Papua New Guinea travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Papua New Guinea is strange country in Oceania. It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region called Melanesia. The country is one of the most different countries on Earth with over 850 languages and also one of the most rural, just 18 per cent of its people live in urban areas. The country is saturated with undiscovered species of plants and animals.

The country’s geography is 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.

Papua New Guinea is part of the Australasia ecozone. Papua New Guinea is richly gifted with natural resources.Only some 3% of the land of Papua New Guinea is in private hands.There is virtually no freehold title; the few existing freeholds are automatically converted to State Lease when they are transferred between vendor and purchaser.

The culture of Papua is multi-faced and complex. It is estimated that more than a thousand 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.

These various cultural groups have their own language. They live in villages that rely on subsistence farming. In some areas people hunt and collect wild plants to supplement their diets. Those who become skilled at hunting, farming and fishing earn a great deal of respect.

Absolutely extraordinary world!

Credit : Eric Lafforgue