Timeline Papua New Guinea

Timeline Papua New Guinea (PNG)

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Atlapedia: http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/papuanew.htm

New Guinea Island is the 2nd largest island in the world and is shared by West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, an Indonesian province, and the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. The island of Bougainville was governed by Papua New Guinea.
   (SFC, 5/17/96, p.A-16)(WUD, 1994, p.962)(SFC, 10/10/97, p.A13)(NH, 10/98, p.92)
A cultural turning point was caused when the Portuguese introduced the sweet potato.
   (SFC, 9/7/96, p.B4)
Papua New Guinea is about the size of California and counted some 869 tribal languages.
   (SFC,11/14/97, p.D2)(Econ, 5/7/05, Survey p.11)
Papua New Guinea is an impoverished, corruption-riven country struggling with an underfunded, undertrained police force struggling to keep a lid on violence in society. The capital, Port Moresby, is considered one of the world's most dangerous cities outside a war zone.
   (AP, 9/1/05)

400000BC - 48000BC     A human group, later called the Denisovans, lived in Asia during this period. They then interbred with humans expanding from Africa along the coast of South Asia. In 2010 fossil evidence from a Siberian cave in 2008 revealed that their DNA was related to the DNA of people from New Guinea, which contained 4.8% Denisovan DNA. 3-5% of the DNA from native people of Papua New Guinea, Australia, the Philippines and other nearby islands came from Denisovans, who left Africa as far back as 800,000 BC. In 2014 scientists reported that a genetic between extinct Denisovans and some modern-day Tibetans and Sherpas.
    (SFC, 12/23/10, p.A4)(SSFC, 9/16/12, p.C11)(SFC, 7/3/14, p.D1)

50,000 BCE    The stone age culture of this area goes back this time.
    (SFC, 5/29/96, p.A8)

c5,000BCE    Research in 2003 indicated that bananas and taro were cultivated in the highlands of Papua New Guinea as long as 7,000 years ago. The first signs of human habitation in the area occurred c5,800 BCE and included a change from forest to grasslands and increase in charcoal in the sediments. The earliest Asian influence on the islands occurred about 1,500 BCE.
    (AP, 6/19/03)

1300BC    The Lapita people took once again to the open seas about this time, pushing east past the Solomon Islands to the Bismarck archipelago and beyond to Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa. Theses Southeast Asian peoples had headed south from Taiwan to Papua New Guinea and as far as the main Solomon islands, where they stopped some 40,000 years ago.
    (AFP, 11/9/10)

1522        18 survivors of the original Magellan expedition completed the circumnavigation of the globe under Sebastian del Cano. Plumes of the bird of paradise from New Guinea were first brought back to Europe.
    (TL-MB, p.12)(NH, 9/96, p.8)

1767        Louis Antoine de Bougainville of France sailed to the islands of New Guinea. He encountered the ritual of gift giving to one's enemy, which obligated the enemy to give back even more.
    (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4)

1878        Apr, A Fijian minister and three teachers were killed and eaten by Tolai tribespeople on the Gazelle Peninsula of Papua New Guinea. In 2007 descendants of the Tolai apologized for their forefathers' actions. Englishman George Brown directed and took part in a punitive expedition that resulted in a number of Tolais being killed and several villages burnt down. Official investigations by British colonial authorities in the Pacific cleared him of criminal charges.
    (AFP, 8/16/07)

1906        Sep 1, Papua New Guinea was placed under Australian administration, which continued to 1973.
    (www.hubert-herald.nl/PapuaNewGuinea.htm)(Econ, 5/28/11, SR p.17)

1910        Jun 2, Pygmies were discovered in Dutch New Guinea (Papua).
    (SC, 6/2/02)

1920-1950    Fore people of Papua New Guinea were devastated by an epidemic of kuru, a brain-destroying disease caused by abnormal proteins called prions.
    (SFC, 4/11/03, p.A6)

1937        Jul 2, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan left Lae in Papua, New Guinea and disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator. They failed to arrive at their scheduled stop at Howland Island. Noonan was alcoholic and had been on a binge the night before. Radioman Leo Bellarts was the last person to communicate with Earhart.
    (SFC, 3/1/97, p.A8)(SFC, 5/20/97, p.A12)(AP, 7/2/97)(SFEC, 7/6/97, p.B10)

