rescue the women, the report said.
The murders come just days after another report that six women accused of sorcery were tortured with hot irons in an Easter "sacrifice" in the Southern Highlands.
In February, a young mother was stripped naked, doused with gasoline and set alight in the Western Highlands town of Mount Hagen as hundreds of onlookers gathered.
The woman, aged 20, had been accused of causing the death of a young boy. The case attracted global attention after images of the woman’s body burning on a pile of rubbish were published.
Amnesty has urged the government to make more effort to end the spate of incidents in a country where belief in sorcery is widespread.
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