Fisheries Resources profiles : Papua New Guinea / prepared by Patricia J. Kailola

Abstract

Papua New Guinea (PNG) comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, located in the western Pacific, between the Equator and 12° South, and 141° - 160° East. It has a total land area (mainland and more than 600 islands) of approximately 463,000 km". Its Declared Fishing Zone (DFZ) has an area of approximately 2.3 million km". It is estimated that the population at the end of 1995 totaled 4.1 million, with an annual population growth rate of approximately 2.3 per cent. PNG is culturally diverse with between 700-800 different languages and dialects. Nearly 40 per cent of the population live in the densely-inhabited Highlands provinces and only about 13 per cent in coastal rural areas.