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Australasia Ecozone

Australasia ecozone

The Australasian ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (including Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua), and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands (the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku) and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timor, often known as the Lesser Sundas. The rest of Indonesia is part of the Indomalayan ecozone. The Australasia ecozone also includes several Pacific island groups, including the Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. New Zealand and its surrounding islands are a distinctive sub-region of Australasian ecozone. From a biological point of view, Australasia is a distinct region with a common evolutionary history and a great many unique plants and animals, some of them common to the entire area, others specific to particular parts but sharing a common ancestry. The long isolation of Australasia from other continents allowed it to evolve relatively independently, and makes it home to many unique families of plants and animals. Australia and New Guinea are distinguished by their large population of Marsupial mammals, including kangaroos, possums, and wombats. The last remaining Monotreme mammals, the echidnas and the platypus, are endemic to Australasia. Prior to the arrival of humans about 50,000 years ago, only about one-third of Australasian mammal species were placental. The boundary between Australasia and Indomalaya follows the Wallace Line, named after the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace who noted the differences in mammal and bird fauna between the islands either side of the line. The Islands to the west of the line, including Java, Bali, Borneo, and the Philippines share a similar fauna with East Asia, including tigers, rhinoceros, and apes. During the ice ages, sea levels were lower, exposing the continental shelf that links these islands to one another and to Asia, and allowed Asian land animals to inhabit these islands. Similarly, Australia and New Guinea are linked by a shallow continental shelf, and were linked by a land bridge during the ice ages. A group of Australasian islands east of the Wallace line, including Sulawesi, Halmahera, Lombok, Flores, Sumba, Sumbawa, and Timor, is separated by deep water from both the southeast Asian continental shelf and the Australia-New Guinea continental shelf. These islands are called Wallacea, and contain relatively few Australian or Asian mammals. While most land mammals found it difficult to cross the Wallace Line, many plant, bird, and reptile species were better able to make the crossing. Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia are all portions of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which started to break into smaller continents in the Cretaceous era, 130-65 million years ago. New Zealand broke away first, more than 80 million years ago, and Australia finally broke free from Antarctica about 45 million years ago. All the Australasian lands are home to the Antarctic flora, descended from the flora of southern Gondwana, including the coniferous podocarps and Araucaria pines, and the broadleafed southern beech (Nothofagus), and proteas (Proteaceae). As Australia moved north into the desert latitudes, the continent became hotter and drier, and the soils poorer and leached of nutrients, causing the old Antarctic flora to retreat to the humid corners of the continent in favor new drought and fire tolerant flora, dominated by the Eucalyptus, Casuarina, and Acacia trees, and by grasses and scrub where the rainfall was too scarce to support trees. Presently Australia is the smallest continent, and also the driest continent and the flattest (lowest in elevation) continent.

Geology

The present distribution of Australasian plants and animals is partially a result of the geologic history of its land masses. Several of the land masses in the ecoregion are fragments of the ancient continent of Gondwana, while a number of smaller islands are of more recent volcanic or tectonic origin, and were never part of Gondwana. New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania, collectively known as Australia-New Guinea, Sahul, or Meganesia, are connected by a shallow continental shelf, and together form the largest fragment of Gondwana. The shallow continental shelf that presently separates the islands has served as a land bridge when sea levels were lower, most recently during the last ice age. New Guinea shares many families of birds and marsupial mammals with Australia. As the Indo-Australian Plate, which contains India, Australia, and the Indian Ocean floor in between, moved north, it collided with the Eurasian Plate, and the collision of the two plates pushed up the Himalayas, the Indonesian islands, and New Guinea's Central Range. The Central Range is much younger and higher than the mountains of Australia, so high that it is home to rare equatorial glaciers. New Guinea and Wallacea are part of the humid tropics, and many Indomalayan rainforest plants spread across the narrow straits from Asia, mixing together with the old Australian and Antarctic floras. Some botanists consider New Guinea and Wallacea to be part of the floristic province of Malesia, together with the other Indonesian islands and the Malay Peninsula, although Malesia is now mostly used to refer to only the Indomalayan side of the Wallace Line. New Zealand and New Caledonia are the other former fragments of Gondwana. The island groups north and east of New Guinea and New Caledonia, including Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty Islands, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, were pushed up by the collision of the Australian plate with other oceanic plates. These islands, collectively known as the East Melanesian Islands, were colonized by plants and some animals from New Guinea and New Caledonia, and are considered part of the Australasian ecozone based on those affinities. Further north and east are the Pacific island groups of Micronesia, Fiji, and Polynesia, which are also of relatively recent volcanic origin, and constitute the separate Oceania ecozone, although they share many ecological affinities with Australasia.

Fauna

New Zealand had no mammals (except for bats) until the arrival of humans. Birds adapted to ecological niches, such as grazers, insectivores, and large predators that have elsewhere been taken by mammals. New Zealand remained in the cool and humid latitudes, and lost many plant and animal families that were intolerant of its cool climate, including the araucarias and most proteas, as well as crocodiles and turtles. Large reptiles, including crocodiles and huge monitor lizards (family Varanidae), like the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), are ecologically important predators in Australia, New Guinea, and Wallacea. There are 13 endemic bird families, including emus, cassowaries, kiwi, kagu, cockatoos, birds of paradise, and honeyeaters

Human impact

The arrival of humans to Australia and New Guinea 50-60,000 years ago brought dogs (dingos) to Australia, and dogs and pigs to New Guinea. Pigs and rats arrived on New Zealand with the first Polynesian settlers 800 years ago. The arrival of the first humans coincided with the extinction of much of the native megafauna (see Holocene extinction event). The arrival of Europeans brought a whole host of new animals and plants, including sheep, goats, rabbits and foxes, to Australasia, which have further disrupted the native ecologies; a great many Australasian plants and animals are presently endangered.

