Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea

13.03.2022

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New Guinea

indon. Pulau Irian New Guinea, talk pisin Niugini

Political division of New Guinea

Characteristics

Square	786,000 km²

highest point	4884 m

Population	9 500 000 people (2010)

Population density	12.09 people/km²

Location

5°19′S sh. 141°36′ E d.


water area	Pacific Ocean

Countries

Regions	West Papua, Papua, Momase, Papua, Highlands






New Guinea at Wikimedia Commons

New Guinea(Indon. Pulau Irian, English New Guinea, tok-pisin Niugini) - an island in the west Pacific Ocean, the second largest island (after Greenland), the area of \u200b\u200bthe island is 786 thousand km². Separated from Australia by the Torres Strait. From the south it is washed by the Arafura and Coral Seas. The climate is equatorial and subequatorial. Tropical rainforests grow. The western part of the island is a territory, while the eastern part is occupied by a state.

Geography

Located in the western Pacific Ocean, the island of New Guinea is located north of Australia (separated from it by the Torres Strait) and is its link with. From the point of view of physical geography, it usually refers to. Politically, the island is divided approximately equally between and, so the western Indonesian part is often part of Asia from a political and economic point of view. The island is largest island divided between countries. The length of the island is more than 2000 km, the width is more than 700 km.

In the western part rises the Maoke mountain range, the highest peak of which under the name of Puncak Jaya reaches 4884 m above sea level. To the east are the Bismarck Mountains, whose highest point - Mount Wilhelm - has 4509 m. The longest river of the island is the Sepik River.

Flora and fauna

New Guinea is a tropical island and therefore has a very large variety of species. It is home to 11,000 plant species, 600 unique bird species, over 400 amphibian species, 455 butterfly species, and about a hundred known mammal species.

Along the coast of the island of New Guinea, a wide (in some places up to 35 km) strip of mangrove vegetation stretches. This swampy zone is completely impassable and can only be crossed by sailing along the rivers. Thickets of wild sugarcane grow along the rivers, and groves of sago palms grow in wetlands.

Illustration of "Birds of New Guinea" from the Zooatlas 1938

Dense rainforests, formed by hundreds of tree species, rise up the slopes of the mountains. However, now there are also plantations and orchards. Grow coconut palms, bananas, sugar cane, melon tree, tubers - taro, yams, sweet potato, cassava and other crops. Gardens alternate with forests. Plots of land are cultivated for only 2-3 years, then overgrown with forest for 10-12 years. Thus fertility is restored.

Above 1000-2000 m, the forests become more uniform in composition, coniferous species, especially araucaria, begin to predominate in them. These trees are of economic importance: their wood is a valuable building material. However, the delivery of sawn timber is difficult due to the paucity of good roads.

The highlands of New Guinea are covered with shrubs and meadows. In the intermountain basins, where the climate is drier, herbaceous vegetation is widespread, which arose in place of forests mainly as a result of fires.

The fauna is represented by reptiles, insects and especially numerous birds. For the fauna of mammals, as in neighboring Australia, only representatives of marsupials are characteristic - bandicoot (marsupial badger), wallaby (tree kangaroo), couscous, etc. In the forests and on the coast there are many snakes, including poisonous ones, and lizards. Crocodiles and turtles are found near the sea coasts and in large rivers. Of the birds, cassowaries, birds of paradise, crowned pigeons, parrots, weed chickens are characteristic. Europeans brought domestic chickens, dogs and pigs to the island. Feral pigs, as well as rats, field mice and some other animals have spread widely throughout the island.

"Garden of Eden"

In 2005, a group of American researchers discovered in tropical forests mountainous area New Guinea, a place they called the "Garden of Eden".

This area of about 300 thousand hectares is located on the slopes of the Foggia Mountains in the western part of New Guinea and was isolated from the influence of the outside world.

Scientists have discovered more than 20 previously unknown species of frogs, four new species of butterflies, five species of palm trees unknown to science, and many other plants in the Garden of Eden. Several species of the rarest marsupials were found - tree kangaroos, as well as the six-feathered "bird of paradise" Berlepsha, previously considered extinct.

All animals - the inhabitants of the highlands - are not afraid of humans, in particular, the rare long-beaked prochidna allowed scientists to pull themselves together.

