History of Papua New Guinea

The prehistory of Papua New Guinea can be traced to about 50,000–60,000 years ago, when people first migrated towards the Australian continent. Agriculture was established at least 7000 years ago in the New Guinea Highlands. Extensive trade networks operated throughout the region, and successive waves of migration included the spread of Austronesian languages around 3000 years ago, and the rise of the Lapita culture.

In 1545 the Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez was the first person to give the name "New Guinea" to the main island. European colonisation began in the 1880s when the eastern portion of New Guinea was divided between the German Empire and the British Empire. In WWI, the Allies took control of German New Guinea. After the war ended, the League of Nations gave Australia a mandate to administer the former German territory. In 1949, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Australia to form the administrative union of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. On 16 September 1975, the Territory gained independence from Australia and became a sovereign state known as the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Archaeology

thumb|350px|Regions of [[Oceania: Australasia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Australasia includes the Australian landmass (including Tasmania), New Zealand, and New Guinea.]]

Archaeological evidence indicates that humans arrived on New Guinea perhaps 60,000 years ago, although this is under debate. They came probably by sea from Southeast Asia during the Last Glacial Period, when sea levels were lower. Although the first arrivals were hunters and gatherers, early evidence shows that people managed the forest environment to provide food. There also are indications of Neolithic gardening having been practiced at Kuk at the same time that agriculture was developing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The sweet potatoes and pigs which are agricultural staples today were later arrivals, but shellfish and fish have long been mainstays of coastal dwellers' diets. Recent archaeological research suggests that 50,000 years ago people may have occupied sites in the highlands at altitudes of up to , rather than being restricted to warmer coastal areas.

Archaeological evidence indicates that anatomically modern humans first arrived in what became New Guinea and Australia, as well as the Bismarck Archipelago, around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago. Bougainville was settled around 28,000 years ago, and the more distant Manus Island by 20,000 years ago. These migrations were part of one of the earliest migrations of humans from Africa, and resulting populations remained relatively isolated from the rest of the world throughout prehistory. Evidence of habitation of the highlands goes back 35,000 years. Habitation of the islands increased after the climate changed.

thumb|Female gable image, Sawos people, Oceanic art in the [[Bishop Museum]]

Stone tools have been found on the Huon Peninsula dating back 40,000 years. Significant evidence of this comes from the Kuk Swamp, which has evidence of thousands of years of use to grow crops including taro and bananas. It is unknown whether they also settled on the mainland at this time, however there is strong evidence of their presence in coastal areas from around 500 BC. It is likely through these trading networks that banana and sugarcane moved from New Guinea to other areas of the world. Austronesian migration has been correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, chickens, dogs, and certain fishing techniques. In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, missionary Harry Dauncey found 10,000 skulls in the island's long houses, a demonstration of past practices. According to Marianna Torgovnick, writing in 1991, "The most fully documented instances of cannibalism as a social institution come from New Guinea, where head-hunting and ritual cannibalism survived, in certain isolated areas, into the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies, and still leave traces within certain social groups."

On New Guinea, communities were economically linked through trading networks, however aside from some political alliances each community functioned largely independently, relying on subsistence agriculture. Goods were often traded along established chains, and some villagers would be familiar with and sometimes know the languages of the immediately neighbouring villages (although language by itself was not a marker of political allegiance). Some wider trading networks existed in maritime areas, such as the Kula ring. Other well known trade networks include the Schouten Islands and the mainland, trade across the Vitiaz Strait, and the Hiri trade cycle. While people did not move far along these routes, goods moved long distances through local exchanges, and cultural practices likely diffused along them. Despite these links, the creation of larger political entities under European rule had no precedent, and in many cases brought together communities who had historically antagonistic relationships, or no relationship at all. The Portuguese explorer António de Abreu was the first European to discover the island of New Guinea, encountering the north coast, and in 1526 his countryman Jorge de Menezes discovered the west coast. The first Spanish explorer to see the island was Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1528. and resulted in a significant increase in population in the highlands. They allowed for cultivation at higher altitudes, and for a larger number of pigs to be raised. The word "Papua" has applied to various areas of New Guinea since then, with its inclusion in "Papua New Guinea" coming from its use for the Territory of Papua.

