Country · Oceania
Papua New Guinea
Independent State of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is a country in Melanesia. About 8.6 million people live there, in an area of 462 840 square kilometres. Its capital city is Port Moresby.
Picture credit: Jeremy Weate (CC BY 2.0) · sussexbirder (CC BY 2.0) · sussexbirder (CC BY 2.0) · gailhampshire (CC BY 2.0) · Masalai (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea lies in Melanesia, on the continent of Oceania.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 668 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 5 152 km long.
It shares a border with 1 country: Indonesia.
How big is Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea covers 462 840 square kilometres.
That is about 11 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 54th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 18.6 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Papua New Guinea?
About 8.6 million people live in Papua New Guinea.
That is the 98th biggest population in the world.
People here speak English, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin.
They pay with the Papua New Guinean kina (K).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 63 years.
The land of Papua New Guinea
The land of Papua New Guinea sits on average 667 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 5 152 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 258 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Papua New Guinea different?
Websites from here often end in .pg.
Papua New Guinea and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Papua New Guinea.
It takes up about 0.35 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Oceania the country ranks 2nd of 14 by size, and 2nd by population.
Papua New Guinea and its neighbours
Indonesia, its only neighbour, is about 4.1 times bigger.
Indonesia has more people: 267.7 million against 8.6 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 11 live wild in Papua New Guinea: Saltwater crocodile, Stick insect, Giant clam, Chambered nautilus, Sugar glider, Short-beaked echidna and more. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Wilhelm, at 4 509 metres. The longest river in the country is the Sepik. The largest lake in the country is Lake Murray.
Saltwater crocodile
Stick insect
Giant clam
Chambered nautilus
Sugar glider
Short-beaked echidna
Southern cassowary
Coconut crab
Sulphur-crested cockatoo
Red lionfish
Box jellyfish
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Papua New Guinea compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 20 times as big as Papua New Guinea: 9 372 610 km² against 462 840 km².
- Papua New Guinea is about 1.9 times as big as the United Kingdom: 462 840 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Papua New Guinea?
The capital of Papua New Guinea is Port Moresby. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Papua New Guinea?
About 8.6 million people live in Papua New Guinea, which makes it the 98th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea borders Indonesia — 1 neighbour in total.
How big is Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea covers 462 840 square kilometres, making it the 54th largest country in the world. That is about 11 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea?
The highest mountain in Papua New Guinea is Mount Wilhelm, 4 509 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Papua New Guinea?
The longest river in Papua New Guinea is the Sepik, about 1 126 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Papua New Guinea?
The largest lake in Papua New Guinea is Lake Murray. It covers about 647 km².
Which continent is Papua New Guinea in?
Papua New Guinea is in Oceania, in the part called Melanesia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made