1942        Mar 7, Japanese troops landed on New Guinea.
    (HN, 3/7/98)

1942        Aug 26, Japanese troops landed on New Guinea, Milne Bay.
    (MC, 8/26/02)

1943        Jan 2, The Allies captured Buna in New Guinea.
    (HN, 1/2/99)

1943        Sep 4, Allied troops captured Lae-Salamaua, in New Guinea.
    (HN, 9/4/98)

1943        Dec 17, U.S. forces invaded New Britain Island in New Guinea.
    (HN, 12/17/98)

1944        Feb 15, Nathan Gordon (1916-2008), US Navy pilot from Arkansas, and his crew made 4 separate flying boat landings to rescue a number of aviators from B-52 bombers, which had been shot down while attacking Japanese positions near Kavieng harbor on New Ireland Island, Papua New Guinea. Gordon later became the longest-serving lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
    (SFC, 9/15/08, p.B8)

1944        Feb 29, US forces caught Japanese troops off-guard and easily took control of the Admiralty Islands in Papua New Guinea.
    (HN, 2/29/00)

1944        Apr 10, A US B-24 Liberator was shot down over Madang while on a bombing mission to knockout Japanese anti-aircraft positions in Papua New Guinea. 4 members of the crew exited the plane, were captured and executed. 8 others went down with the plane. In 2014 the remains of two missing airmen were identified using DNA and other evidence.
    (SFC, 8/8/14, p.A7)

1944        Apr 22, During World War II, U.S. forces and Allies began invading Japanese-held New Guinea with amphibious landings near Hollandia, New Guinea.
    (AP, 4/22/97)(HN, 4/22/98)

1944        May 27, Gen. MacArthur landed on Biak Island in New Guinea.
    (HN, 5/27/98)

1944        Jul 5, The Japanese garrison on Numfoor, New Guinea, tried to counterattack but was soon beaten back by U.S. forces.
    (HN, 7/5/98)

1945        Australian soldier Edward Kenna (d.2009 at 90) single-handedly stormed a Japanese machine-gun nest at Wewak, New Guinea, firing a Bren gun from his hip with enemy bullets passing under his arms as he advanced. Kenna was awarded a Victoria Cross for his valor.
    (AFP, 7/9/09)

1945        The Territory of New Guinea under Australia merged with the Territory of Papua.
    (WUD, 1994, p.962)

1950-1959    Cannibalism was banned in Papua New Guinea.
    (SFC, 4/11/03, p.A6)
1950-1959    The first outsiders to regularly contact the Bahinemo people of Papua New Guinea in the 1950s were traders looking for crocodile skins and carvings.
    (SFC, 5/29/96, p.A8)

1951        The Lamington volcano erupted and 2,942 people were killed.
    (SFC, 1/19/02, p.A14)

1953        Dec, Ornithologist E. Thomas Gilliard (d.1965 at age 52) and his wife, Margaret, arrived in New Guinea to study birds in the Viktor Emanuel Range. Police activities forced them to remake plans and they proceeded to survey the Sepik River and to photograph the Iatmul and Sawos people who lived along its banks.
    (NH, 10/98, p.92)

1956        Evangelicals from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, based in Dallas, began to translate the Bible into local languages.
    (SFC,11/14/97, p.D2)

1959        Papua became independent from Australia.
    (WUD, 1994, p.962)

1961        Dec 1, The Territory of New Guinea declared independence from the Netherlands.
    (WUD, 1994, p.962)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)

1963        Sovereignty over West Papua was transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia. A UN approved referendum, involving some 1,000 handpicked pro-Jakarta Papuans, ratified the annexation in 1969.
    (WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A23)

1967        Australia pressured mining-company officials to develop the Panguna mine on Bougainville in the face of local opposition. Cabinet minutes of this were not declassified until 1998.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A14)

1968        In Papua New Guinea Michael Somare (b.1936) was first elected to parliament. He later served 3 terms as prime minister.
    (Econ, 8/6/11, p.35)