Australasia terrestrial ecoregions

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Admiralty Islands lowland rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests (Indonesia)
Biak-Numfoor rain forests (Indonesia)
Buru rain forests (Indonesia)
Central Range montane rain forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Halmahera rain forests (Indonesia)
Huon Peninsula montane rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Japen rain forests (Indonesia)
Lord Howe Island subtropical forests (Australia)
Louisiade Archipelago rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
New Caledonia rain forests (New Caledonia)
Norfolk Island subtropical forests (Australia)
Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Northern New Guinea montane rain forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Queensland tropical rain forests (Australia)
Seram rain forests (Indonesia)
Solomon Islands rain forests (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands)
Southeastern Papuan rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Southern New Guinea freshwater swamp forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Southern New Guinea lowland rain forests (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Sulawesi lowland rain forests (Indonesia)
Sulawesi montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Trobriand Islands rain forests (Papua New Guinea)
Vanuatu rain forests (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu)
Vogelkop montane rain forests (Indonesia)
Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests (Indonesia)
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
Lesser Sundas deciduous forests (Indonesia)
New Caledonia dry forests (New Caledonia)
Sumba deciduous forests (Indonesia)
Timor and Wetar deciduous forests (Indonesia)
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Chatham Islands temperate forests (New Zealand)
Eastern Australian temperate forests (Australia)
Fiordland temperate forests (New Zealand)
Nelson Coast temperate forests (New Zealand)
Northland temperate forests (New Zealand)
Northland temperate kauri forests (New Zealand)
Stewart Island/Rakiura) temperate forests (New Zealand)
Richmond temperate forests (New Zealand)
Southeast Australia temperate forests (Australia)
Southland temperate forests (New Zealand)
Tasmanian Central Highland forests (Australia)
Tasmanian temperate forests (Australia)
Tasmanian temperate rain forests (Australia)
Westland temperate forests (New Zealand)
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Arnhem Land tropical savanna (Australia)
Brigalow tropical savanna (Australia)
Cape York tropical savanna (Australia)
Carpentaria tropical savanna (Australia)
Einasleigh upland savanna (Australia)
Kimberly tropical savanna (Australia)
Mitchell grass downs (Australia)
Trans Fly savanna and grasslands (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Victoria Plains tropical savanna (Australia)
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands (New Zealand)
Eastern Australia mulga shrublands (Australia)
Southeast Australia temperate savanna (Australia)
Montane grasslands and shrublands
Australian Alps montane grasslands (Australia)
Central Range sub-alpine grasslands (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)
Southland montane grasslands (New Zealand)
Tundra
Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra (Australia, New Zealand)
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub
Coolgardie woodlands (Australia)
Esperance mallee (Australia)
Eyre and York mallee (Australia)
Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands (Australia)
Kwongan heathlands (Australia)
Mount Lofty woodlands (Australia)
Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee (Australia)
Naracoorte woodlands (Australia)
Southwest Australia savanna (Australia)
Southwest Australia woodlands (Australia)
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Carnarvon xeric shrublands (Australia)
Central Ranges xeric scrub (Australia)
Gibson Desert (Australia)
Great Sandy-Tanami Desert (Australia)
Great Victoria Desert (Australia)
Nullarbor Plain xeric shrublands (Australia)
Pilbara shrublands (Australia)
Simpson Desert (Australia)
Tirari-Sturt's Stony Desert (Australia)
Western Australian mulga shrublands (Australia)
Mangrove
New Guinea mangroves (Indonesia)

See also


- Australasia

External link


- [http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/ecoregions/global200/pages/mainmap.htm Map of the ecozones] Category:Ecozones Category:Biogeography Category:Natural history of Australia ja:オーストラリア区

New Guinea

right New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded around 5000 BC. The name papua has also been long-associated with the island: this is discussed further under History, below.

Political divisions

The island is divided politically along east-west lines, roughly into equal halves:
- The portions of the island of New Guinea (Irian in Bahasa Indonesia) located west of 141°E longitude (see [http://www.papuaweb.org/goi/pp/peta-hr.gif map]) are incorporated into Indonesia as the provinces:
  - West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat) with Manokwari as its capital
  - Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) with the city of Jayapura as its capital. A proposal to split this into Central Papua (Papua Tengah) and East Papua (Papua Timur) has not been implemented.Jayapura] :Papuans actively have supported a broad-based independence movement, the Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM, against Indonesia since 1962. Its military arm is the TPN, or the Liberation Army of Free Papua. The Indonesian authorities view this as a separatist and a terrorist movement, the members of which are guilty of high treason. The OPM has charged the Indonesian government with racism, genocide, political assassination, torture and terrorism. Amnesty International has estimated more than 100,000 Papuans have died as a result of government-sponsored violence against Papuans, while others have set the number at more than 200,000.
- The eastern part forms the primary part of the nation of Papua New Guinea, which has been an independent country since 1975.

People

Populated by very nearly a thousand different Papua Melanesian tribal groups since 45,000 BC, New Guinea is the home of the world's oldest independent societies and a staggering number of separate languages, the Papuan languages. The separation was not merely linguistic; warfare among societies was a factor in the evolution of the men's house: separate housing of groups of adult men, from the single-family houses of the women and children, for mutual protection against the other groups. Pig-based trade between the groups and pig-based feasts are a common theme with the other peoples of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Most societies practice agriculture, supplemented by hunting and gathering. The island's population is comprised of roughly two indigenous ethnic groups: Papuans and Austronesians. Current evidence (archaeological, linguistic and biological) indicates that the Papuans are the oldest human residents of New Guinea, and that they constitute the majority of the population of New Guinea. Austronesians are a group who originated in Taiwan and spread from there through the Philippines and Indonesia and on into the Pacific. These seafaring peoples reached New Guinea many thousands of years after the arrival of the Papuans. They have colonised many offshore islands in the north and east of New Guinea, and in some places have settled on the mainland. The many thousands of years of human occupation of New Guinea has led to a great deal of ethnic diversity, which has been increased by the arrival of the Austronesians and the more recent history of European and Asian colonization. The Indonesian government which controls the western half of New Guinea has instituted an aggressive transmigration program designed to bring chiefly Sumatran and Javanese immigrants to Indonesian New Guinea to tip the largely black population toward a more Asian "balance." To date, more than 1 million Asian immigrants have settled in western New Guinea as part of the transmigration program.

Ecology

With some 786,000 km² of tropical land, New Guinea has an immense ecological value: 11,000 plant species; nearly 600 unique bird species, including the birds of paradise, cassowaries; over 400 amphibians; 455 butterfly species; marsupials including bondegezou, Goodfellow's tree kangaroo, Huon tree kangaroo, long-beaked echidna, tenkile, agile wallaby, alpine wallaby, cuscus and possums; and various other mammal species. Most of these species are shared, at least in their origin, with the continent of Australia, which was until fairly recent geological times, part of the same landmass. See Australia-New Guinea for an overview.