"New Guinea" (Nueva Guinea) was the name coined by the Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez. In 1545, he noted the resemblance of the people to those he had earlier seen along the Guinea coast of Africa. Guinea, in its turn, is etymologically derived from the Portuguese word Guiné. The name is one of several toponyms sharing similar etymologies, which likely means "of the burnt face" or similar, in reference to the dark skin of the inhabitants.

thumb|British flag raised after Queensland declared it was annexing part of the island in 1883

By the 1800s, there was some trade with the Dutch East Indies. Beginning in the 1860s, people from New Guinea were effectively taken as slaves to Queensland and Fiji as part of the blackbirding trade. This was stopped in 1884. Most of those taken were from coastal Papua. Those who returned to New Guinea brought their interactions with the west with them, but the largest impact was the creation of what became the Tok Pisin language.

Christianity was introduced to New Guinea on 15 September 1847 when a group of French Marist missionaries came to Woodlark Island. They established their first mission on Umboi Island. Following that year, they were forced to withdraw their mission endeavour. Five years later on 8 October 1852, the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, a pontifical institute, reestablished the mission on Woodlark Island, encountering sickness and resistance from local people. The Duke of York Islands saw the arrival of Methodist missionaries in 1875. The rejection of Queensland's unilateral action by the United Kingdom led to the 1883 Intercolonial Convention, accelerating the federation of Australia due to the desire of the Pacific colonies to have more autonomy.

The eastern half of the island was divided between two colonial powers in 1884.

In the British area, gold was found near the Mambare River in 1895.

There was little economic activity in Papua. Australia administered it separately under the Papua Act until it was invaded by the Empire of Japan in 1941, and civil administration suspended. During the Pacific War, Papua was governed by an Australian military administration from Port Moresby, where General Douglas MacArthur occasionally made his headquarters.

In 1908 the trade of birds-of-paradise was banned in Papua due to fears for the species' extinction.

thumb|Papuan [[Stilt house|lake dwellings with a lakatoi under sail, 1898 or before]]

thumb|Koiari village near [[Bootless Inlet, British New Guinea]]

New Guinea first placed limitations on the birds-of-paradise trade, before banning it for one year in 1914. The ban on trade became permanent in 1922 under Australian rule. One of the most significant impacts of colonial rule was to changes in local travel. Colonial authorities outlawed tribal warfare, and it became normal to move for work, while roads increased the connectivity between inland areas. In German New Guinea, Tok Pisin, an already existing pidgin language, began to spread through local adoption, and was reluctantly used by German authorities. Missionaries used a mixture of Tok Pisin and local languages, and such local languages were often individually specific to each mission station.

An exception is the record of the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company's Field Party which carried out two expeditions from September to December 1929 and from mid February to the end of June 1930. They journeyed on the "Banyandah", a cruiser of from Madang up the coast to the mouth of the Sepik River, travelling along that river to Marienberg and Moim, then along the Karosameri River to the Karrawaddi River and on to the Arrabundio River and Yemas, after which it was necessary to transport their stores and equipment by pinnace, canoe and ultimately on foot to their Mountain Base on the upper Arrabundio River.

During their first expedition the Akmana Field Party prospected the tributaries of the Arrabundio and then trekked across a spur of the Central Mountain Range to sample the Upper Karrawaddi River. Retracing their steps to the Arrabundio they then headed out across another spur of the Central Mountain Range to the Junction of the Yuat River with the Jimmi and Baiyer Rivers, again without finding gold in sufficient quantity. Returning to Madang at the end of December 1929, several of the party went back to Sydney to obtain instructions from the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company.