1969        Jul 14 - 1969 Aug 2, In West Papua the "Act of Free Choice" was conducted by the Indonesian military forces. A UN approved referendum, involving 1,026 handpicked pro-Jakarta tribal chiefs, ratified Indonesia’s 1963 annexation of West Papua. Many voted at gunpoint in the unanimous decision. In papers released in 2004 it was revealed that US Ambassador Marshall Green in 1969 had foreknowledge that Indonesia had no intention of allowing a Papuan vote that might prevent Indonesia from annexing West Papua as a Indonesian province; he further pointed out that any UN member would be unwise to expect free or direct elections.
    (WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A23)(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A15)(http://tinyurl.com/7cxq3)(Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)

1969        Australian bulldozers arrive on Bougainville and began work at the Panguna mine. Local women were unsuccessful in trying to stop the work.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A14)

1971        Australia joined with New Zealand and 14 independent of self-governing island nations to form the South Pacific Forum. The name was changed in 2000 to Pacific Islands Forum. Member states include: Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Since 2006, associate members territories are New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
    (Econ, 10/20/07, p.61)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands_Forum)

1975        Sep 1, Bougainville Island announced the formation of the "Republic of the North Solomons," but failed in its bid to secede from Papua New Guinea.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bougainville)

1975        Sep 16, Papua New Guinea (PNG), a former Australian colony, became independent. Michael Somare (b.1936) served as the first prime minister.
    (WSJ, 12/20/96, p.B8)(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A14)

1980        Mar 11, Julius Chan (b.1939) succeeded Michael Somare as PM of Papua New Guinea.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Somare)

1982        Former PM Michael Somare (1975-1980) succeeded Julius Chan as prime minister of Papua New Guinea. This was his 2nd term.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Somare)

1985        Paias Wingti (b.1951) succeeded Michael Somare as prime minister of Papua New Guinea and served to 1988.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paias_Wingti)

1988        Sir Rabbie Namaliu (b.1947) began serving as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and continued to 1992.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbie_Namaliu)

1988        Francis Ona threatened to close down the Panguna open-pit copper mine on Bougainville. He demanded half the profits for local landowners, $11.5 billion compensation for environmental damage, and independence for Bougainville.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A1,14)

1989        May, In Papua New Guinea fighting on Bougainville Island forced the closure of Bougainville Copper, one of the world’s ten largest copper mines. It was jointly owned by RTZ-CRA and the government. Part of the cause for the civil war was environmental damage caused by the huge Panguna copper mine and insufficient land royalties paid to landowners.
    (WSJ, 3/4/97, p.A15)(SFC, 10/10/97, p.A13)(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A14)

1989        Bougainville islanders formed the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) under former land surveyor Francis Ona. Papua new Guinea imposed a naval and air blockade. A counterinsurgent group called Resistance was formed.
    (SFC, 12/29/01, p.A9)

1990        Francis Ona declared independence and himself president of what he called Meekamuii. Papua New Guinea tightened its blockade.
    (SFC, 12/29/01, p.A9)
1990        In Papua New Guinea soldiers withdrew from Bougainville following a ceasefire with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA).
    (Econ, 2/9/08, p.48)

1990        Businessmen and politicians journeyed into the Hunstein Forest to collect the “x’s” of clansmen on a deal to sell their forest for royalty payments. The government in Port Moresby, the capital, has since suspended the deal.
    (SFC, 5/29/96, p.A8)

1992        Former PM Paias Wingti (1985-1988) succeeded Rabbie Namaliu as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and continued to 1994.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbie_Namaliu)

1994        Former PM Julius Chan (1980-1982) succeeded Paias Wingti as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and continued to 1997.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbie_Namaliu)

1994        In California at Stanford Univ. 10 master artists from the Kwoma and Iatmul cultures of the Sepik River of New Guinea carved poles for the New Guinea Sculpture Garden near Robley Hall.
    (SFC, 8/18/99, p.D5)

1994        Two volcanoes on the opposite sides of one of the Duke of York Islands erupted for 4 months. Evacuees moved back to the islands but found that the lands had begun sinking into the Pacific. [see 1999]
    (SFC, 11/6/99, p.A24)

1996        Oct 12, Theodore Miriung, head of the Bougainville Transitional Government of Papua, New Guinea, was assassinated.
    (SFC, 10/16/96, p.A10)