History

See also: History of Papua New Guinea The first inhabitants of New Guinea arrived at least 60,000 years ago, having travelled through the south-east Asian peninsula. These first inhabitants, from whom the Papuan people are probably descended, adapted to the range of ecologies and in time developed one of the earliest known agricultures. Remains of this agricultural system, in the form of ancient irrigation systems in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, are being studied by archaeologists. This work is still in its early stages so there is still uncertainty as to precisely what crop was being grown, or when/where agriculture arose. The gardens of the New Guinea highlands are ancient, intensive permacultures, adapted to high population densities, very high rainfalls (as high as 10,000 mm/yr (400 in/yr)), earthquakes, hilly land, and occasional frost. Complex mulches, crop rotations and tillages are used in rotation on terraces with complex irrigation systems. Western agronomists still do not understand all practices, and native gardeners are notably more successful than most scientific farmers. Some authorities believe that New Guinea gardeners invented crop rotation well before western europeans. A unique feature of New Guinea permaculture is the silviculture of Casuarina oligodon, a tall, sturdy native ironwood tree, suited to use for timber and fuel, with root nodules that fix nitrogen. Pollen studies show that it was adopted during an ancient period of extreme deforestation. In more recent millennia another wave of people arrived on the shores of New Guinea. These were the Austronesian people, who had spread down from Taiwan, through the south-east Asian archipelago, colonising many of the islands on the way. The Austronesian people had technology and skills extremely well adapted to ocean voyaging and Austronesian language speaking people are present along much of the coastal areas and islands of New Guinea. The first European contact with New Guinea was by Portuguese and/or Spanish sailors in the 16th century. In 1526-27 Don Jorge de Meneses saw the western tip of New Guinea and named it ilhas dos Papuas. The word papua is often said to derive from the Malay word papua or pua-pua, meaning ‘frizzly-haired’, referring to the frizzled hair of the inhabitants of these areas. Another possibility, (put forward by Sollewijn Gelpke in 1993) is that it comes from the Biak phrase sup i papwa which means ‘the land below [the sunset]’ and refers to the islands west of the Bird’s Head, as far as Halmahera. Whatever the origin of the name Papua, it came to be associated with this area, and more especially with Halmahera, which was known to the Portuguese by this name during the era of their colonisation in this part of the world. In 1545 the Spaniard Yñigo Ortiz de Retez sailed along the north coast of New Guinea as far as the Mamberamo River near which he landed, naming the island 'Nueva Guinea'. The first map showing the whole island (as an island) was published in 1600 and shows it as 'Nova Guinea'. The first European claim occurred in 1828, when the Netherlands formally claimed the western half of the island. In 1883, following a short-lived French annexation of New Ireland, the British colony of Queensland annexed south-eastern New Guinea. However, the Queensland government's superiors in the United Kingdom revoked the claim, and (formally) assumed direct responsibility in 1884, when Germany claimed north-eastern New Guinea as a protectorate. The first Dutch government posts were established in 1898 and in 1902 Manokwari on the North coast, Fak-Fak in the West and Merauke in the South at the border with British New Guinea (later renamed Papua). Both the Dutch and the British tried to suppress warfare and headhunting once common between the villages of the populace. In 1906 the British government transferred total responsibility for south-east New Guinea to Australia. During World War I, Australian forces seized German New Guinea, which in 1920 became a League of Nations mandated territory of Australia. The Australian territories became collectively known as The Territories of Papua and New Guinea (until February 1942). Before about 1930, most European maps showed the highlands as uninhabited forests. When first flown over by aircraft, numerous settlements with agricultural terraces and stockades were observed. Netherlands New Guinea and the Australian territories were invaded in 1942 by the Japanese. The Australian territories were put under military administration and were known simply as New Guinea. The highlands, northern and eastern parts of the island became key battlefields in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. Papuans often gave vital assistance to the Allies, fighting alongside Australian and US troops, and carrying equipment and injured men across New Guinea. Following the return to civil administration, the Australian section was known as the Territory of Papua-New Guinea (1945-49) and then as Papua and New Guinea. Although the rest of the Dutch East Indies achieved independence as Indonesia on December 27, 1949, the Netherlands regained control of western New Guinea. During the 1950s the Dutch government began to prepare Netherlands New Guinea for full independence and allowed elections in 1959; an elected Papuan Council, the New Guinea Council (Nieuw Guinea Raad) took office on April 5, 1961. The Council decided on the name of West Papua, a national emblem, a flag called the Morning Star or Bintang Kejora, and a national anthem; the flag was first raised — next to the Dutch flag — on December 1, 1961. However, Indonesia threatened with an invasion, after full mobilisation of its army, by August 15, 1962. It had received with military help from the Soviet Union. Under strong pressure of the Kennedy administration the Dutch, who were prepared to resist an Indonesian attack, had to go to the conference table. On October 1, 1962, the Dutch handed over the territory to a temporary UN administration (UNTEA). On May 1, 1963, Indonesia took control. The territory was renamed West Irian and then Irian Jaya. In 1969 Indonesia, under the 1962 New York Agreement, had to organize a plebiscite to seek the consent of the Papuans for Indonesian rule. This so called Act of Free Choice (Pepera) resulted under strong threats and intimidations of the Indonesian army in a 100% vote for continued Indonesian rule. From 1971, the name Papua New Guinea was used for the Australian territory. In 1975, Australia granted full independence to Papua New Guinea. In 2000, amid increasing discontent and opposition to Indonesian rule, Irian Jaya was formally renamed "The Province of Papua" and a large measure of "special autonomy" was granted in 2001. This law on special autonomy, however, was never implemented. On the contrary, beginning of 2003 President Megawati Sukarnoputri announced the division of the province into three parts, while the name "Papua" for the province would again revert to Irian. With strong public protest by Papuans only the province of West Irian Jaya, with Manokwari as its capital, covering the Bird's Head peninsula was split from Papua Province. In 2005 a new proposal came from Jakarta to split the province into five provinces, with the clear purpose to eliminate all anti-Indonesian and pro-independence action.

External links


- [http://natzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2001/2/intoxnewguineabirds.cfm The Intoxicating Birds of New Guinea by John Tidwell]
- [http://www.fpcn-global.org/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=1 Online documentaries re OPM sponsored by West German-based Friends of Peoples Close to Nature]
- [http://www.papuaweb.org/gb/peta/sejarah/collingridge/ Facsimile of material from "The Discovery of New Guinea" by George Collingridge] Category:Islands Category:Melanesia Category:New Guinea zh-min-nan:Sin Guinea ko:뉴기니 섬 ja:ニューギニア島

Papua New Guinea

:For other uses of PNG, see PNG (disambiguation) The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (informally, Papua New Guinea or PNG) is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands. (The Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya occupy the western half of the island of New Guinea.) It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. Its capital and one of its few major cities is Port Moresby. It is one of the most diverse countries on Earth. There are over 700 indigenous languages and at least as many indigenous societies, out of a population of just over 5 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18% living in urban centres. The majority of the population live in indigenous societies and practice subsistence-based agriculture. These societies and clans have some degree of distinct acknowledgement within the nation's constitutional framework. The PNG Constitution (Preamble 5(4)) 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. The PNG legislature has enacted various laws in which a type of tenure called "customary land title" is recognised, meaning that the traditional lands of the indigenous peoples have some legal basis to inalienable tenure. This customary land notionally covers most of the usable land in the country (some 97% of total land area); the remainder is either in private freehold or the property of the PNG Government. Its geography is similarly diverse, and in places extremely rugged. A spine of mountains runs the length of the island of New Guinea, forming a populous highlands region. Dense rainforests can be found in the lowland and coastal areas. This terrain has made it difficult for the country to develop transportation infrastructure. In some areas, planes are the only mode of transport. After being colonized by three external powers since 1888, Papua New Guinea gained its independence in 1975.