In mid February 1930 the second expedition quickly returned to their Mountain Base and on across the mountains to the junction of the Yuat with the Baiyer and Jimmi Rivers. They prospected south along the Baiyer River to its junction with the Maramuni and Tarua Rivers, where they established a palisaded forward camp naming the place 'Akmana Junction.' From this base they prospected along the Maramuni River and its tributaries, again without success. Finally they prospected the Tarua River south past the tributary which flows to Waipai, once more without success and on the advice of mining engineer Seale, it was decided there was nothing to justify further exploration. They had not progressed to any country on the southern watershed through which the early explorers and prospectors travelled to the Hagan Range and Wabag. The party returned to Madang, sailing for Sydney on 3 July 1930.

After leading the first expedition, Sam Freeman did not return and Reg Beazley became party leader of the second expedition, with Pontey Seale mining engineer, Bill MacGregor and Beazley prospectors and recruiters, and Ernie Shepherd in charge of transport and supplies, prospecting when opportunity arose. They had all served overseas during World War I with the AIF on the western front, in Egypt and the Levant and had previously been to New Guinea. In 1926 Freeman was near Marienberg with Ormildah drilling for oil; Shepherd was with Dr. Wade and R.J. Winters on their geological survey of an oil lease of in the Bogia and Nubio to Ramu region and up the Sepik River to Kubka above Ambunto. Beazley was drilling test sites for oil with Matahower in the lower Sepik and he and McGregor recruited labour on the Sepik and explored grass country to Wee Wak. Beazley also prospected the Arrabundio for gold and on his promising report to Freeman, Akmana Gold Prospecting Coy was floated in 1928.

The Akmana Gold Prospecting Field Party made contact with many peoples they called: grass country people, head hunters, pygmies, wig–men, Kanakas, Poomani. These contacts were often with the help of Drybow/Dribu, a leader and spokesman of the wig–men, a most intelligent man of goodwill, with a quiet authority that brought forth friendly cooperation. 'We made a peaceful entry into this new country, establishing a reputation for fair trade and decent behaviour ... but gold was our interest and we had traced the rivers and tributaries as far as practicable where conditions and results justified the effort and found nothing worthwhile. In the many years since, there have been quite a few reports of prospecting parties in the area. But nothing of note has been reported: So we did not leave much behind, it seems.'

'Members of the Akmana party donated wigs they had brought back to various museums. Two of them went to The Australian Museum, Sydney (from Beazley and Shepherd). Current records at the Australian Museum show that Beazley's wig, described as "a cap composed of human hair from the headwaters of the U–at River, Central Mountains, Mandated Territory of NG", was lodged on 31 January 1930, presumably on his quick visit to Sydney after the first expedition. Shepherd presented another wig to Father Kirschbaum, who wanted to send it to Germany. The wigs at The Australian Museum were later confused with some brought out of the Highlands 10 years afterwards by Jim Taylor during his Hagen–Sepik patrol, and wrongly attributed to him when put on display. Seale presented two wigs to the National Museum Canberra in 1930.'

World War II

thumb|200px|Australian troops at Milne Bay, Papua.The Australian garrison was the first to inflict defeat on the [[Imperial Japanese Army during World War II at the Battle of Milne Bay of Aug–Sep 1942.]]

thumb|200px|[[New Guinea Volunteer Rifles with captured Japanese flag, 1942]]

thumb|200px|An Australian soldier, Private George "Dick" Whittington, is aided by Papuan orderly Raphael Oimbari, near Buna on 25 December 1942.

Shortly after the start of the Pacific War, the island of New Guinea was invaded by the Japanese. Most of West Papua, at that time known as Dutch New Guinea, was occupied, as were large parts of the Territory of New Guinea (the former German New Guinea, which was also under Australian rule after World War I), but Papua was protected to a large extent by its southern location and the near-impassable Owen Stanley Ranges to the north.