Story

Early history

In ancient times, New Guinea was connected to Australia. The division occurred as a result of rising global sea levels relatively recently. This explains the presence in New Guinea of numerous species of marsupials living in Australia. Human settlement occurred at least 45 thousand years BC. e. from Asia. Subsequently, more than a thousand Papuan tribes descended from the settlers. The absence of large animals suitable for domestication on the island hindered the development of agriculture and made cattle breeding impossible. This contributed to the preservation of the primitive communal system in large territories New Guinea up to the present day. The diversity of languages and many tribes was due to the isolation of people from each other due to the mountainous landscape and the lack of technical means to promote communication and cultural exchange.

On the territory of New Guinea, there is an ancient agricultural settlement of Cook, showing the isolated development of agriculture over 7-10 millennia and included in the List world heritage UNESCO.

Discovery by Europeans

Long before the discovery of New Guinea by Europeans, inhabitants of the ancient Indonesian states hunted here for slaves and exotic birds. Already in the 8th century, the lords of the Srivijaya empire from the island gave the Chinese emperors of the Tang Dynasty black slaves caught on the New Guinean shores and many parrots. On the bas-reliefs of the largest Javanese temple of Borobudur (the first half of the 9th century), one can see images of such “orang papua” - curly-haired people.

The discoverers of New Guinea were also navigators at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1526, the Portuguese don Jorge de Menezes landed on the northwestern coast of the island, according to legend, he called the lands he discovered Ilhas dos Papuas- "Islands of Papua", from the Malay word meaning "curly"; apparently, the coarse curly hair of the Melanesian natives was meant.

Later, in 1545, the Spaniard Iñigo Ortiz de Retes passed by the island on his way from the Moluccas to Mexico and named it "New Guinea", because the coast reminded him of the shores that he had seen before. Perhaps he drew attention to the fact that in Africa and the newly discovered land near Australia were at opposite points on the globe, and it was this circumstance that prompted him to give the new land such a name.

The Portuguese governor of the Moluccas, Jorge de Menezes, named New Guinea "Ilyas dos Papuas" (Island of the Papuans). The name Nueva Guinea can already be found on the world map of the Flemish cartographer Mercator (1595). The Spaniard Luis Vaes de Torres, setting off from () in 1606 and sailing south of a huge mountainous island, found a new way to a distant land of spices, opening the Torres Strait. Soon, Spanish merchants began to export gold, silver, coconuts, rubber and precious woods from New Guinea.

A significant contribution to the study of the peoples of New Guinea was made by the Russian scientist and traveler N. N. Miklukho-Maclay, who worked on the island in the 70s - 80s of the XIX century.

The era of colonialism

In 1828, the western peninsula of Vogelkop was acquired as the first power.

In the 1870s, the territory was explored by Russian scientists. In 1875, the scientist N. N. Miklukho-Maclay asked the government of the Russian Empire to establish a Russian protectorate over part of the island, which was later named after the scientist Miklukho-Maclay Coast, but Alexander II rejected his proposal.

In the 1880s, the rest of the island was divided between the Netherlands and the German Empire. The Netherlands left the western half of New Guinea, the British acquired the southeast, the Germans - the northeast, which they called Kaiser Wilhelm Land. In 1885 and in 1895, Great Britain and Germany, who owned lands in the eastern part of New Guinea, recognized the authority of the Netherlands over the western part of the island. The border between Dutch New Guinea and its eastern part ran along 141 degrees east longitude.

The British part was given to Australia in 1906, and the German part after the First World War became an Australian mandate of the League of Nations.

The Second World War

During World War II the island was occupied. Rejected by the atrocities of the Japanese military, the Papuans helped the Allied forces as best they could, transporting equipment and the wounded across the island. After the war, New Guinea, which became independent in 1949, laid claim to the western part of New Guinea, which, however, remained under the administration of the Netherlands.