1996        Nov, A volcano on Manam Island erupted. 7,000 villagers were on standby for evacuation.
    (SFC, 11/16/96, p.C1)

1996        Edward Marriott, English reporter, authored “The Lost Tribe,” an account of his search for the “Stone Age” Liawep people.
    (SFEC, 4/9/00, BR p.6)

1996        The 500 Bahinemo people and the several hundred Bitara people were faced with the decision over whether to allow logging in their 2,300 sq. miles of primeval woodland.
    (SFC, 5/29/96, p.A8)

1997        Jan, The government of Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan decided to hire foreign mercenaries for $36 million to crush the revolt in Bougainville.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A1)

1997        Feb, The government under Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan hired Sandline Int’l., a company that provides military training and support, to help put an end to the bloody secessionist movement on Bougainville Island. Sandline in turn subcontracted much of the work to the South African mercenary firm Executive Outcomes, known for its effective work in Angola and Sierra Leone.
    (WSJ, 3/4/97, p.A15)(SFC, 3/21/97, p.A20)

1997        Mar 1, Prime Minister Julius Chan announced that the government would buy the 54% stake in Bougainville Copper held by RTZ-CRA Ltd.
    (WSJ, 3/4/97, p.A15)

1997        Mar 17, The government fired army commander Brigadier Gen’l. Jerry Singirok. He refused to accept the hiring of the British mercenary firm Sandline Int’l.
    (SFC, 3/18/97, p.A12)

1997        Mar 19, In Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, police fired tear gas and warning shots at more than 2,000 civilians protesting the government’s $27 million contract with Sandline Int’l. to quell rebels on Bougainville.
    (SFC, 3/20/97, p.A12)(AP, 3/29/03)

1997        Mar 26, Prime Minister Julius Chan resigned due to the public uproar over plans to use mercenaries in Bougainville.
    (SFC, 3/26/97, p.A14)

1997        Jun, In elections the government of Sir Julius Chan was swept out of office.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A1)

1997        Jun, Papua New Guinea PM Bill Skate formed a shaky coalition government: “...if I tell my gang members to kill, they kill... there’s no other godfather. I’m the godfather...” He later claimed to be drunk using the described “Johnny Walker defense.” Skate resigned in 1999 after serving 18 months as prime minister.
    (WSJ, 4/14/98, p.A19)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Skate)

1997        Jul, Gen’l. Jerry Singirok, leader of the March revolt against prime minister Chan, was decommissioned. Elections were completed and a new government was to be announced at the end of the month.
    (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A11)

1997        Nov 26, It was reported that gas reserve of 4 trillion cubic feet around Kutubu, in Papua New Guinea, was planned to be delivered to Australia across a 1,500 mile pipeline by Chevron Corp. by mid-2001.
    (SFC,11/26/97, p.B1)

1998        Jan 23, Warring parties on Bougainville signed a peace agreement that would go into effect on April 30. An estimated 10,000 people died during the 10 year civil strife, mostly non-combatants from untreated disease. Some 1,000 rebels died and about 2,200 government sympathizers.
    (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A1)

1998        Apr 1, it was reported that Port Moresby, a fortress city of 320,000, had 8% of the nation’s population and 46% of its crime. Assault rifles were reported to be becoming part of the weaponry of Huli tribesmen.
    (WSJ, 4/1/98, p.A1)

1998        Jul 17, In Papua New Guinea a 23-foot tidal wave followed a 7.0 earthquake at the Solomon Islands and killed at 2,500-3,000 people. The villages of Malol, Arop, Otto, Warupu and Sissano were turned into barren strips of sand.
    (SFC, 7/18/98, p.A10)(SFEC, 7/20/98, p.A1)(AP, 7/18/99)

1999        Nov, It was reported that the Duke of York Islands were sinking into the Pacific at 4-6 inches per year. Government scientists recommended that the 20,000 residents be relocated.
    (SFC, 11/6/99, p.A24)

1999        Sir Michael Morauta began serving as prime minister of Papua New Guinea. He held office to 2002.
    (Econ, 7/21/07, p.44)