The New Guinea campaign opened with the battles for New Britain and New Ireland in the Territory of New Guinea in 1942. Rabaul, the capital of the Territory was overwhelmed on 22–23 January and was established as a major Japanese base from whence they landed on mainland New Guinea and advanced towards Port Moresby and Australia. Having had their initial effort to capture Port Moresby by a seaborne invasion disrupted by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese attempted a landward invasion from the north via the Kokoda Trail. From July 1942, a few Australian reserve battalions, many of them very young and untrained, fought a stubborn rearguard action against a Japanese advance along the Kokoda Track, towards Port Moresby, over the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges. Local Papuans, called Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels by the Australians, assisted and escorted injured Australian troops down the Kokoda trail. The militia, worn out and severely depleted by casualties, were relieved in late August by regular troops from the Second Australian Imperial Force, returning from action in the Mediterranean theatre.

The Japanese were driven back. The bitter Battle of Buna-Gona followed in which Australian and United States forces attacked the main Japanese beachheads in New Guinea, at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. Facing tropical disease, difficult terrain and well constructed Japanese defences, the allies only secured victory with heavy casualties.

In early September 1942 Japanese marines attacked a strategic Royal Australian Air Force base at Milne Bay, near the eastern tip of Papua. They were beaten back by the Australian Army, and the Battle of Milne Bay is remembered as the first outright defeat on Japanese land forces during World War II. The offensives in Papua and New Guinea of 1943–44 were the single largest series of connected operations ever mounted by the Australian armed forces. The Supreme Commander of operations was the United States General Douglas MacArthur, with Australian General Thomas Blamey taking a direct role in planning and operations being essentially directed by staff at New Guinea Force headquarters in Port Moresby. Bitter fighting continued in New Guinea between the largely Australian force and the Japanese 18th Army based in New Guinea until the Japanese surrender in 1945.

The New Guinea campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War. In all, some 200,000 Japanese soldiers, sailors and airmen died during the campaign against approximately 7,000 Australian and 7,000 American service personnel.

thumb|Australian forces attack Japanese positions during the [[Battle of Buna–Gona, 7 January 1943.]]

During World War II, the New Guinea campaign (1942–1945) was fought in both the mainland and offshore islands. Approximately 216,000 Japanese, Australian, and U.S. servicemen died. The ground war which saw Japanese forces advance almost to Port Moresby involved significant contributions form native soldiers. Cleland remained in the position until his retirement in 1967, and lived in Port Moresby until his death in 1975. The House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea replaced the Legislative Council in 1963, and after elections on 15 February, opened on 8 June 1964. In 1971, the name of the territory was changed to Papua New Guinea.

Australia's change of policy towards Papua New Guinea largely commenced with the invitation from the Australian Government to the World Bank to send a mission to the Territory to advise on measures to be taken towards its economic development and political preparation. The mission's report, The Economic Development of the Territory of Papua New Guinea, published in 1964, set out the framework upon which much of later economic policy, up to and beyond independence, proceeded.

thumb|Australian [[Kiap|patrol officer in 1964]]

In 1946, New Guinea was declared a United Nations trust territory under Australian governance. These created alternative power structures, which while sometimes filled by traditional leaders, saw the beginning of a shift towards leaders with administrative or business experience. Speeches in the council could be in English, Tok Pisin, or Hiri Motu. The 1964 election occurred alongside the Council being replaced by the 64-member House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea, which for the first time had a majority of Papua New Guinean members. Tok Pisin was spoken by 89% of this parliament, although one representative could speak none of the three major languages and so had their own translator. Over time, Tok Pisin became the primary language of debate

Mining exploration by Rio Tinto in Bougainville began in 1964. This faced resistance from local landowners, however the Bougainville Copper corporation was established and began to operate a large mine. Resistance became interlinked with a desire for greater autonomy. Bougainville was geographically close to the British Solomon Islands, and its people are more culturally linked to those of the Solomon Islands than to others in the territory. However, the mine was seen as crucial for diversifying the economic base of Papua New Guinea from agriculture alone. United Nations visiting missions in the early 1970s called for further political education to better explain the meaning of self-governance and of independence. In March 1971 the House of Assembly recommended that the territory seek self-governance in the next parliament, which was agreed to by Australia. The committee settled upon a Westminster system, aiming to develop a political system where the legislature checks the executive.