Independence

From 1957, the Netherlands and Australia began making plans to grant independence to a united New Guinea in the 1970s. In 1961, elections were held in the western part and a parliament was established. Not wanting such a political development, Indonesia, in response to this, brought in its troops and announced the annexation of the western half of the island of New Guinea to Indonesia. After that, mass deportations of the Papuan population began, followed by settlers from Java. It is assumed that as a result of the "ethnic cleansing" of western New Guinea, about 300,000 Papuans have died to this day. In 1975 in the eastern part of Australia gave independence to the state of Papua New Guinea.

Notes

ISLAND DIRECTORY TABLES. ISLANDS BY LAND AREA. EARTHWATCH (02/18/1998).
New Guinea // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.

Literature

Ignatiev G. M. Tropical Pacific Islands / Reviewers: Dr. Geogr. Sciences T. V. Vlasova, Ph.D. geogr. Sciences G. N. Grigoriev. - M.: Thought, 1979. - S. 144-168. - 272, p. - 56,000 copies.

The creation of the province of Central Irian Jaya was cancelled. Western Irian Jaya had already been created by that time (02/06/2006), but its future is still unclear. On February 7, 2007, it was renamed a province. West Papua(Indon. Papua Barat).

Geography

Western New Guinea is bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the north, the Seram Sea in the west, the Arafura Sea in the south, and Papua New Guinea in the east. The area of the territory is 421,981 km² - this is 22% of the entire land territory of Indonesia. Most Big city- Port of Jayapura. New Guinea is located south of the equator and is dominated by mountainous terrain. The Maoke Range, which runs from north to south, divides the island in two. Mount Jaya with a height of 5030 m is the most high point Indonesia. About 75% of the territory is covered with tropical forests, mostly impenetrable.

The climate is predominantly tropical, humid and hot on the coast; the rainy season lasts from December to March, the dry season - from May to October; characterized by minor seasonal temperature fluctuations. The climate is hot and almost everywhere very humid. Summer temperatures fluctuate within +24 ... +32 °C, in winter +24 ... +28 °C. In the mountains, the temperature is lower, in some places there are never-melting snow fields. The rains are very heavy, especially during the summer period, the level of precipitation is from 1300 to 5000 mm per year. Western New Guinea boasts Indonesia's longest rivers, such as the Baliem, Mamberamo and Tariku. In the southwest, the rivers have created large mangrove swamps and intertidal forests.

Flora and fauna

Considered a naturalist's paradise, Western New Guinea boasts an astonishing diversity of flora and fauna. The plant world has representatives of mountains, meadows, swamps and bogs, tropical, intertidal, deciduous and coniferous forests, in which you can find an endless variety of grasses, club mosses, ferns, moss, lianas, flowers and trees. The fauna of the province is also very diverse. A variety of plants form a living carpet here, intertwining with the overhanging rainforest canopy. Freshwater and terrestrial vertebrates are almost indistinguishable from animals found in Australia, including marsupials. In forests and open grassy areas, you can find many varieties of snakes, turtles, anteaters, porcupines, possums, bats and rats (including the world's largest water rats (English)Russian, capable of climbing trees), as well as giant lizards, tree-dwelling kangaroos, and quolls. West New Guinea is known for its variety of butterflies and for its many, about seven hundred, unique bird species, including 80 bird-of-paradise species and the huge flightless cassowary. Sea turtles and sirens can be found in coastal waters.

To the east of Jayapura, on the shores of Humboldt Bay, is nature reserve Yotef with many beautiful beaches, with the wrecks of several ships once sunk during military operations at sea. From Sorong, it is easy to get to the Raja Empat Island Reserve.

The end of Dutch rule coincided with a campaign of confrontation launched by President Sukarno, who sent over 2,000 Indonesian troops to the province to provoke an anti-Dutch uprising that ended in failure. The western part of New Guinea, which received the new name West Irian, gradually came under the control of the Indonesian government, and the issue of joining the territory to Indonesia was to be decided by a referendum. In 1963, there was the first attempt by the local population to proclaim an independent Republic of West Papua, which was suppressed by force by the Indonesian authorities.