2000        Jun 4, In West Papua separatists made a declaration of independence. Thaha Alhamid read the declaration before thousands gathered in Jayapura.
    (SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)

2000        Nov 16, A tidal wave followed a magnitude 8.0 earthquake and left at least one person dead and at some 5,000 people homeless.
    (WSJ, 11/22/00, p.A1)(SFC, 11/25/00, p.D8)

2001        May 9, In Papua New Guinea the Bougainville Provincial Peace Consultative committee adopted a peace plan and opposing factions agreed to lay down their weapons. The agreement entailed the PNG government’s accepting greater autonomy for Bougainville and a referendum on independence to be held between 2015-2020.
    (SFC, 5/11/01, p.D8)(Econ, 2/9/08, p.48)

2001        Jun 26, In Papua, New Guinea, police killed at least 3 students protesting government austerity measures. Another 13 were wounded and rioting ensued.
    (WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A1)

2001        Nov 11, In Indonesia Theys Eluay (64), an independence movement leader in Irian Jaya, was found strangled in his wrecked car and riots erupted. He had spent the previous evening at dinner with local army commanders. In 2003 7 members of the Indonesia special forces were convicted for involvement in the murder. Their maximum sentence was 31/2 years.
    (SFC, 11/12/01, p.A12)(SFC, 11/27/01, p.A3)(SFC, 4/22/03, A7)

2001        Irian Jaya, the Indonesia half of Papua New Guinea, was renamed Papua.
    (Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)

2002        Jan 23, Papua New Guinea voted to grant autonomy and the right to a referendum on total independence to Bougainville.
    (SFC, 1/24/02, p.A8)

2002        Jun 14, Voting began in Papua New Guinea's general election with hopes that it would bring some stability to the struggling Pacific nation. Former 2 time PM Michael Somare returned to power.
    (AP, 6/14/02)(Econ, 7/21/07, p.44)

2002        Jul 10, Two people were hacked to death and a police station was overrun by armed tribesmen who stole ballot boxes and freed prisoners in the latest election-related violence in Papua, New Guinea.
    (AP, 7/11/02)

2002        Aug 5, In Papua New Guinea lawmakers elected founding father Michael Somare as the new prime minister, as armed riot police surrounded Parliament.
    (AP, 8/5/02)

2002        Sep, Mount Pago spewed silicone ash and a serious eruption was expected. Parts of New Britain Island were made uninhabitable.
    (SFC, 9/7/02, p.A18)

2002        Sep 9, An earthquake struck just off Papua New Guinea's north coast, killing 3 people and causing a tidal wave that washed away at least 40 homes.
    (AP, 9/9/02)

2003        May 2, In Papua New Guinea a landslide buried a meeting hall under mud and debris, killing at least eight people as they listened to election results.
    (AP, 5/3/03)

2003        Jun 19, A team of Australian researchers reported that bananas and taro were cultivated ion the highlands of Papua New Guinea as long as 7,000 years ago.
    (AP, 6/19/03)

2003        Dec, Australia launched an enhanced cooperation program for Papua New Guinea.
    (Econ, 5/7/05, Survey p.11)

2003        The Indonesia half of Papua New Guinea was split into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.
    (Econ, 6/30/12, p.46)

2005        May, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled that Australian deployment of policemen to fight lawlessness and corruption violated its constitution. This upset a $760 million enhanced cooperation program (ECP) aimed at fighting lawlessness and corruption.
    (Econ, 8/27/05, p.36)

2005        Aug 31, A new report said police last January in Papua New Guinea had collared a teen suspected of picking the pocket of a soldier and dispensed their own justice. The officers beat him, slammed his head into a truck and burned him.
    (AP, 9/1/05)

2005        Sep 9, A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea.
    (AP, 9/9/05)

2006        Jan 20, In Papua New Guinea a landslide sent mud and boulders smashing through a remote village, killing at least eight people and leaving five more missing and feared dead.
    (AP, 1/23/06)

