Papua New Guinea 

Introduction

The Independent State of Papua New Guinea lies wholly within the southern tropics to the north of Australia. It consists of about 600 islands and the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, sharing a land border with Indonesia. The population is estimated at 5,795,887 and the total area is 462,840 sq km of which 452,980 sq km is land area. 

There are three spheres of government: national, provincial and local. There are 19 provinces, the national capital area of Port Moresby, and 89 districts. Local governments are called local-level governments (LLGs). There are 24 urban local-level governments and 273 rural local-level governments. 

Summary

Papua New Guinea is a sparsely populated nation whose people live mainly in rural areas. The representative system in local government combines directly elected members with a minimal number of appointees representing local trade unions, employers and women. The provincial governments are forums in which local and central government elected members come together to coordinate the implementation of policies between the different spheres of government. 

Download full profile of Papua New Guinea (  115K PDF)

CLGF Pacific Good Practice Scheme in Papua New Guinea