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The History of Papua New Guinea is a very interesting read. If you go through the History of Papua New Guinea you will come to know that Papuan, Melanesian, and Negrito tribes were the first inhabitants of the island New Guinea. These people spoke more than 700 distinct languages.

Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 16th century explore the eastern half of New Guinea. In 1828, the Dutch formally took possession of the western half of the island. In 1885, Germany conquered the northern coast and the British followed suit. In 1906, Britain transferred the British New Guinea to Australia and the name of the territory was changed to the Territory of Papua.

Australian troops invaded German New Guinea in World War I and gained control of the territory. Japan invaded New Guinea and some of Papua in 1942. It became a United Nations trusteeship after being liberated by the Australians in 1945. The territories were combined and named the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

After 1945, Australian administration took charge of before it granted independence in 1975. Michael Somare became the Prime Minister. Somare remained in power until 1980, when Sir Julius Chan’s conservative People’s Progress Party came out of opposition to form a government. Since then, Papua New Guinea’s domestic politics have been dominated by the struggle between Chan, Somare and the third major political figure of recent times, Mekere Morauta. In the History of Papua New Guinea, all governments have been composed of coalitions since the 1987 general election. Somare, is now serving his third term as premier.

The Island of Bougainville is the source of one third of world’s largest copper mines. The local landowners raised a hue and cry about the pollution caused by the mine and the lack of financial benefit to the local economy. Violence erupted between the two sides and the mine was closed in May 1989. The government sent in troops, who were confronted by a secessionist insurrection in the form of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. In May 1990, Bougainville declared independence though no one recognized it.

For the last ten years the Government tried its best to curb the violence. The conflict was finally resolved in April 1998. Soon after that Papua New Guinea was hit by a unique and devastating series of natural disasters, including drought, flooding and tidal waves.

If you read the History of Papua New Guinea well, you will know that the country’s condition has improved very little in the last few years. The country now seems indefinitely entangled in the web of inter-communal violence and economic decline.

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