The Indigenous World 2022: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG), formally the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania that covers an area of 462,840 km2 and encompasses the eastern half of the island of New Guinea.[1] The country's name comes from "Papou" which, according to the naturalist Alfred Wallace, originates in the Malaysian puwah-puwah or papuwah meaning "frizzy".[2] New Guinea was the name given to the area by a 16th-century Spanish explorer due to the assumed resemblance of its inhabitants to those of Equatorial Guinea in Africa. The country gained independence in 1975 and is now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.[3]