History

Human remains have been found on New Guinea which have been dated to ca. 60,000 years ago. These ancient inhabitants probably had their origins in Southeast Asia and established an agriculture-based civilization. Little was known in the West about the island until the 19th Century, although European explorers had discovered the island in the 16th century. The country was named in the 19th century; the word "Papua" is derived from a Malay word describing the frizzy Melanesian hair, and "New Guinea" was the name coined by a Portuguese or Spanish explorer because of the population's resemblance to that of Guinea in Africa. The northern half of the country came into German hands in the late 19th Century as German New Guinea. During World War I, it was occupied by Australia, which also administered the southern part as Papua (formerly British New Guinea). The two territories were combined into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, and later simply referred to as "Papua New Guinea". Independence from Australia occurred in September of 1975. A secessionist revolt which claimed 20,000 lives raged on the island of Bougainville from 1988 until it was resolved in 1997. Autonomous Bougainville recently elected Joseph Kabui as president.

Politics

Papua New Guinea is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state. She is represented in Papua New Guinea by the Governor General who is currently Sir Paulias Matane. Actual executive power lies with the Prime Minister, who heads the cabinet. The unicameral parliament has 109 seats, of which 20 are occupied by the governors of the 20 provinces. The members of parliament are elected every five years. Elections in PNG attract large numbers of candidates. Since independence in 1975, members have been elected by the first past the post system, with winners frequently gaining less than 15% of the vote. Electoral reforms in 2001 introduced the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV), a modified version of the Alternative Vote. The first general election to be conducted using LPV will be held in 2007.

Provinces

Alternative Vote Papua New Guinea is divided into nineteen provinces and the National Capital District:

Geography

province Papua New Guinea is mostly mountainous (highest peak: Mount Wilhelm at 4,509 m/14,793 ft) and covered with rain forest; there are small plains along the coast. Situated along a fault line, earthquakes and the resultant tsunamis are relatively common in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is one of the regions closest to the equator that experience snowfall, which occurs in the elevated regions. The largest area of the country is on New Guinea where the largest cities are also located, including the capital Port Moresby, Lae and Mount Hagen; major islands belonging to Papua New Guinea include New Ireland, New Britain and Bougainville.

Ecology

PNG is part of the Australasia ecozone, which also includes Australia, New Zealand, eastern Indonesia, and several Pacific island groups, including the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Geologically, the island of New Guinea is a northern extension of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, forming part of a single landmass Australia-New Guinea (also called Sahul or Meganesia). It is connected to the Australian segment by a shallow continental shelf across the Torres Strait, which in former ages had lain exposed as a land bridge - particularly during ice ages when sea levels were lower than at present. Consequently, many species of birds and mammals found on New Guinea have close genetic links with corresponding species found in Australia. One notable feature in common for the two landmasses is the existence of several species of Marsupial mammals, including some kangaroos and possums, which are not found elsewhere. Many of the other islands within PNG territory, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, the Admiralty Islands, the Trobriand Islands, and the Louisiade Archipelago, were never linked to New Guinea by land bridges, and they lack many of the land mammals and flightless birds that are common to New Guinea and Australia. Australia and New Guinea are portions of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which started to break into smaller continents in the Cretaceous era, 130-65 million years ago. Australia finally broke free from Antarctica about 45 million years ago. All the Australasian lands are home to the Antarctic flora, descended from the flora of southern Gondwana, including the coniferous podocarps and Araucaria pines, and the broadleafed southern beech (Nothofagus). These plant families are still present in Papua New Guinea. As the Indo-Australian Plate (includes landmasses of India, Australia, and the Indian Ocean floor in-between) drifts north, it collides with the Eurasian Plate, and the collision of the two plates pushed up the Himalayas, the Indonesian islands, and New Guinea's Central Range. The Central Range is much younger and higher than the mountains of Australia; so high that it is home to rare equatorial glaciers. New Guinea is part of the humid tropics, and many Indomalayan rainforest plants spread across the narrow straits from Asia, mixing together with the old Australian and Antarctic floras. Indomalaya PNG includes a number of terrestrial ecoregions:
- Admiralty Islands lowland rain forests
- Central Range montane rain forests
- Huon Peninsula montane rain forests
- Louisiade Archipelago rain forests
- New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests
- New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests
- Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests
- Northern New Guinea montane rain forests
- Solomon Islands rain forests (includes Bougainville and Buka)
- Southeastern Papuan rain forests
- Southern New Guinea freshwater swamp forests
- Southern New Guinea lowland rain forests
- Trobriand Islands rain forests
- Trans Fly savanna and grasslands
- Central Range sub-alpine grasslands

Economy

Central Range sub-alpine grasslands Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by rugged terrain and the high cost of developing infrastructure. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the population. Mineral deposits, including oil, copper, and gold, account for 72% of export earnings. Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta had tried to restore integrity to state institutions, stabilize the kina, restore stability to the national budget, privatize public enterprises where appropriate, and ensure ongoing peace on Bougainville. The Morauta government had considerable success in attracting international support, specifically gaining the backing of the IMF and the World Bank in securing development assistance loans. Significant challenges face the current Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, including gaining further investor confidence, continuing efforts to privatize government assets, and maintaining the support of members of Parliament. The third quarter (September, 2004) Reserve Bank Report by the Governor of Bank of PNG showed positive economic stance by the Government, with inflation at zero.

