Travel the World - Papua New Guinea

I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world. By the end of 2021, I'd virtually traveled to 145 countries and plan to complete my journey to all 195 countries by visiting the last 50 this year.

This week's country is...

Papua New Guinea

Located in the Pacific Ocean, Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia in 1975.

Papua New Guinea shares the island of New Guinea with bordering Indonesia.

The country consists of the main island of New Guinea, four larger islands including New Britain and New Ireland, as well as about 1,000 smaller islands.

The landscape of the country ranges from rugged mountains and highlands to dense rainforests and sandy beaches and the islands are surrounded by coral reefs.

Papua New Guinea is slightly larger than California/ USA and also slightly larger than Sweden.

It is just 2.5 miles from the coast of Australia.

Papua New Guinea is a large island nation connected to Indonesia and just north of Australia.

It is one of the third-largest island countries in the world.

In addition to the main lands, Papua New Guinea owns up to 600 small islands.

Papua New Guinea has incredible marine diversity, enchanting lagoons, undisturbed rainforests, and pristine beaches

The official languages ​​of Papua New Guinea are English, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin, bug it should be noted that no more than 1% of the population uses English.

Papua New Guinea is the world’s most linguistically diverse country, with nearly 850 native languages spoken.

Only about 65% of the population over 15 years can read and write and more than one third of the population live below the poverty line.

The overwhelming majority of the population of Papua New Guinea leads a "primitive" lifestyle. Only 15% of citizens live in cities.

A large area of Papua New Guinea is highly saturated with moisture, which makes it difficult for almost any construction.

Papua New Guinea is home to many swamps that are the cause of the spread of malaria.

Papua New Guinea is home to at least 750 tribes. Many tribes live in the isolated mountainous interior and have little contact with one another or the outside world. As such, they are dependent on localized farming.

Every year in September, the indigenous tribes of the country meet at the cultural festival in Goroka in the Eastern Highlands. The showcase includes about 750 tribes from the island and is the largest gathering of indigenous tribes in the world! Here the groups present their best storytelling dances and songs.

Papua New Guinea has few highways, which means that remote parts of the country can only be reached by air or sea.

The country has 600 airstrips.

The capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Papua New Guinea has 18 active volcanoes. 

In Papua New Guinea, you will find the world’s most significant butterfly spices called Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, having a wingspan of 9.8 inches!

As part of the Coral Triangle in the western Pacific Ocean, Papua New Guinea has a wide array of the best diving sites in the world.

Papua New Guinea possesses a rich variety of reptiles, marsupials (animals that carry their young in pouches), native freshwater fishes, and birds but is almost devoid of large mammals.

There are 20,000 species of plants growing in Papua New Guinea. There are also 750 bird species, 250 mammal species, 800 coral species, and 600 fish species.

Tree kangaroos can be found in Papua New Guinea. In 1990, a new species of tree kangaroo, the golden-mantled tree kangaroo, was discovered in Papua New Guinea.

Several species of the birds-of-paradise inhabit the country. These birds are known across the world for their unique features, elegant plumes, beautiful colors, and interesting behaviors. Many of these birds perform elaborate mating rituals including dances.

One of the world’s only known poisonous birds, the hooded pitohui, can be found in Papua New Guinea. Its feathers carry one of the most powerful toxins known to science.

For the longest time the country used seashells as their currency, until the kina was introduced. Incidentally, some regions still use the shells as bride price even today. The practice can still be traced in the Tolai society which would use the tabu shell for transactions. The shells are still regarded as a sign of respect and are central to ceremonies for initiations, funerals, weddings and even pig feasts.

Until 2013, a law on witchcraft was in force in Papua New Guinea, according to which a sorcerer could be sentenced to death.

The economy of Papua New Guinea is dominated by the forestry, agricultural, fishing side and minerals that are helping their country development.

Coffee is grown in the Eastern Highlands and is the second largest export product of Papua New Guinea.

Main exports include crops like coffee, cocoa, palm oil, taro, bananas, yams, sweet potato, breadfruit, wild sago, and rice.

Minerals such as gold, oil, copper make up almost 72 per cent of export earnings.

Favorite foods in Papua New Guinea include Taro leaf, cassava, cassava leaf, breadfruit, edible leafy greens (kumu), coconut and fruits. The traditional meat is pork, which is often eaten on special occasions.

Samaritan Aviation pilots have been flying emergency flights using sea planes to help Papua New Guinea residents who live days away from hospital by land get the treatment they need in an average of 45 minutes. Typically patients need immediate care for pregnancies, snake bites, traumatic injuries, sicknesses, and other conditions.

My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Papua New Guinea... Located near the equator, Papua New Guinea is one of the very few tropical countries that can boast of snowcap peaks on its highest mountain.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp/Die Set: LDRS Mountain Heights stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers and a Gelly Roll White Gel Pen

Paper: Hammermill 110# White, Recollections Black and SU Night of Navy CS and DP from my scrap file

Dies: Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics and Taylored Expressions Stitched Slimline

Embellishments: Stickles Glitter Glue