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Country: Papua New Guinea
Did You Know?
- The world's largest species of butterfly, the Queen Alexandra Birdwing, is found in Papua New Guinea. Its wingspan can be as long as a foot (30 cm) across.
- Papua New Guinea's famous Baining fire dancers walk through flames to bring good spirits, to calm bad spirits, and to prove that spirits have helped them become immune to fire.
- Species of the only two types of egg-laying mammals—the echidna and the platypus—live in Papua New Guinea.
Population
About 5.9 million people live in Papua New Guinea. Most people live in rural areas, outside of the larger cities and towns. Nearly all people are of Melanesian descent, from the islands in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia, including Papua New Guinea.
Although most Papua New Guineans have the same ancestors, there are hundreds of different tribes within the country. Each tribe has its own culture, beliefs, and language, and many have fought off and on with each other for thousands of years. Those Papua New Guineans who are not Melanesian are of Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese, and European descent.
Language
There are about 830 different languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. For centuries, most tribes were cut off from one another because it was so hard to travel through the country's steep mountains and thick forests, so each tribe developed its own local language. Some languages are related to each other, but many are not.
Tok Pisin, English, and Motu are the nation's official languages. Tok Pisin is a kind of language called a pidgin. A pidgin language is a way for people who speak different languages to communicate with one another. Tok Pisin is the most common language spoken in Papua New Guinea. Colonists and native peoples formed Tok Pisin as a way to communicate without learning each others' entire languages. It contains words in English, German, Malay, and local languages.
Some of the words in Tok Pisin would probably sound familiar to you, like the word for "photo," which is piksa. Most people use local languages for everyday conversation but also speak Tok Pisin. Motu is the most common native language. In areas that are far from cities and hard to get to, many people know only their local language.
Food
Since Papua New Guinea has a tropical climate and fertile soil, people also grow many different kinds of fruits and vegetables. The most common foods in Papua New Guinea are kaukau (sweet potato), saksak (made from the sago palm tree), and taro (a leafy plant whose stems can also be eaten).
Throughout the country, families raise pigs for feasts. People also eat small animals, wild pigs, birds, and eggs. Near the ocean, people also eat seafood and coconuts. In the countryside, some people eat bats, eels, and tree kangaroos. Residents of Port Moresby and other urban areas have access to store-bought items like rice and canned meats, but not everyone can afford them.
Most families cook their food in a pot over a fire. When cooking for a large group, Papua New Guineans often steam food in a mumu (an oven in the ground). To do this, stones are heated in a fire and then placed in a pit. Meat and vegetables are wrapped in leaves and then placed on the stones. The pit is covered with leaves and branches to keep the heat in while the food cooks. Some mumus can be big enough to cook hundreds of pigs.
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