Demographics

Sir Michael Somare] All three major ethnic groups in the Pacific Ocean, Melanesians, Micronesians and Polynesians are represented in Papua New Guinea. Chinese, Europeans and Australians also reside in the country. There are three official languages for Papua New Guinea, in addition to over 700 indigenous Papuan and Melanesian languages (an incredible 10% of the world's total languages). English is an official language, although few people speak it. Most people speak the creole language Tok Pisin as a lingua franca. (Much of the debate in Parliament and many newspapers are conducted in Tok Pisin.) In the southern region of Papua, people may use the third official language, Hiri Motu, rather than Tok Pisin. With an average of only 7000 speakers per language, Papua has a greater density of languages than any other nation on earth except Vanuatu. See the [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PG SIL Ethnologue] for more information on the diverse range of languages. About one third of the population adheres to indigenous beliefs, while the rest are Christians. Of these, about one third are Roman Catholic and the remainder are divided among several Protestant denominations. PNG has the highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the Pacific region and is the fourth country in the Asia Pacific region to fit the criteria for a generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic. [http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/png/hivaids.cfm]

Culture

The culture of Papua New Guinea is many-sided and complex. It is estimated that more than 1000 different cultural groups exist in PNG. Because of this diversity, many different styles of cultural expression have emerged; each group has created its own expressive forms in art, dance, weaponry, costumes, singing, music, architecture and much more. architecture Most of these different cultural groups have their own language. People typically live in villages which rely on subsistence farming. To balance their diets, they go hunting and collect wild plants (such as yams roots) for food. Those who become skilled at hunting, farming and fishing earn a great deal of respect in Papua New Guinea. On the Sepik River, a group of indigenous people is known for their wood carvings. They create forms of plants or animals, because they believe these are their ancestors. Even though sea shells are no longer the currency of Papua New Guinea - sea shells were abolished as currency in 1933 - this heritage is still present in local customs; to get a bride, a groom must bring a certain amount of golden-edged clam shells. [http://www.cedarville.edu/academics/education/resource/geo/countries/papuang/culture.htm] People of the highlands engage in colorful local rituals that are called "sing sings". They paint themselves and dress up with feathers, pearls and animal skins to represent birds, trees or mountain spirits. Sometimes an important event, such as a legendary battle, would be enacted at such a musical festival. (See also Music of Papua New Guinea) Sport is an important part of PNG culture. At national and international levels, PNG has particularly strong teams in Australian rules football (including the second most players of any country in the world) and Rugby league which is considered the national sport.

Religion

The courts and government practice uphold the constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and belief, and no legislation to curb those rights has been adopted. The 2000 census showed 96 percent of citizens were members of a Christian church, and many citizens combine their Christian faith with some pre-Christian traditional indigenous practices. The churches with the largest number of members are the Roman Catholic Church (with 30% of the population), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, the United Church of Papua New Guinea, and the Seventh-day Adventists. The Pentecostal churches and charismatic movement are also present. Minority religions include the Bahá'í Faith (15,000 Bahá'ís) and Islam (1,000 to 2,000 Muslims). Non-traditional Christian churches and non-Christian religious groups are active throughout the country. The Papua New Guinea Council of Churches has stated that both Muslim and Confucian missionaries are active, and foreign missionary activity in general is high. Traditional religions were animist and also tended to have elements of ancestor worship. For more information, see the article on the Korowa of Papua.

Miscellaneous topics

Papua
- Airlines of Papua New Guinea
- :Category:Education in Papua New Guinea
- Communications in Papua New Guinea
- Foreign relations of Papua New Guinea
- List of cities in Papua New Guinea
- List of Papua New Guineans
- Military of Papua New Guinea
- Tourism of Papua New Guinea
- Transportation in Papua New Guinea
- University of Papua New Guinea

References


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External links


- [http://www.pnggossip.com A newsletter dealing with news and gossip about PNG]
- [http://www.janeresture.com/png_home/index.htm Jane's Papua New Guinea Home Page]
- [http://map.mineral.gov.pg/ Interactive maps of Papua New Guinea]
- [http://www.pngonline.gov.pg/ Papua New Guinea Government Online]
- [http://portmoresby.anglican.org Port Moresby Anglican Diocese Web Site]
- [http://www.michie.net/pngindex.html Trevor's Papua New Guinea Information Pages] Category:Monarchies Category:Oceanic countries
- zh-min-nan:Papua Sin Guinea ko:파푸아 뉴기니 ms:Papua New Guinea ja:パプアニューギニア th:ประเทศปาปัวนิวกินี

Papua (Indonesia)

Papua is a province of Indonesia comprising part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands (see also Western New Guinea). (The name Papua has had a somewhat confusing history: for details see the discussion under New Guinea). The name West Papua is preferred among nationalists who hope to separate from Indonesia and form their own country (the region was promised a referendum on independence from the Netherlands). The province was known as West Irian or Irian Barat from 1969 to 1973—Irian is the Indonesian term for the island of New Guinea. It was then renamed Irian Jaya (roughly translated, "Victorious Irian") by Suharto, a name that remained in official use until 2002. During the colonial era the region was known as Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea. Netherlands New Guinea The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea, but in 2003, the western portion of the province, on the Bird's Head Peninsula, was made a separate province named West Irian Jaya.

Government

The nature of Indonesian government in Papua is controversial. International opinion varies a great deal. Some view it as naked colonialism, others maintain that Indonesia represents a legitimate authority with a willing people. Frank expression of views is complicated by the delicate and troubled relationship many nations have with Indonesia. According to the United States [http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/84.htm Country Studies - Library of Congress] report about Indonesian government structure: :"Since independence the nation has been centrally governed from Jakarta in a system in which the lines of authority, budget, and personnel appointment run outward and downward. Regional and local governments enjoy little autonomy. Their role is largely administrative: implementing policies, rules, and regulations. Regional officialdom is an extension of the Jakarta bureaucracy. The political goal is to maintain the command framework of the unitary state, even at the cost of developmental efficiency. Governments below the national level, therefore, serve essentially as subordinate administrative units through which the functional activities of Jakarta-based departments and agencies reach out into the country." In 1999 it was proposed to split the province into three government-controlled sectors, sparking Papuan protests (see [http://www.worldevangelical.org/persec_papua_21nov03.html external article]). In January 2003 President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed an order dividing Papua into three provinces: Central Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Tengah), Papua (or East Irian Jaya, Irian Jaya Timur), and West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat). The formality of installing a local government for Jaraka in Irian Jaya Barat (West) took place in February 2003 and a governor was appointed in November; a government for Irian Jaya Tengah (central) was delayed from August 2003 due to violent local protests. The creation of this separate central province was blocked by Indonesian courts, who declared it to be unconstitutional and in contravention of the Papua's special autonomy agreement. The previous division into two provinces was allowed to stand as an established fact. (King, 2004, p. 91)