In the 1972 Papua New Guinean general election in July, Michael Somare was elected as Chief Minister. Somare sought a better relationship with regional movements, negotiating to meet local needs rather than viewing such movements as an obstacle to a united independent state. His government announced specific plans to decentralise, and improve local self-sustainability. While these actions increased the number of local groups, they also decreased their salience and encouraged them to join the national political system. In December, Whitlam was elected as Prime Minister at the 1972 Australian federal election. The Whitlam Government then instituted self-governance in late 1973. The process culminated in the passing of the Papua New Guinea Independence Act 1975 in September 1975, citing the 16th of September 1975 as the date of independence.

Independence

Elections in 1972 resulted in the formation of a ministry headed by Chief Minister Michael Somare, who pledged to lead the country to self-government and then to independence. Papua New Guinea became self-governing on 1 December 1973 and achieved independence on 16 September 1975. The country joined the United Nations (UN) on 10 October 1975 by way of Security Council Resolution 375 and General Assembly resolution 3368.

Upon independence, most Australian officials, including agricultural, economic, educational, and medicinal staff, left the territory. Very little training had been provided to their successors. the voting system was changed to first past the post, as an unsuccessful attempt to encourage the development of a two-party system with clearly defined political parties. Elected provincial governments were created in 1976, including for Bougainville. although it had already been used in 10 by-elections.

Bougainville Island revolt

Although an August 1976 agreement with the national government resolved the initial declaration of independence,

The employment needs of the Bougainville mine decreased after construction was completed, leading younger individuals receiving little benefit from the presence of the mine. A renewed uprising on Bougainville started in 1988, fighting against both the Bougainville government and the national government. After the mine closed in May 1989, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) declared independence, and the national government pulled out in 1990 and blockaded the province, the conflict shifted into a complex internal civil war. National security forces re-entered the island at the end of 1990, and together with local allies slowly gained more control. The ceasefire also saw that Bougainville would establish a representative government and would not be subject to 1995 national legislation relating to provincial and local governments. The Bougainville People's Congress was formed to represent the province, however, disputes over the suspension of the previous government led to a compromise in the formation of the Bougainville Interim Provincial Government.

Governance

While warfare significantly decreased under Australian governance, Tribal fighting in the highland areas increased in the 1970s. These areas had been under outside control for less time, meaning former tribal conflict was still remembered and restarted upon independence. The first state of emergency there was declared in 1979, although it and similar interventions did not quell the violence. Unemployment and imbalanced gender ratios in cities meant tribal fighting morphed into the emergence of gangs. Gang violence led to a state of emergency in Port Moresby in 1984, which led to the intervention of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). This was effective, and led to further police and military interventions elsewhere. Both the police and military became more politicised, and less disciplined. Demand for private security increased as a response, and foreign investment was deterred.

A number of governmental changes were made as part of a World Bank Group programme put in place to help the government recover from its 1994 financial crisis. In June 1995, the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Governments (OLPLLG) was enacted. This effectively eliminated the former provincial governments, replacing them with bodies made up of national MPs from each province. The MP elected at-large from each province became the provincial Governor, while district MPs became Presidents of their district assemblies. The new provincial assemblies consisted of national MPs and representative from the district governments of each province.

Ethnic tensions

Numerous Chinese have worked and lived in Papua New Guinea, establishing Chinese-majority communities, and Chinese merchants became established in the islands before European exploration. Anti-Chinese rioting involving tens of thousands of people broke out in May 2009. The initial spark was a fight between ethnic Chinese and Papua New Guinean workers at a nickel factory under construction by a Chinese company. Native resentment against Chinese ownership of numerous small businesses and their commercial monopoly in the islands led to the rioting.