2006        Apr 24, The annual Goldman Environmental Prizes were awarded in San Francisco. The winners included Craig Williams (58) for helping to persuade Congress to order the Defense Dept. to consider alternatives to incinerating chemical weapons; Tarcisio Feitosa (35) of Brazil for his campaign against rampant logging; Olya Melen (26) of Ukraine for her suits forcing the government to scale back a large canal project impacting wetlands; Yu Xiaogang (35) of China for his reports on damages caused by new dams; Silas Siakor (36) of Liberia for his documentation showing how logging was used to fund civil war; and Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea for her work to get reimbursements from logging companies to peasants.
    (WSJ, 4/24/06, p.B7)

2006        Aug 1, The Papua New Guinea government declared a state of emergency in the resource-rich Southern Highlands province. PM Somare said security forces had been sent to the graft-ridden province and government controllers appointed to try to restore good governance.
    (AFP, 8/1/06)

2006        Oct 15, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia would cut ministerial contacts with its northern neighbor until an investigation was held into the escape from Papua New Guinea of a Solomon Islands official wanted on child sex charges. Julian Moti, now in custody in the Solomons and facing charges of illegal entry, was wanted in Australia on child sex charges involving a 13-year-old girl in Vanuatu in 1997. Moti was deported to Australia in 2007. His case was thrown out in December after the court found that Australian officials had colluded in his illegal deportation.
    (AFP, 10/15/06)(Econ, 10/28/06, p.51)(Econ, 5/19/12, p.49)

2007        Jun 30, Voting in general elections began in Papua New Guinea and was scheduled to continue to July 10. An average of 25 candidates stood for each of 109 seats. Bad weather pushed completion to mid July. The population numbered about 6 million.
    (Econ, 7/7/07, p.42)(Econ, 7/21/07, p.44)

2007        The Beck's petrel was photographed by an Israeli ornithologist in the Bismarck Archipelago, a group of islands northeast of Papua New Guinea. The pale-bellied bird species was last seen in 1929 and long thought to be extinct.
    (AP, 3/7/08)

2008        May 6, Two senior Taiwanese officials resigned over the loss of millions of dollars in a failed attempt to persuade Papua New Guinea to officially recognize Taiwan.
    (AP, 5/6/08)

2009        Jan 27, Pacific Island leaders gathered in Port Moresby and threatened to expel Fiji from their forum if coup leader Frank Bainimarama fails to announce credible plans for elections.
    (Econ, 1/31/09, p.48)(www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2475598.htm)

2009        Mar 25, Conservation International, a Washington D.C.-based conservation group, announced the discovery of over 50 new animal species in a remote, mountainous region of Papua New Guinea. The group spent the past several months analyzing more than 600 animal species found during its expedition to the South Pacific island nation in July and August.
    (AP, 3/25/09)

2009        May 15, In Indonesia 6 Asia-Pacific countries, meeting at the World Oceans Conference, agreed on a management plan to protect one of the world's largest networks of coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate overfishing and improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal communities. The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security covered an area defined as the Coral Triangle, which spans Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor.
    (AP, 5/15/09)

2009        Aug 11, In Papua New Guinea a charter plane carrying 13 people to a popular tourist site vanished on approach in bad weather to an airport nestled in rugged terrain. No survivors were found in the wreckage, which was located the next day in the mountainous Kokoda region.
    (AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/12/09)

2009        Dec 16, Papua New Guinea police shot dead Kelly Kwalik, one of the senior commanders of the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
    (Econ, 6/5/10, p.49)(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8415484.stm)

2010        Jan 12, In Papua New Guinea 38 people were killed and 18 others hospitalized after two speeding buses crashed head-on while trying to drive around potholes.
    (AP, 1/13/10)

2010        Feb 12, The WHO said a cholera outbreak on Papua New Guinea has killed at least 40 people over the last several months.
    (SFC, 2/13/10, p.A2)

2010        Oct 6, Scientists unveiled a spectacular array of more than 200 new species discovered in the Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea, including a white-tailed mouse and a tiny, long-snouted frog.
    (AP, 10/6/10)

2011        Jun 13, In Papua New Guinea Theo Abal (21), the adopted son of the acting PM Sam Abal, slashed the throat of a 29-year-old hostess he met in a bar. Abal was charged with murder after the body of the waitress was found at the family home.
    (AP, 6/16/11)