Regions

Indonesia structures regions by Regencies and districts within those. Though names and areas of control of these regional structures can vary over time in accord with changing political and other requirements, in 2001 the Irian Jaya (Papua) Province consisted of 12 regencies (kabupaten), 1 city (kotamadya), 117 subdistricts (kecamatan), 66 kelurahan, and 830 villages (desa). 2003 The regencies ("kabupaten") in 2002 were: Sorong; Manokwari; Fakfak; Mimika; Yapen-Waropen; Biak-Numfor; Nabire; Puncak Jaya; Paniai; Jayawijaya; Merauke; and Jayapura. In addition to these, the cities Sorong and Jayapura also have the status of a regency. See main article Indonesian Regencies of Papua for further details. Hollandia, founded on 7 March 1910, had by 1962 developed into a city with modern civil, educational, and medical services. Since Indonesian administration these services have been replaced by Indonesian equivalents such as the TNI (the army) replacing the Papua Batallion. The name of the city has been changed from Hollandia to Kotabaru, then to Sukarnopura and finally to Jayapura. Papuans now like to call it Port Numbai, the name of the place before the arrival of foreigners. Jayapura is the largest city, boasting a small but active tourism industry, it is built on a slope overlooking the bay. Cendrawasih University or Uncen campus at Abepura houses the University Museum. Both Tanjung Ria beach, near the market at Hamadi—site of the 22 April 1944 Allied invasion during World War II—and the site of General Douglas MacArthur's World War II headquarters at Ifar Gunung have monuments commemorating the events.

Geography

Land Area
Area420,540 km2
Climate
Rainfall1800 to 3000 mm
Temperature19 to 28 °C
Humidity80%
A central East-West mountain range dominates the geography of New Guinea, over 1600 km in total length. The western section is around 600 km long and 100 km across. Steep mountains 3000 to 4000 m and up to 5000 m high along the range ensures a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The tree line is around 4000 m elevation and the tallest peaks are snowbound year round. Both North and West of the central ranges the land remains mountainous mostly 1000 to 2000 m high covered by thick rain forest and a warm humid year round climate. The third major habitat feature is the south east lowlands with extensive wetlands stretching for hundreds of kilometers. The Mamberamo river, sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of Papua" is the province's largest river which winds through the northern part of the province. The result is a large area of lakes and rivers known as the Lakes Plains region. The famous Baliem Valley, home of the Dani people is a tableland 1600 m above sea level in the midst of the central mountain range; Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) is a mist covered limestone mountain peak 4884 m above sea level.

Tribal groupings in Papua


- Lani, perhaps better known as Dani.
- Mee.
- Kamoro.
- Amungme.
- Sentani.
- Biak, Byak is the tribe, not Biak.
- Bauzi.
- Asmat.
- Kombai.
- Korowai

Ecology

A vital tropical rainforest with the tallest tropical trees and vast biodiversity, Papua's known forest fauna includes marsupials (including possums, wallabies, tree kangaroos, cuscus), other mammals (including the endangered long-beaked echidna), many bird species (including birds of paradise, casuarius, parrots, cockatoos), the world's longest lizards (Papua monitor) and the world's largest butterflies.
Animal ClassEst. Number
Mammal180
Marsupial70
Bird700
endemic bird450
Bats70
The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plant, 124 genera of which are endemic. The extensive waterways and wetlands of Papua are also home to salt and freshwater crocodile, tree monitors, flying foxes, osprey, bats and other animals; while the equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored. Ecological dangers include deforestation, the spread of the exotic Crab-eating Macaque, which competes with indigenous species, and toxic water pollution leaching into rivers from the copper and gold tailings piles produced during mining operations.

Postage stamps

Crab-eating Macaque During the 1960s, the region had its own postage stamps. The first were overprints reading "UNTEA" (United Nations Temporary Executive Authority) applied to the stamps of Dutch New Guinea, issued in 1962. There are four slightly different types of overprint, three types applied locally, and a fourth made in the Netherlands and sold by the UN in New York City. These were superseded on 1 May 1963 by stamps of Indonesia overprinted "IRIAN BARAT" and a series of six commemoratives whose designs included a map of Indonesia stretching "from Sabang to Merauke" and a parachutist landing in New Guinea. These, as were later issues in 1968 and 1970, were inscribed both "IRIAN BARAT" and "REPUBLIK INDONESIA". The last issue specifically for the territory consisted of two depicting birds (Black-Capped Lory and Bird of Paradise), issued 26 October 1970.

See also


- Human rights violations in western New Guinea
- List of birds on stamps of West Irian

External links


- [http://www.irja.org/index2.shtml Online Library West Papua, Irian Jaya]
- [http://www.eco-action.org/ssp/resources.html Extensive Library, some material written by Lani (highland) tribespeople]
- [http://www.papuaweb.org/ PapuaWeb]
- [http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/html/Public_Affairs/426/westpapuahrights.pdf "Human Abuse in West Papua - Application of Law to Genocide"]
- [http://www.nzz.ch/dossiers/2001/westpapua/2000.12.22-engl-article72F07.html "Prison, Torture and Murder in Jayapura - Twelve Days in an Indonesian Jail" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2000)]
- [http://www.papuaweb.org/goi/pp/peta-hr.gif Map showing the three new provinces]
- [http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB128/index.htm Declassified US documents on "Act of free choice"]
- [http://www.worldevangelical.org/persecute/persec_Papua_31Mar05.html Papua: Christian Leaders Fear Genocide]

Ecology


- [http://russbaker.com/The%20Nation%20-%20The%20Deforesting%20of%20Irian%20Jaya.htm The Deforesting of Irian Jaya, 1994]
- [http://web.archive.org/web/20040726043852/veederandld.20m.com/primnews/10201.html Monkeys Threaten New Guinea's Wildlife], October 2, 2001, Wall Street Journal (archived)
- [http://www.sidsnet.org/archives/biodiversity-newswire/2001/0055.html An article on biodiversity]
- [http://www.wetlands.or.id/irj20.htm Wetlands Study]

References


- King, Peter, West Papua Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy, or Chaos?. University of New South Wales Press, 2004, ISBN 0868406767. Category:Provinces of Indonesia Category:New Guinea Category:Disputed territories ja:イリアンジャヤ

Sulawesi

Sulawesi (formerly Celebes) is a large island in Indonesia. It is the world's eleventh largest island, covering an area of 174,600 km². world's eleventh largest island] The island is surrounded in the west by Borneo, the north by the Philippines, east by Maluku, and to the south by Flores and Timor. The island has a distinctive shape, dominated by four large peninsulas (see Sulawesi peninsulas). The central part of the island is ruggedly mountainous, such that the island's peninsulas have traditionally been remote from each other, with better connections by sea than by road. The island is subdivided into six provinces: Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi. The largest cities on the island are Makassar, on the southwestern coast of the island, and Manado, on the northern tip. 229,000 hectares of the island is devoted to Lore Lindu National Park. Red-Knobbed Hornbills and the Giant Civet can also be found here.