Population

Western New Guinea is the least populated territory of Indonesia, with a population of 3.59 million inhabitants, which gives an average density of 8.64 people. per 1 km². More than three-quarters of the population lives in rural areas in small scattered groups. All settlements, as a rule, are located in the coastal zone or in several fertile valleys. Large areas within the island are uninhabited. Between cities, people move by plane or by sea. Main settlements are Jayapura (pop. 150,000), Manokwari, Sorong, Merauke and Biak. Jayapura, the administrative center of the province of Papua and the largest Indonesian city on the island (261 thousand people according to the 2010 census), was founded at one time by the Dutch, who claimed the middle part north coast New Guinea. In the eastern suburbs of Jayapura is the building of the University of Chend Ravasih. The university houses the Anthropological Museum, which houses a collection of artifacts from the Asmat tribe. The figures and weapons presented here by the masters of this tribe are distinguished by absolute harmony and aesthetic perfection and are highly appreciated by connoisseurs of primitivist art. The Asmat tribe lives on the southern coast of New Guinea. Along the shores of Humboldt Bay, there are settlements of the Sepik tribe, famous for its primitivist painting of tree bark and the manufacture of carved tribal figures.

About 80% of the population speak Papuan and Melanesian languages. Papuans live all over the island, including on the coast, Melanesians live along the coast. Most Papuans live in small clan groups isolated from each other. Of the highland regions, the most extensive and accessible is the Baliem Valley located in its central part - a 72-kilometer stone corridor through which the Baliem River flows. Here, in small villages scattered throughout this wide valley, more than 200 thousand people from the Dani tribes group live. You can only get here by air. Trails and more and more vehicular tracks connect the center of the Wamena Valley with the rest of the villages. In Western New Guinea, there are also places of compact residence of other peoples of Indonesia, including the descendants of Chinese and Dutch settlers. About 300 languages are spoken in Western New Guinea, most of which do not resemble each other. The Indonesian language, along with local dialects, is used as the language of interethnic communication.

Economy

Western New Guinea is the most remote and less developed part of Indonesia. Most of the rural population lives on agricultural products, supplemented by hunting and gathering fruits and berries in the forest. The modern economy is concentrated in coastal cities and some cities in the central part and is based on mineral deposits. These are the world's largest copper reserves in Tembagapur, and the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in Indonesia (about 40 km southwest of Mount Jai). There are substantial reserves of gold and uranium. There are large stocks of timber and fish. Copper and oil mining, timber processing and fishing have little effect on improving the living standards of the local population. This situation helped the separatist organization Free Papua Movement to gain the support of the local population. This organization has targeted the Tembagapur copper mine and forced the authorities to suspend production several times. Since oil was discovered in western New Guinea half a century ago, seaport Sorong (190 thousand inhabitants according to the 2010 census) with hotels and bars, where workers from other parts of Indonesia began to come.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing Western New Guinea

