New Guine
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- Category: History
- Date Submitted: 11/26/2010 11:19 AM
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New Guinea
New Guinea is the world’s largest island located in the southwest Pacific. The whole island is politically divided approximately into two equal halves. The western half of the island is known as West Papua and comprises two Indonesian provinces.
The eastern part forms the mainland of Papua New Guinea. The country consists of four regions:
1. Papua, consisting of Western, Gulf, Central, Oro (Northern) and Milne Bay provinces.
2. Highlands, consisting of Southern Highlands, Enga Province, Western Highlands, Simbu and Eastern Highlands provinces.
3. Momase, consisting of Morobe, Madang, East Sepik and Sandaun (West Sepik) provinces.
4. Islands, consisting of Manus, West New Britain, East New Britain and New Ireland provinces, and the Bougainville Autonomous Province.
The following is the map of New Guinea and its divisions.
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History of New Guinea
Human remains have been found which have been dated to about 50,000 years ago. These ancient inhabitants probably had their origins in Southeast Asia, themselves originating in Africa 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. New Guinea was one of the first landmasses after Africa and Eurasia to be populated by modern humans, with the first migration at approximately the same time as that of Australia.
Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7,000 BC, making it one of the few areas of original plant domestication in the world. A major migration of Austronesian speaking peoples came to coastal regions roughly 2,500 years ago, and this is correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, and certain fishing techniques.
More recently, some 300 years ago, the sweet potato entered New Guinea, having been introduced to the Moluccas from South America by the locally dominant colonial power, Portugal. The far higher crop yields from sweet potato gardens radically transformed traditional agriculture; sweet potato largely supplanted the previous staple, taro, and gave rise...
New Guinea is the world’s largest island located in the southwest Pacific. The whole island is politically divided approximately into two equal halves. The western half of the island is known as West Papua and comprises two Indonesian provinces.
The eastern part forms the mainland of Papua New Guinea. The country consists of four regions:
1. Papua, consisting of Western, Gulf, Central, Oro (Northern) and Milne Bay provinces.
2. Highlands, consisting of Southern Highlands, Enga Province, Western Highlands, Simbu and Eastern Highlands provinces.
3. Momase, consisting of Morobe, Madang, East Sepik and Sandaun (West Sepik) provinces.
4. Islands, consisting of Manus, West New Britain, East New Britain and New Ireland provinces, and the Bougainville Autonomous Province.
The following is the map of New Guinea and its divisions.
.
History of New Guinea
Human remains have been found which have been dated to about 50,000 years ago. These ancient inhabitants probably had their origins in Southeast Asia, themselves originating in Africa 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. New Guinea was one of the first landmasses after Africa and Eurasia to be populated by modern humans, with the first migration at approximately the same time as that of Australia.
Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7,000 BC, making it one of the few areas of original plant domestication in the world. A major migration of Austronesian speaking peoples came to coastal regions roughly 2,500 years ago, and this is correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, and certain fishing techniques.
More recently, some 300 years ago, the sweet potato entered New Guinea, having been introduced to the Moluccas from South America by the locally dominant colonial power, Portugal. The far higher crop yields from sweet potato gardens radically transformed traditional agriculture; sweet potato largely supplanted the previous staple, taro, and gave rise...