Tag Archives: Study in Papua New Guinea

Independent since September 16, 1975, Papua New Guinea is a constitutional monarchy that is a member of the Commonwealth; head of state is the sovereign of the United Kingdom, represented by a governor general, who appoints the prime minister, who is responsible, together with the other ministers, for the effective exercise of executive power. The legislative one belongs to the unicameral Assembly, with members elected by direct universal suffrage for 5 years. The legal system is based on Common Law British; the jurisdiction of the International Court is not held to be binding. Justice is administered by the Supreme Court which receives the cases examined by the National Court. Both courts have civil and criminal jurisdiction. There are also local courts and special courts, such as the one dedicated to minors. The death penalty, although not applied for a long time, is in force. The defense of the state is organized in the three traditional weapons; the voluntary military service is carried out from 16 years of age. Education in the country is neither compulsory nor free. Also for this reason, schooling in Papua New Guinea is very low: the illiteracy rate among the adult population is very high (42.2% 2007), and affects almost one in two residents. L’ school system provides different courses for indigenous peoples and for non-indigenous peoples. Primary school, which lasts six years, begins at the age of 7; the secondary one, on the other hand, lasts 6 years and is divided into two cycles, one four-year and one two-year. Higher education is given at the University of Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby, 1965) and at the Institute of Technology (Lae, 1965), but high school and university courses often take place abroad, particularly in Australia. According to COUNTRYAAH, Papua New Guinea is a nation in Melanesia, the capital city of which is Port Moresby. The latest population of Papua New Guinea is 8,947,035.

GEOGRAPHY
The territory is essentially mountainous. It is entirely crossed, from NW to SE, by an imposing succession of mountain ranges (Central Range, Bismarck mountains, where it culminates at 4509 m with Mount Wihelm, Owen Stanley mountains, etc.); another series of ridges, of more modest elevation, borders almost the entire northern coast, while a vast alluvial plain occupies a large part of the southern section of the country. Both the Papuan section of New Guinea, from the northern ranges to the Owen Stanley Mountains, and the archipelagos and smaller islands, from the Bismarck Archipelago, in particular the Willaumez Peninsula and the Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain, to the northern Solomons, include volcanic apparatuses, many of which are active. Numerous streams run through the territory, often branching out into an inextricable maze of canals and marshes. Among the main ones are, to the N of the mountain ranges, the Sepik and the Ramu, to the S the Fly, the Kikori and the Purari; very rich in water given the abundant rains, and navigable for vast stretches, they often represent the only communication routes towards the interior. Given the position in the middle of the equatorial area, the climate is almost constantly hot and humid, with very abundant rains (even 4000-5000 mm per year).