Natural disasters

A drought in 1997 caused by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation killed over 1,000 people.

In 2009, Parliament approved the creation of two additional provinces: Hela Province, consisting of part of the existing Southern Highlands Province, and Jiwaka Province, formed by dividing Western Highlands Province. Jiwaka and Hela officially became separate provinces on 17 May 2012. The declaration of Hela and Jiwaka is a result of the largest liquefied natural gas project in the country that is situated in both provinces.

Also in 2009, Papua New Guinea asked various southeast Asian nations for their support for Papua New Guinea's full membership bid in the ASEAN. Indonesia supported the bid after Papua New Guinea supported Indonesia's hold on its Papua region.

In 2011, there was a constitutional crisis between the parliament-elect Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill (voted into office by a large majority of MPs), and Somare, who was deemed by the supreme court to retain office. The stand-off between parliament and the Supreme Court continued, with both camps setting up rival governments. The courts ruled that legislation passed by the O'Neill government was void, while parliament passed legislation increasing its control over the judiciary. At one point the deputy prime minister Belden Namah entered the supreme court, escorted by police, ostensibly to arrest the chief justice Salamo Injia and fellow judge Nicholas Kirriwom. The judicial legislation effectively removed the chief justice, and other laws passed included limiting the age for a prime minister. In January 2012, a brief military mutiny emerged calling for the reinstation of Somare. The 2012 national elections went ahead as scheduled, and O'Neill was once again elected as prime minister by a majority of parliament. Somare joined O'Neill's government, charges against the court judges and others who supported Somare were dropped, and the legislation asserting control of the judiciary and that affecting the office of the prime minister was repealed.

The 2012–2017 O'Neill government was dogged by corruption scandals. Financial scandals, as well as criticism of the purchase of expensive cars for APEC Papua New Guinea 2018 meeting, created pressure on O'Neill and led to defections from government, although O'Neill was initially protected from deposition by the 18-month bar on no confidence votes. Davis Steven was appointed deputy prime minister, justice Minister and Attorney General. An Independent Commission Against Corruption was created through legislation in 2020. as the voting date for a non-binding independence referendum in the Bougainville autonomous region. The independence referendum took place between 23 November and 7 December 2019, providing a choice between greater autonomy within Papua New Guinea and full independence for Bougainville. Voters overwhelmingly voted for independence (98.31%). In December 2019, the autonomous region voted overwhelmingly for independence, with 97.7% voting in favour of obtaining full independence and around 1.7% voting in favour of greater autonomy. Negotiations between the Bougainville government and national Papua New Guinea on a path to Bougainville independence began in 2021.

In May 2019, James Marape was appointed as the new prime minister, after a tumultuous few months in the country's political life. Marape was a key minister in his predecessor Peter O’Neill’s government, and his defection from the government to the opposition camp had finally led to O’Neill's resignation from office. In July 2022, Prime Minister James Marape's PANGU Party secured the most seats of any party in the election, meaning James Marape was elected to continue as PNG's Prime Minister.

After an election widely criticised by observers for its inadequate preparation (including failure to update the electoral roll), abuses and violence, in July 2022, Prime Minister James Marape's PANGU Party secured the most seats of any party in the election, enabling James Marape to be invited to form a coalition government, which he succeeded in doing and he continued as PNG's Prime Minister. In the 2022 Election two women were elected into the eleventh Parliament, one, Rufina Peter, also became Provincial governor of Central Province.

On 10 January 2024 a riot broke out in Port Moresby where shops and cars were torched and supermarkets looted. Riots also occurred in the city of Lae. 22 lives were lost in the riots. They arose after police and members of the public sector protested over pay. The prime minister, James Marape, declared a 14-day state of emergency.