Papua New Guinea

The country of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is located north of Australia in the western Pacific Ocean, on the eastern half of an island that it shares with Indonesia. The population is around six million and the capital city is Port Moresby. There are around 700 tribes each with its own language and who are mostly isolated not only from the outside world but from each other as well. The country got its independence from Australia in 1975.

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * Radio is an important medium in Papua New Guinea, a country with widely-scattered, isolated settlements and low levels of literacy. The government operates a national radio station and a network of provincial stations. Their news coverage is said to be balanced. But funding problems, and the non-payment of power bills, have taken some of the regional radios off the air.

Leaders

 * Michael Somare, Prime minister
 * Mekere Morauta, former Prime minister
 * Queen Elizabeth II, Head of state, represented by the Governor-General

Related SourceWatch articles

 * ITS Global Defends Rimbunan Hijau's Papua New Guinea Logging Operations
 * PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited
 * Rimbunan Hijau

External articles

 * "Australian police 'may quit PNG'", BBC, May 13, 2005.

External resources

 * Timeline: Papua New Guinea, BBC, accessed March 2008.