Papua New Guinea [ note 1 ] [ 13 ] , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia , a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia.
It has a land border with Indonesia to the west and neighbours Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital, on its southern coast, is Port Moresby. The country is the world's third largest island country , with an area of , km 2 , sq mi. The nation was split in the s between German New Guinea in the North and the British Territory of Papua in the South, the latter of which was ceded to Australia in There are known languages of Papua New Guinea including English , making it the most linguistically diverse country in the world.
usr@4120512@2022-12-06(|)20889738758895eeae408c9592c5cd22.jpg "Girls Port Moresby")
The country is believed to be the home of many undocumented species of plants and animals. Papua is derived from a local term of uncertain origin. The people of all these islands are blacke, and have their haire frisled, whom the people of Maluco do call Papuas.
In , he noted the resemblance of the people to those he had earlier seen along the Guinea coast of Africa. The name is one of several toponyms sharing similar etymologies , ultimately meaning "land of the blacks" or similar meanings, in reference to the dark skin of the inhabitants. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans first arrived in Papua New Guinea around 42, to 45, years ago. They were descendants of migrants out of Africa , in one of the early waves of human migration.
The sea levels rose and isolated New Guinea about 10, years ago, but Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from each other genetically earlier, about 37, years BP.