2011        Jun 19, In Papua New Guinea an attacker fired 2 arrows hitting Matt Scheurich as the 28-year-old New Zealander relaxed on a river bank while his girlfriend, a French doctoral student studying tribal life, swam in the river. The attacker also threw rocks at Scheurich's head and then attempted to sexually assault the French woman. The couple were air lifted out and treated at Kiunga Hospital and then in Cairns, Australia.
    (AP, 7/5/11)

2011        Jun 28, In Papua New Guinea the Somare family, led by his wife, Lady Veronica Somare, announced Michael Somare's retirement as Prime Minister and from politics. Somare was still hospitalized in intensive care at Raffles Hospital in Singapore at the time of his retirement, more than three months after he underwent heart surgery in April 2011.
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Somare)(Econ, 8/6/11, p.35)

2011        Aug 2, In Papua New Guinea Peter O’Neill became prime minister after the speaker ruled the post vacant.
    (Econ, 11/19/11, p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_O%27Neill)

2011        Aug 19, Papua New Guinea, 96% Christian, announced that it has named August 26 as the National Day of Repentence, a time for people to ask forgiveness for their sins.
    (SSFC, 8/25/13, p.M3)(http://tinyurl.com/lz8ba4x)

2011        Oct 13, A Papua New Guinea Dash 8 passenger plane carrying 32 people crashed near the coast. Witness reports said only four people on board had survived.
    (AFP, 10/13/11)(SFC, 10/14/11, p.A2)

2011        Dec 12, Veteran PNG leader Sir Michael Somare (75) was reinstated as Papua New Guinea's prime minister when the Supreme Court ruled the election of Peter O'Neill was unconstitutional.
    (AFP, 12/12/11)

2011        Dec 15, Papua New Guinea politics were deadlocked, with two men claiming to be prime minister, two governments saying they hold power, rival police chiefs maintaining the peace — and no one sure who actually was in charge.
    (AP, 12/15/11)

2011        Dec 20, Papua New Guinea’s governor general Michael Ogio reversed course and threw his weight behind the government of Peter O’Neill.
    (SFC, 12/21/11, p.A7)

2011        The population of Papua New Guinea was about 6.7 million.
    (Econ, 8/6/11, p.34)

2012        Jan 24, In Papua New Guinea as many as 60 people were feared dead after a massive landslide wiped out an entire village in the rugged Southern Highlands.
    (AFP, 1/25/12)

2012        Jan 26, Papua New Guinea PM Peter O'Neill refused to step down despite a mutiny by soldiers who seized the military headquarters and demanded that he cede power to his ousted predecessor, former PM Michael Somare.
    (AP, 1/26/12)

2012        Jan 28, In Papua New Guinea Yaura Sasa, a retired colonel who attempted to take over the military and ordered the prime minister to step down, was arrested and charged with mutiny.
    (AP, 1/29/12)

2012        Jan 30, An Indonesian court indicted five activists for treason in the restive Papua region after they raised an outlawed Papuan flag on Oct 19 and declared its independence.
    (AFP, 1/30/12)

2012        Feb 2, A Papua New Guinea ferry sank with 351 passengers and 12 crew on board. Rescuers plucked 246 survivors from the sea off PNG’s east coast. Some 117 people remained missing.
    (AP, 2/2/12)(AP, 2/3/12)(AFP, 2/5/12)

2012        Apr 5, Papua New Guinea's parliament voted to postpone national polls for six months, sparking public outrage.
    (AFP, 4/10/12)

2012        Apr 10, In Papua New Guinea thousands rallied in Port Moresby to protest at any delays to elections, seen as crucial as the country rests on the cusp of a resources boom.
    (AFP, 4/10/12)

2012        Apr 17, A 7.0-magnitude quake struck off the northeast of Papua New Guinea, but there was no tsunami warning issued.
    (AFP, 4/17/12)

2012        May 21, Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court called for veteran leader Sir Michael Somare (76) to be reinstated over PM Peter O'Neill. 2 of the 5 justices abstained from taking part in the ruling.
    (AFP, 5/21/12)

2012        May 24, Papua New Guinea Deputy PM Belden Namah led officers into the Supreme Court to arrest of Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, one of three judges who affirmed an earlier ruling that Somare is the nation's legitimate prime minister.
    (AP, 5/25/12)

