Early Papua New Guinea

The island of New Guinea is situated south of the equator and is the world's second largest island after Greenland. It is inhabited by a variety of tribes who speak different languages until today Settlements started more than 50,000 years ago. The settlers probably came from Southeast Asia in several waves. When the first Europeans arrived in the 16^th century, they encountered strange and dangerous looking natives, who still lived in a stone age environment. This remains true for several tribes even today combined with a mountain range which has a height of over 4,000 meters in some places, the humid tropical climate and the dense tropical rain forests make large areas inaccessible. On the other hand, it means that a wide spectrum of original and rare animal and plant species have been allowed to remain undisturbed.

One of the first Spanish seafarers spoke of the "Ilhas dos Papuas", the "Island of those with curly hair", and thus gave rise to a part of today's name. The European colonial powers founded settlements along the coastal areas during the 19^th century. The Dutch established themselves in the west of the island after 1800 and Dutch New Guinea became a part of Indonesia in 1963, when it was named Irian Jaya. The north-eastern part of New Guinea came under German rule in 1884, when it was named Kaiser- Wilhelm-Land. Other names like Bismarck Archipelago and former names like New Pomerania and New Mecklenburg for island groups further to the east still pay testimony to former German colonial activities. In the south, the British established the protectorate British New Guinea in 1884, which later came under Australian administration. The German colonies also came under Australian rule after World War I. After the Second World War, Australia administered the eastern part of the island as a mandate of the United Nations and in 1975 the Republic of Papua New Guinea was founded in Port Moresby. It belongs to the British Commonwealth and comprises, in addition to the mainland, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, a part of the Salomon Islands Bougainville and Buka) and about 600 further small islands. In the south, there are the Louisiade Archipelago, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands and the Trobriand Islands.

Papua New Guinea is today considered a developing country, although it is one of the most important gold producers and has a number of other mineral resources. Economic power is in the hands of a few families who also own the plantations in the coastal areas. In addition to cocoa, tea and coffee, copra and other coconut products are main export items. The descendants of Chinese and Indonesian immigrants who came before World War I as inspectors on the plantations are today the most influential social class, together with the Europeans.

The London Missionary Society established itself on Kwato Island in the 19th century other Catholic Missions and the Anglican church followed later on. The missionaries founded hospitals and schools and the better educated young people were able to find work in the local administration. However, the majority of the local people still lives mainly from fishing and the production of copra.

The Milne Bay Province with its harbor town Samarai at the southern tip of the country has represented a local centre for different mining activities since the end of the 19^th century. The pearling fleets also went there to anchor and to fish for the shells of Pinctada maxima, Pinctada margaritifera, Tiochus and Meerschaum. The pearling fleets came until in the nineteen fifties; towards the end, there were only two ships left. The Trobriand Islands originally had rich banks of Pinctada radiata, which the locals called "lapi shell". They produced small, mainly yellowish pearls, which Russian dealers bought during the 19^th century. They sold them in their own country together with their local river pearls. The larger Pinctada species also produced natural pearls. Until today, individual, large pearls are marketed on the world market together with Australian or Pacific pearls.

Natural pearls can also be seen in the shops of the leading jewelers of Port Moresby.