New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, covering an area of 785,753 km². It is located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and is separated from Australia by the Torres Strait. Despite the distance, both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf and were connected during past ice ages.

The island has the third-largest remaining rainforest globally and the highest plant biodiversity of any island. Its rich ecosystems support a incredible variety of plant and animal life.

The eastern half of New Guinea is the major landmass of the nation of Papua New Guinea, while the western half, known as Western New Guinea, is part of Indonesia and includes several provinces. The two major cities on the island are Port Moresby and Jayapura. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez in 1545, inspired by the perceived resemblance of its indigenous peoples to those in the African region of Guinea.

Names

The island of New Guinea has been called by many different names throughout history.

Before Western contact, some areas were referred to as Papua. This name might have come from the Tidore language or could mean "frizzly-haired" in Malay, describing the island's people's hair.

When European explorers arrived, they named it New Guinea because the indigenous people reminded them of Africans from the Guinea region. The Dutch later called it Nieuw Guinea when they colonized it.

In Indonesian, the island was called Irian, a name chosen to replace Papua due to negative associations. This name came from local myths and means "hot land" or "rising spirit." The name Irian was used until 2001, when Papua became the preferred name again.

Geography

New Guinea is an island located north of the Australian mainland and south of the equator. It is surrounded by the Arafura Sea to the west, and the Torres Strait and Coral Sea to the east. The island is shaped like a bird-of-paradise, with the Bird's Head Peninsula in the northwest and the Bird's Tail Peninsula in the southeast, also known as the Papuan Peninsula.

The island features a spine of mountains called the New Guinea Highlands, stretching over 1,600 km (1,000 mi). The highest point is Puncak Jaya, which reaches 4,884 m (16,023 ft). The island also has vast lowlands with rainforests, wetlands, and mangroves. Important rivers include the Mamberamo, Sepik, and Fly River, which flow into the Pacific Ocean and the Arafura Sea.

Relation to surroundings

The island of New Guinea is located to the east of the Malay Archipelago and is part of the same tectonic plate as Australia. During times when sea levels were lower, New Guinea and Australia were connected and formed a landmass called Sahul, also known as Greater Australia. They separated when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the end of the last glacial period.

Anthropologically, New Guinea is considered part of Melanesia. It has higher rainfall and active volcanoes compared to Australia, but both places share similar animals such as marsupials, including wallabies and possums, and the egg-laying monotreme, the echidna. Before humans arrived, New Guinea had no placental mammals except for bats and a few rodents. Pigs, rats, and the New Guinea singing dog were brought by humans.

Political divisions

The island of New Guinea is split into two main parts. The western side is part of Indonesia and includes six provinces such as West Papua and Papua. The eastern side is the country of Papua New Guinea, which became independent in 1975. This area includes regions like the Southern, Highlands, and Momase areas.

Demographics

The island of New Guinea is home to about fifteen million people. It is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world, with over a thousand different tribal groups and languages. Many of these languages belong to two main groups: the Austronesian languages and the Papuan languages.

People in New Guinea have lived there for a very long time—perhaps as far back as 50,000 years ago. Most of the island’s current inhabitants are thought to be descendants of the first humans who arrived during the Last Glacial Period. Later, people from Southeast Asia arrived and brought new languages and traditions. Today, the island still has many communities that have never had much contact with the outside world.

Biodiversity and ecology

Main article: Fauna of New Guinea

New Guinea is one of the most biologically rich places on Earth. Despite covering less than 0.5% of the planet’s land, it is home to an amazing variety of life—about 5 to 10 percent of all the world’s species. Many of these species are found only on New Guinea, and scientists continue to discover new ones. The island shares many of its animals and plants with Australia because the two landmasses were once connected.

New Guinea’s forests, mountains, and coastlines support many different kinds of plants, animals, and sea life. It has thousands of insect species, thousands of plants, hundreds of birds, and many types of mammals, frogs, and fish. The island’s coral reefs are especially rich, hosting many colorful sea creatures. These many habitats make New Guinea a wonderful place for nature lovers to explore.

Ecoregions

Main article: Ecoregions of New Guinea

Terrestrial

According to the WWF, New Guinea can be divided into twelve terrestrial ecoregions:

• Central Range montane rain forests
• Central Range sub-alpine grasslands
• Huon Peninsula montane rain forests
• New Guinea mangroves
• Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests
• Northern New Guinea montane rain forests
• Southeastern Papuan rain forests
• Southern New Guinea freshwater swamp forests
• Southern New Guinea lowland rain forests
• Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands
• Vogelkop montane rain forests
• Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests

Freshwater

The WWF and Nature Conservancy divide New Guinea into five freshwater ecoregions:

• Vogelkop–Bomberai
• New Guinea North Coast
• New Guinea Central Mountains
• Southwest New Guinea–Trans-Fly Lowland
• Papuan Peninsula

Marine

The WWF and Nature Conservancy identify several marine ecoregions in the seas bordering New Guinea:

• Papua
• Arafura Sea
• Bismarck Sea
• Solomon Sea
• Southeast Papua New Guinea
• Gulf of Papua

History

See also: History of Papua New Guinea and History of Western New Guinea

Early history

Humans may have arrived on New Guinea around 60,000 years ago, likely coming from Southeast Asia during a time when sea levels were lower. These early people adapted to many different environments and developed some of the world's earliest farming practices. They grew crops like sugarcane and created complex systems to manage their land and water.

The gardens in the New Guinea Highlands are some of the oldest and most advanced farming systems in the world. Farmers there used clever methods to grow food in difficult conditions, such as very rainy weather and steep hills. They also used special trees to help their soil stay healthy.

Precolonial history

The western part of New Guinea had contact with kingdoms in what is now Indonesia. Traders from places like the Maluku Islands visited the island and brought valuable items such as spices and bird feathers. Local leaders sometimes worked with these traders, and there were occasional conflicts over resources and power.

European contact

Europeans first saw New Guinea in the 1500s. Portuguese and Spanish sailors named different parts of the island, like “Nova Guinea.” Later, the Dutch claimed the western part of the island for their colony. In the 1800s, Britain and Germany also made claims on parts of New Guinea.

World War II

During World War II, Japan invaded parts of New Guinea. Battles took place in areas like Port Moresby and the Kokoda track. People from New Guinea helped Allied forces by carrying supplies and supporting troops.

Since World War II

After the war, the part of New Guinea that was under Australian control became the independent country of Papua New Guinea in 1975. The western part became part of Indonesia. There have been ongoing disagreements and tensions about governance and rights in the western part of the island.