“From the evening they were very unwell, they didn’t sleep for the third night,” whispered the orderly voice intercessively. “Wake up the captain first.
“Very important, from General Dokhturov,” said Bolkhovitinov, entering the open door he felt for. The orderly went ahead of him and began to wake someone:
“Your honor, your honor is a courier.
- I'm sorry, what? from whom? said a sleepy voice.
- From Dokhturov and from Alexei Petrovich. Napoleon is in Fominsky,” said Bolkhovitinov, not seeing in the darkness the one who asked him, but from the sound of his voice, assuming that it was not Konovnitsyn.
The awakened man yawned and stretched.
“I don’t want to wake him up,” he said, feeling something. - Sick! Maybe so, rumors.
“Here is the report,” said Bolkhovitinov, “it was ordered to immediately hand it over to the general on duty.
- Wait, I'll light the fire. Where the hell are you always going to put it? - Turning to the batman, said the stretching man. It was Shcherbinin, Konovnitsyn's adjutant. “I found it, I found it,” he added.
The orderly cut down the fire, Shcherbinin felt the candlestick.
“Oh, the nasty ones,” he said in disgust.
By the light of the sparks, Bolkhovitinov saw the young face of Shcherbinin with a candle and in the front corner of a still sleeping man. It was Konovnitsyn.
When at first the sulphurous tinder lit up with a blue and then a red flame, Shcherbinin lit a tallow candle, from the candlestick of which the Prussians gnawed at it ran, and examined the messenger. Bolkhovitinov was covered in mud and, wiping himself with his sleeve, smeared his face.
- Who delivers? Shcherbinin said, taking the envelope.
“The news is true,” said Bolkhovitinov. - And the prisoners, and the Cossacks, and scouts - all unanimously show the same thing.
“There is nothing to do, we must wake up,” said Shcherbinin, getting up and going up to a man in a nightcap, covered with an overcoat. - Pyotr Petrovich! he said. Konovnitsyn did not move. - Headquarters! he said, smiling, knowing that these words would probably wake him up. And indeed, the head in the nightcap rose at once. On Konovnitsyn's handsome, hard face, with feverishly inflamed cheeks, for a moment there still remained an expression of dream dreams far removed from the present situation, but then he suddenly shuddered: his face assumed its usual calm and firm expression.
- Well, what is it? From whom? he asked slowly but immediately, blinking in the light. Listening to the officer's report, Konovnitsyn printed it out and read it. As soon as he read, he put his feet in woolen stockings on the dirt floor and began to put on shoes. Then he took off his cap and, combing his temples, put on his cap.
- Did you arrive soon? Let's go to the brightest.
Konovnitsyn immediately realized that the news he had brought was of great importance and that it was impossible to delay. Whether it was good or bad, he did not think and did not ask himself. It didn't interest him. He looked at the whole matter of the war not with the mind, not with reasoning, but with something else. There was a deep, unspoken conviction in his soul that everything would be fine; but that it is not necessary to believe this, and even more so, it is not necessary to say this, but one must only do one's own business. And he did his job, giving him all his strength.
Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn, like Dokhturov, only as if out of decency included in the list of the so-called heroes of the 12th year - Barklaev, Raevsky, Yermolov, Platov, Miloradovich, just like Dokhturov, enjoyed the reputation of a person of very limited abilities and information, and, like Dokhturov, Konovnitsyn never made plans for battles, but was always where it was most difficult; always slept with the door open since he was appointed general on duty, ordering each sent one to wake himself up, he was always under fire during the battle, so that Kutuzov reproached him for this and was afraid to send him, and was, like Dokhturov, one of those inconspicuous gears which, without crackling or making noise, constitute the most essential part of the machine.
Coming out of the hut into the damp, dark night, Konovnitsyn frowned, partly from a worsening headache, partly from an unpleasant thought that had entered his head about how this whole nest of staff, influential people would now be excited at this news, especially Benigsen, after Tarutin, the former at knives with Kutuzov; how they will propose, argue, order, cancel. And this presentiment was unpleasant to him, although he knew that without it it was impossible.
Indeed, Tol, to whom he went to inform the new news, immediately began to express his thoughts to the general who lived with him, and Konovnitsyn, silently and wearily listening, reminded him that he had to go to his Serene Highness.