External links


- Category:Islands of Indonesia ko:술라웨시 섬 ms:Sulawesi ja:スラウェシ島

North Maluku

North Maluku (Indonesian: Maluku Utara) is one of the provinces of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, which are split between it and the province of Maluku. Maluku province used to cover the entire group. The planned provincial capital is Sofifi, on Halmahera, but the current capital and largest population center is the island of Ternate. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the islands of North Maluku were the original "Spice Islands". At the time, the region was the sole source of cloves. The Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and local kingdoms including Ternate and Tidore fought each other for control of the lucrative trade in these spices. Nutmeg trees have since been transported and replanted all around the world and the demand for nutmeg from the original spice islands has ceased, greatly reducing North Maluku's international importance. The population of North Maluku is 785,059 (2000 census), making it the least populous province in Indonesia. Category:Provinces of Indonesia

Sumbawa

Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. It is in the province of West Nusa Tenggara. Sumbawa is three times the size of Lombok with a population of around one million. It marks the boundary between the islands to the west, which were influenced by religion and culture spreading from India, and the region to the east that was not so influenced. Four principalities in western Sumbawa were dependencies of the Majapahit kingdom of eastern Java. Because of Sumbawa's natural resources it was regularly invaded by outside forces - Javanese, Dutch, Makassarese. The Dutch first arrived in 1605, but did not effectively rule Sumbawa until the early 20th century. The Balinese kingdom of Gelgel ruled western Sumbawa for a short period as well. Islam was introduced via the Makassarese of Sulawesi. Sumbawa has historically had two major linguistic groups who spoke languages that were unintelligible to each other. One group centered in the western side of the island speaks Sumbawanese which is similar to the Sasak language from Lombok; the second group in the east speaks Bima. The kingdoms located in Sumbawa Besar and Bima were the two focal points of Sumbawa. This division of the island into two parts remains today; Sumbawa Besar and Bima are the two largest towns on the island, and are the centers of distinct cultural groups that share the island. Sumbawa lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is a volcanic island, including Mount Tambora which exploded in 1815, the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history, larger even than Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra. The Tambora eruption killed nearly 100,000 people outright, and many more indirectly. The vast quantities of ash it launched into the upper atmosphere caused the "year without a summer." See also: Islands of Indonesia Category:Islands of Indonesia

Flores

:This article is about Flores Island, Indonesia. For other uses of the name see Flores (disambiguation). Flores (disambiguation) Flores (Portuguese for "flowers") is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. Flores is located east of Sumbawa and Komodo and west of Lembata and the Alor archipelago. To the southeast is Timor. To the south, across the Sumba strait, is Sumba and to the north, beyond the Flores Sea, is Sulawesi.

Administration

Flores is part of the East Nusa Tenggara province. The island is split into five regencies (local government districts); from west to east these are: Manggarai, Ngada, Ende, Sikka and Flores Timur.

Geography

Flores has several active and dormant volcanoes, including Egon, Ilimuda, Lereboleng, and Lewotobi (see the full list).

Flora and fauna

The west coast of Flores is one of the few places, aside from the island of Komodo itself, where the Komodo dragon can be found in the wild. The Flores giant rat is also endemic to the Island. In September 2003, at Liang Bua Cave in western Flores, paleoanthropologists discovered skeletons of a previously unknown hominid species. Homo floresiensis, affectionately termed hobbits, appear to be miniaturized versions of Homo erectus standing about one metre tall. They may have existed until as recently as 11,000 BC. Local reports of elf-like people, the Ebu Gogo, or the Orang Pendek of Sumatra, have caused speculation that Flores man may have survived into the historical period, or even to the present. The discovery has been published in the October 28, 2004 issue of Nature magazine. [http://www.nature.com/news/specials/flores/index.html]

Culture

There are many languages spoken on the island of Flores, all of them belonging to the Austronesian family. In the centre of the island in the districts of Ngada and Ende there is what is variously called the Central Flores Dialect Chain or the Central Flores Linkage. Within this area there are slight linguistic differences in almost every village. At least six separate languages are identifiable. These are from west to east: Ngadha, Nage, Keo, Ende, Lio and Palu'e, which is spoken on the island with the same name of the north coast of Flores. Locals would probably also add So'a and Bajawa to this list, which anthropologists have labeled dialects of Ngadha.

Tourism

The most famous tourist attraction in Flores is Kelimutu; three coloured lakes in the district of Ende. These coloured lakes change colours on a regular basis. The latest colours (mid 2003) were said to be turquoise, green and red. The red lake has only recently changed from being black. There is good snorkelling and diving on several locations along the north coast of Flores, most notably Maumere and Riung. However, due to the destructive practice of local fishermen using bombs to fish, and locals selling shells to tourists, the reefs are slowly being destroyed.

External References


- [http://www.nature.com/news/specials/flores/index.html Flores Man special at Nature.com] Category:Islands of Indonesia ko:플로레스 섬 ja:フローレス島 (インドネシア)

Timor

Timor is an island at the south of the Malay Archipelago, divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, part of the Indonesia province of East Nusa Tenggara with the surface of 11,883 sq mi/ 30,777 km². The name is a variant of timur, Malay for "east"; it is so called because it is at the east end of a chain of islands.

Geography

To the south and southeast of Timor is the country of Australia. To its northwest is the island of Sulawesi, and to its west, the island of Sumba. To the west-northwest of Timor are the islands of Flores and Alor, and to its northeast are the Barat Daya Islands, including Wetar. Timor, together with the Lesser Sunda Islands to the northwest and the smaller islands to the northeast, is covered by tropical dry broadleaf forests. Many trees are deciduous or partly deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season. Timor, the Barat Daya Islands, and the smaller islands to the northeast of Timor constitute the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion.

History

The island has been politically divided in two parts for centuries: West Timor, which was known as Dutch Timor from the 1800s until 1949 when it became Indonesian Timor, a part of the nation of Indonesia which was formed from the old Netherlands East Indies; and East Timor which was known as Portuguese Timor from 1596 until 1975. This includes the enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno in West Timor. The Netherlands and Portugal did not formally resolve the matter of the boundary until 1912. Japanese forces occupied the whole island from 1942 to 1945. They were resisted in a guerilla campaign led initially by Australian commandos. (See Battle of Timor.) Following an Indonesian invasion in 1975, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia and was known as Timor Timur or 'Tim-Tim' for short. It was regarded by Indonesia as the country's 27th province, but this was never recognised by the United Nations or Portugal. The people of East Timor resisted Indonesian forces in a prolonged guerilla campaign. (See: Indonesian rule in East Timor). Following a referendum held in 1999, under a UN sponsored agreement between Indonesia and Portugal, in which its people rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia, East Timor achieved independence in 2002. One of the greatest fears of the Indonesian Government concerning East Timor has always been the possibility of the western part of the island being encouraged, after the eastern part's independence, to attempt to join the latter one in a full independent island-nation. First detected in 2001, Indonesian intelligence confirmed the arousal of a Timor Raya (Great Timor) movement in the island's western side.

