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Papua New Guinea is one of the most heterogeneous nations in the world. There are hundreds of ethnic groups indigenous to Papua New Guinea, the majority being from the group known as Papuans, whose ancestors arrived in the New Guinea region tens of thousands of years ago. The others are Austronesians, their ancestors having arrived in the region less than four thousand years ago. There are also numerous people from other parts of the world now resident, including Chinese,[50] Europeans, Australians, Filipinos, Polynesians, and Micronesians (the last three belonging to the Austronesian family). Around 40,000 expatriates, mostly from Australia and China, were living in Papua New Guinea in 1975.[51] Papua New Guinea has more languages than any other country, with over 820 indigenous languages, representing 12% of the world's total, but most have fewer than 1,000 speakers. The most widely spoken indigenous language is Enga, with about 200,000 speakers, followed by Melpa and Huli.[52] Indigenous languages are classified into two large groups, Austronesian languages and non-Austronesian, or Papuan, languages. There are three official languages for Papua New Guinea: English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu. English is the language of government and the education system, but it is not spoken widely. The primary lingua franca of the country is Tok Pisin (commonly known in English as New Guinea Pidgin or Melanesian Pidgin), in which much of the debate in Parliament is conducted, many information campaigns and advertisements are presented, and until recently a national newspaper, Wantok, was published. The only area where Tok Pisin is not prevalent is the southern region of Papua, where people often use the third official language, Hiri Motu. Although it lies in the Papua region, Port Moresby has a highly diverse population which primarily uses Tok Pisin, and to a lesser extent English, with Motu spoken as the indigenous language in outlying villages. With an average of only 7,000 speakers per language, Papua New Guinea has a greater density of languages than any other nation on earth except Vanuatu.[citation needed] Health Public expenditure was at 7.3% of all government expenditure in 2006,[53] whereas private expenditure was at 0.6% of the GDP.[citation needed] There were five physicians per 100,000 people in the early 2000s.[54] Malaria is the leading cause of illness and death in New Guinea. In 2003, the most recently reported year, 70,226 cases of laboratory confirmed malaria were reported, along with 537 deaths. A total of 1,729,697 cases were probable.[55] Papua New Guinea has the highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the Pacific region and is the fourth country in the Asia Pacific region to fit the criteria for a generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic.[56] Lack of HIV/AIDS awareness is a major problem, especially in rural areas. Asaro mudman with his unique clay mask In June 2011, the United Nations Population Fund released a report on The State of the World's Midwifery. It contained new data on the midwifery workforce and policies relating to newborn and maternal mortality for 58 countries. The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Papua New Guinea is 250. This is compared with 311.9 in 2008 and 476.3 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 69 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 37. The aim of this report is to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly Goal 4 – Reduce child mortality and Goal 5 – Improve maternal health. In Papua New Guinea the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 1 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women is 1 in 94.[57] Religion Main article: Religion in Papua New Guinea The courts and government practice uphold the constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and belief, and no legislation to curb those rights has been adopted. The 2000 census found that 96% of citizens identified themselves as members of a Christian church; however, many citizens combine their Christian faith with some traditional indigenous religious practices.[58] The census percentages were as follows: Roman Catholic Church (27.0%) Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (19.5%) United Church (11.5%) Seventh-day Adventist Church (10.0%) Pentecostal (8.6%) Evangelical Alliance (5.2%) Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea (3.2%) Baptist (0.5%) Church of Christ (0.4%) Bahá'í Faith (0.3%) Jehovah's Witnesses (0.3%) Salvation Army (0.2%) Other Christian (8.0%) There are also approximately 4,000 Muslims in the country. Non-traditional Christian churches and non-Christian religious groups are active throughout the country. The Papua New Guinea Council of Churches has stated that both Muslim and Confucian missionaries are active, and foreign missionary activity in general is high.[citation needed] Traditional religions were often animist. Some also tended to have elements of ancestor worship, though generalisation is suspect given the extreme heterogeneity of Melanesian societies. Prevalent among traditional tribes is the belief in masalai, or evil spirits, which are blamed for "poisoning" people, causing calamity and death, and the practice of puripuri (sorcery).[59][60] Culture Main articles: Culture of Papua New Guinea and Music of Papua New Guinea This rattle is made of leaves, seeds and coconut shell. The rattle is tied around a dancer's ankle and makes a sound when the dancer moves. This bilum bag is from Goroka, in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Resident of Boga-Boga, a village on the southeast coast of mainland Papua New Guinea 20th century wooden Abelam ancestor figure (nggwalndu). It is estimated that more than a thousand cultural groups exist in Papua New Guinea. Because of this diversity, many 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. Most of these cultural groups have their own language. People typically live in villages that rely on subsistence farming. In some areas people hunt and collect wild plants (such as yam roots) to supplement their diets. Those who become skilled at hunting, farming and fishing earn a great deal of respect. On the Sepik river, there is a tradition of wood carving, often in the form of plants or animals, representing ancestor spirits. Sea shells are no longer the currency of Papua New Guinea, as they were in some regions — sea shells were abolished as currency in 1933. However, this tradition is still present in local customs; in some cultures, to get a bride, a groom must bring a certain number of golden-edged clam shells[61] as a bride price. In other regions, the bride price is paid in lengths of shell money, pigs, cassowaries or cash. Elsewhere, it is brides who traditionally pay a dowry. People of the highlands engage in colourful local rituals that are called "sing sings". They paint themselves and dress up with feathers, pearls and animal skins to represent birds, trees or mountain spirits. Sometimes an important event, such as a legendary battle, is enacted at such a musical festival. |
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