2012        May 25, Rogue police officers in Papua New Guinea blockaded Parliament for several hours, a day after PM Peter O'Neill's government leveled sedition charges against the country's chief justice.
    (AP, 5/25/12)

2012        Jun 23, Voting began in Papua New Guinea, a struggling Pacific nation which is on the brink of a huge resources boom. 3,428 candidates vied for 109 of 111 parliamentary seats, with no single political party likely to win enough seats to form government on its own.
    (AFP, 6/23/12)(Econ, 8/4/12, p.36)

2012        Jul 13, Papua New Guinea police said they have arrested 29 people accused of being part of a cannibal cult in the jungle interior and charged them with the murders of seven suspected witch doctors. The cult members allegedly ate their victims' brains raw and made soup from their penises.
    (AP, 7/13/12)

2012        Aug 3, Papua New Guinea re-elected Peter O'Neill as the next leader, ending a turbulent period in the nation's politics which at one point saw it with two rival prime ministers. Sir Michael Somare (76) accepted the defeat of his party in the vote and agreed to support O'Neill in his bid to form the next government.
    (AFP, 8/3/12)

2012        Aug 13, Australia's PM Gillard announced a sharp reversal in her government's policy on asylum seekers, saying it will introduce legislation allowing their deportation to the poor Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru to face lengthy stays in detention camps.
    (AFP, 8/13/12)

2013        Feb 6, In Papua New Guinea a mob stripped, tortured and bound a woman (20) accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of horrified witnesses in Mount Hagen. Kepari Leniata had been accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who died in a hospital a day earlier. On Feb 17 Janet Ware and Andrew Watea were charged with murder over the slaying.
    (AP, 2/8/13)(AP, 2/18/13)

2013        Apr 17, A magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook Papua New Guinea's northern coast, sending residents fleeing for higher ground and items tumbling from shelves. There were no immediate reports of serious damage.
    (AP, 4/17/13)

2013        May, The government of Papua New Guinea repealed the country's 42-year-old Sorcery Act. The law had allowed for a belief in black magic to be used as a partial legal defense for killing someone suspected of inflicting harm through sorcery. It was repealed in response to recent violence.
    (AP, 6/10/13)

2013        Jul 19, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd, with PNG PM Peter O’Neill at his side, warned that all refugees who arrive in the country by boat will be resettled on the island nation of Papua New Guinea, a policy shift that rights groups immediately condemned.
    (AP, 7/19/13)(Econ, 7/27/13, p.34)

2013        Aug 29, In Papua New Guinea Steven Tari and a follower were killed as they attacked a young woman in Madang. Tari, an infamous cult leader known as "Black Jesus" and suspected of cannibalism, had been on the run since escaping from a Madang prison during a mass break-out with 48 others in March.
    (AFP, 8/30/13)

2013        Sep 10, In Papua New Guinea a group of Australian and New Zealand trekkers, including one woman, were savagely attacked and injured by bandits with two of their guides hacked to death.
    (AFP, 9/11/13)

2013        Oct 16, An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
    (Reuters, 10/16/13)

2013        Nov 7, China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang said China will provide a concessionary loan of up to $1 billion to Pacific island nations to support construction projects in a part of the world where Beijing and Taiwan compete for influence. He made the announcement at a forum with Pacific island nations in Guangzhou at a meeting attended by representatives from Micronesia, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue and Fiji.
    (Reuters, 11/8/13)

2014        Feb 18, In Papua New Guinea police opened fire after hundreds of men broke out of an Australia-run detention camp for asylum seekers. One inmate was killed.
    (SFC, 2/19/14, p.A2)

2014        Apr 19, An earthquake with a magnitude 7.8 was recorded off Papua New Guinea.
    (Reuters, 4/19/14)

2014        Jun 10, The European Commission delivered a formal warning to the Philippines and Papua New Guinea over illegal fishing, a step that could lead to a ban on exporting to the EU.
    (Reuters, 6/10/14)

2014        Aug 29, In Papua New Guinea Mount Tavurvur erupted early today in Rabaul district on New Britain Island. The eruption forced several communities to evacuate and some international flights were diverted.
    (AP, 8/29/14)

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