Provinces of Papua New Guinea

The provinces of Papua New Guinea are the primary administrative divisions of the country. Provincial governments are branches of the national government Papua New Guinea is not a federation of provinces. The country has 20 province-level divisions: 18 provinces, one autonomous region (Bougainville) and the National Capital District.

History

Immediately before independence on 16 September 1975, Papua New Guinea was divided into nineteen provinces and the National Capital District. These provinces corresponded to the "Districts" of the pre-Independence administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

The Bougainville issue

It had been considered that an independent state with limited resources could ill afford the infrastructure of a two-level quasi-federal governmental structure.

However, a secession movement in Bougainville, whose Bougainville Copper Mine provided the largest single source of foreign exchange and whose contribution to the general revenue was crucial to the independent state's economic viability, forced the issue. The Bougainville secession movement declared the Republic of North Solomons on 1 September 1975 and the central government very quickly responded by offering provincial status to Bougainville. For the sake of consistency, as there were or had been regional separatist movements in Papua and East New Britain, provincial status was offered to the other 18 Districts as well.

Bougainville continues to be a special case. A renewed secession movement emerged in 1988 and resulted in a violent military campaign on the island, the closing of the Bougainville Copper Mine with serious financial consequences for the central government, the destruction or running-down of most infrastructure on the island and, ultimately, the total quarantining of the province for a decade. The Bougainville secessionists came to terms with the central government in 1997. A constitution was drafted for a more autonomous regional polity within Papua New Guinea with its own president and provisions for a referendum on total autonomy in due course.

Government

The provinces had elected provincial assemblies and cabinets led by premiers; however, the State remained legislative, not federal. Unlike Canada, Australia and the United States, whose federal governments are creatures of the provinces or states, but as with the provinces and states of Pakistan and India, the provinces are creatures of the central government and can be suspended by it or have their boundaries changed. Indeed there have been suspensions of several provincial governments to address corruption or incompetence by elected provincial governments. Changes in the boundaries of those provinces which are adjacent to the former boundary between the Territories of Papua and New Guinea can cause special complications in the administration of statutes which apply in Papua or New Guinea but not both.

Ultimately in June 1995 in an effort to re-assert a measure of control by the central government over the often wayward provinces in an environment of limited numbers of personnel qualified for public office in many of the provinces, the office of provincial premier was abolished and the Regional (at-large) members of Parliament became provincial governors, while retaining their national seats in Parliament.

Naming of provinces

Several of the provincial governments have announced changes to the names of their provinces, with Bougainville becoming North Solomons, Western becoming Fly River, Chimbu becoming Simbu, Northern becoming Oro and West Sepik becoming Sandaun. The changes have been accorded popular acceptance but they remain unofficial, as the provinces are creatures of the Constitution and official changes of name would require amendments to the Constitution using the prescribed amending formula.

List of provinces

(map)	Province	Capital	Area (km²)	Population	Density (pop/km²)	Region
1	Central	Port Moresby	29,500	183,153	6.21	Papua Region
2	Simbu (Chimbu)	Kundiawa	6,100	258,776	42.42	Highlands Region
3	Eastern Highlands	Goroka	11,200	429,480	38.35	Highlands Region
4	East New Britain	Kokopo	15,500	220,035	14.20	Islands Region
5	East Sepik	Wewak	42,800	341,583	7.98	Momase Region
6	Enga	Wabag	12,800	289,299	22.60	Highlands Region
7	Gulf	Kerema	34,500	105,050	3.04	Papua Region
8	Madang	Madang	29,000	362,085	12.49	Momase Region
9	Manus	Lorengau	2,100	43,589	20.76	Islands Region
10	Milne Bay	Alotau	14,000	209,054	14.93	Papua Region
11	Morobe	Lae	34,500	536,917	15.56	Momase Region
12	New Ireland	Kavieng	9,600	118,148	12.31	Islands Region
13	Oro (Northern)	Popondetta	22,800	132,714	5.82	Papua Region
14	Autonomous Region of Bougainville	Arawa	9,300	141,161	15.18	Islands Region
15	Southern Highlands	Mendi	23,800	544,352	22.87	Highlands Region
16	Western (Fly)	Daru	99,300	152,067	1.53	Papua Region
17	Western Highlands	Mount Hagen	8,500	439,085	51.66	Highlands Region
18	West New Britain	Kimbe	21,000	184,838	8.80	Islands Region
19	Sandaun (West Sepik)	Vanimo	36,300	185,790	5.12	Momase Region
20	National Capital District	Port Moresby	240	252,469	1051.95	Papua Region

Regions

On a broader scale, the nation is divided into four regions. These regional groupings are quite significant in daily life, as they are often the basis for organisation of government services, corporate operations, sporting competitions, and even the machinations of politics. For instance, there has been much discussion over the years of how many Prime Ministers have come from each region, and whether a particular region is due to provide the next one. Ministers and departmental heads are often appointed with an eye to maintaining an overall balance between the regions.

People generally identify quite strongly with their region, and inter-region rivalries can be intense. The four regions are:

Momase is a recently devised portmanteau word which combines the first two letters of Morobe, Madang, and Sepik.