Trivia

According to local mythology, the island of Timor was a giant crocodile. Timor is the name of a single off of Shakira's latest album Oral Fixation Volume 2. It talks about trouble life in Timor and how it reflects life in Western Countires such as United States Category:Islands of Indonesia Category:East Timor zh-min-nan:Timor ko:티모르 섬

Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of New Guinea in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, named in honour of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and belonging to Papua New Guinea. The archipelago includes mostly volcanic islands, the most important of which are:
- Admiralty Islands
- Duke of York Islands
- Mussau Islands
- New Britain
- New Hanover
- New Ireland
- Vitu Islands The first inhabitants of the Archipelago arrived at around 33,000 years ago after sailing from what is now Papua New Guinea. Later arrivals included the Lapita people. The first European to find the islands was Dutch explorer Willem Schouten in 1616, but they remained unsettled by Europeans until they became part of the German protectorate of German New Guinea in 1884. Following the outbreak of World War I, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force seized the islands in 1914 and Australia later received a League of Nations mandate for the islands. They remained under Australian control — interrupted only by Japanese occupation during World War II — until Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975. Category:Islands of Papua New Guinea Category:Archipelagoes Category:Ecoregions ja:ビスマルク諸島

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a nation in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea and is part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It consists of more than 990 islands, which together cover a land mass of 28,000 square kilometres.

History

Main article: History of the Solomon Islands The United Kingdom established a protectorate over Solomon Islands in the 1890s. Some of the most intense fighting of World War II occurred on these islands. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence was granted on July 7, 1978. Current issues include corruption, land relations, government deficits, deforestation, and malaria control. Continuing civil unrest led to an almost complete breakdown in normal activity: civil servants remained unpaid for months at a time, and cabinet meetings had to be held in secret to prevent local warlords from interfering. The security forces were unable to reassert control, largely because many police and security personnel are associated with one or another of the rival gangs. In July 2003 the Governor General of Solomon Islands issued an official request for international help, which was subsequently endorsed by the government. A sizable international security contingent of 2,200 police and troops, led by Australia and New Zealand, and with representatives from about 20 other Pacific nations began arriving the next month under Operation Helpem Fren, the Australian contribution is known as Operation Anode.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Solomon Islands Politics of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is a Constitutional Monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom recognised as the head of the State of Solomon Islands, a Commonwealth Realm. The Queen is represented by the governor general, chosen by the Parliament for a 5-year term. The government is a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral Parliament and a ministerial system of government and is represented by a national Parliament of 50 members, elected for 4-year terms. However, Parliament may be dissolved by majority vote of its members before the completion of its term. Parliamentary representation is based on single-member constituencies. Suffrage is universal for citizens over age 18. The prime minister, elected by Parliament, chooses the other members of the cabinet. Each ministry is headed by a cabinet member, who is assisted by a permanent secretary, a career public servant, who directs the staff of the ministry. Solomon Islands governments are characterized by weak political parties and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions. They are subject to frequent votes of no confidence, and government leadership changes frequently as a result. Cabinet changes are common.

Provinces

prime minister

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is a wide island nation that lies East of Papua New Guinea and consists of many islands: Choiseul, the Shortland Islands; the New Georgia Islands; Santa Isabel; the Russell Islands; Ngela (the Florida Islands); Malaita; Guadalcanal; Sikaiana; Maramasike; Ulawa; Uki; Makira (San Cristobal); Santa Ana; Rennell and Bellona; the Santa Cruz Islands and three remote, tiny outliers, Tikopia, Anuta and Fataka. The distance between the most western and most eastern islands is about 1500 km. Especially the Santa Cruz Islands, north of Vanuatu, (of which Tikopia is part) are isolated at more than 200 km from the other islands. Volcanoes with varying degrees of activity are situated on some of the larger islands, while many of the smaller islands are simply tiny atolls covered in sand and palm trees. Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon Islands, but politically Papua New Guinea.

Ecology

The Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial ecoregions. Most of the islands are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion, which also includes the islands of Bougainville and Buka, which are part of Papua New Guinea. The Santa Cruz Islands, which are east of the main group of the Solomons, are part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion, together with the neighboring archipelago of Vanuatu. Both ecoregions are part of the Australasia ecozone, which also includes neighboring New Caledonia, the Bismarck Archipelago, and New Guinea, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Solomon Islands Economy of the Solomon Islands] The bulk of the population depend on agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. Economic troubles in Southeast Asia led to a steep downturn in the timber industry, and economic output declined by about 10% in 1998. The government instituted public service pay cuts and other retrenchments. The economy partially recovered in 1999 on the strength of rising international gold prices and the first full year of the Gold Ridge mining operation. However, the closure of the country's major palm oil plantation in mid-year cast a shadow over future prospects.

Culture

Main article: Culture of the Solomon Islands In the traditional culture of the Solomon Islands, age-old customs are handed down from one generation to the next, allegedly from the ancestral spirits themselves, to form the cultural values to Solomon Islands. See also: Music of the Solomon Islands

Language

Solomon Islanders speak 80 to 100 languages, the exact number depending on the definition. On the central islands, Melanesian languages are spoken, on the outliers Rennell and Bellona to the south, Tikopia, Anuta and Fataka to the far east, Sikaiana to the north east, and Luaniua (Ontong Java, Lord Howe Atoll) to the north, Polynesian languages. Immigrant populations of Gilbertese (i-Kiribati) and Tuvaluans speak Micronesian languages. While English is the official language, the lingua franca is Solomons Pijin.

Religion

The religion of Solomon Islands is about 96% Christian (Anglican 45%, Roman Catholic 18%, United 12%, Baptist 10%, Seventh Day Adventist 7%, Other Christian 4%) and about 4% indigenous religious beliefs.

National flag

The national flag of Solomon Islands is divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner representing the sun; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue representing the blue sky with five white five-pointed stars in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green representing the greeny patch of lands. The width exceeds the height of the flag by a ratio of 2:1.

Miscellaneous topics


- Com