2004
Introduction
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Papua New Guinea is the largest developing country in the Pacific. Eighty-five per cent of its landmass is made up of the eastern half of New Guinea (the other portion is the Indonesian province of Papua). Papua New Guinea has over 600 islands and is administratively organized into 20 provinces and 89 districts.
Papua New Guinea has a population of 5.20 million; about 82% of the population live in rural areas. Around 800 languages are spoken, and each language group has a distinct culture. There are large sociocultural differences between and within provinces. Official languages are English, Pidgin and Motu.
Access to widely scattered rural communities is often difficult, slow and expensive. Only 3% of the country’s roads are paved. Many villages can only be reached on foot. Much travel between the provinces is by air.
