History, Papua New Guinea

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Human remains have been found on New Guinea, dated ca. 60,000 years old. These probably originated from South East Asia and established a simple civilization, based on agriculture. Little is known about the country until the 19th century, although European explorers discovered the island in the 16th century. The name of the country was also given in that era; Papua is derived from a Malay word describing the frizzly Melanesian hair, and New Guinea was the name given by a Spanish explorer because of the resemblance with the population of the Guinese in Africa. The northern half of the country came in German hands in the late 19th century as German New Guinea. In World War I, it was occupied by the Australians who also administered the southern part as Papua (formerly British New Guinea). The two territories were combined into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, later simply Papua New Guinea. Independence was achieved in 1975. From 1988, a secessionist revolt claiming 20,000 lives raged on the island of Bougainville, before being resolved in 1997.

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