Kutuzov, like all old people, slept little at night. He often dozed off unexpectedly during the day; but at night, without undressing, lying on his bed, for the most part he did not sleep and thought.
And so he lay now on his bed, leaning his heavy, large, mutilated head on his plump arm, and thought, peering into the darkness with one open eye.
Since Benigsen, who corresponded with the sovereign and had the most strength in the headquarters, avoided him, Kutuzov was calmer in the sense that he and his troops would not be forced to again participate in useless offensive actions. The lesson of the Battle of Tarutino and its eve, painfully remembered by Kutuzov, should also have had an effect, he thought.
“They need to understand that we can only lose by being offensive. Patience and time, here are my warriors heroes! thought Kutuzov. He knew not to pick an apple while it was green. It will fall on its own when it is ripe, but if you pick green, you will spoil the apple and the tree, and you will set your teeth on edge. He, as an experienced hunter, knew that the beast was wounded, wounded in the way that the entire Russian force could wound, but mortally or not, this was not yet an elucidated question. Now, from the sendings of Loriston and Berthelemy and from the reports of the partisans, Kutuzov almost knew that he was mortally wounded. But more evidence was needed, it was necessary to wait.
“They want to run to see how they killed him. Wait, you'll see. All maneuvers, all attacks! he thought. - For what? All stand out. There's definitely something fun about fighting. They are like children from whom you will not get any sense, as was the case, because everyone wants to prove how they can fight. Yes, that's not the point now.
And what skillful maneuvers all these offer me! It seems to them that when they invented two or three accidents (he remembered the general plan from St. Petersburg), they invented them all. And they all have no number!
The unresolved question of whether the wound inflicted at Borodino was fatal or not was hanging over Kutuzov's head for a whole month. On the one hand, the French occupied Moscow. On the other hand, Kutuzov undoubtedly felt with all his being that the terrible blow in which he, along with all the Russian people, strained all his strength, should have been mortal. But in any case, evidence was needed, and he had been waiting for them for a month, and the more time passed, the more impatient he became. Lying on his bed in his sleepless nights, he did the very thing that these young generals did, the very thing for which he reproached them. He invented all possible accidents in which this true, already accomplished death of Napoleon would be expressed. He invented these accidents in the same way as young people, but with the only difference that he did not base anything on these assumptions and that he saw them not two or three, but thousands. The more he thought, the more they seemed. He invented all kinds of movements of the Napoleonic army, all or parts of it - towards Petersburg, against him, bypassing it, he invented (which he was most afraid of) and the chance that Napoleon would fight against him with his own weapons, that he would remain in Moscow waiting for him. Kutuzov even imagined the movement of the Napoleonic army back to Medyn and Yukhnov, but one thing he could not foresee was what happened, that insane, convulsive throwing of Napoleon's troops during the first eleven days of his speech from Moscow - throwing, which made possible something that Kutuzov still did not dare to think about then: the complete extermination of the French. Dorokhov's reports about Broussier's division, news from the partisans about the disasters of Napoleon's army, rumors about preparations for a march from Moscow - all confirmed the assumption that the French army was defeated and was about to flee; but these were only assumptions that seemed important to young people, but not to Kutuzov. With his sixty years of experience, he knew how much weight should be attributed to rumors, he knew how capable people who want something are to group all the news so that they seem to confirm what they want, and he knew how in this case they willingly miss everything that contradicts. And the more Kutuzov wanted this, the less he allowed himself to believe it. This question occupied all his mental strength. Everything else was for him only the usual fulfillment of life. Such habitual fulfillment and submission to life were his conversations with the staff, letters to mme Stael, which he wrote from Tarutino, reading novels, distributing awards, correspondence with St. Petersburg, etc. But the destruction of the French, foreseen by him alone, was his spiritual, only desire.
On the night of October 11, he lay leaning on his arm and thinking about it.
There was a stir in the next room, and the steps of Tolya, Konovnitsyn and Bolkhovitinov were heard.
- Hey, who's there? Get in, get in! What's new? the field marshal called out to them.
While the footman lit a candle, Tol told the contents of the news.
- Who brought it? - asked Kutuzov with a face that struck Tolya when the candle lit up with his cold severity.
“There can be no doubt, Your Grace.
- Call, call him here!
Kutuzov sat with one leg down from the bed and leaning his big belly on the other, bent leg. He squinted his sighted eye in order to better examine the messenger, as if he wanted to read in his features what interested him.
“Tell me, tell me, my friend,” he said to Bolkhovitinov in his quiet, old voice, closing the shirt that was open on his chest. - Come, come closer. What news did you bring me? A? Did Napoleon leave Moscow? Is it really so? A?
Bolkhovitinov reported in detail at first everything that he was ordered to.
“Speak, speak quickly, do not torment your soul,” Kutuzov interrupted him.
Bolkhovitinov told everything and fell silent, waiting for the order. Tol began to say something, but Kutuzov interrupted him. He wanted to say something, but suddenly his face narrowed, wrinkled; he, waving his hand at Tolya, turned in the opposite direction, towards the red corner of the hut, blackened by images.
- Lord, my creator! You heeded our prayer ... - he said in a trembling voice, folding his hands. - Saved Russia. Thank you Lord! And he cried.

From the time of this news until the end of the campaign, Kutuzov’s entire activity consists only in using power, cunning, and requests to keep his troops from useless offensives, maneuvers and clashes with a dying enemy. Dokhturov goes to Maloyaroslavets, but Kutuzov hesitates with the whole army and gives orders to clear Kaluga, a retreat beyond which seems to him very possible.
Kutuzov retreats everywhere, but the enemy, without waiting for his retreat, runs back in the opposite direction.
Historians of Napoleon describe to us his skillful maneuver on Tarutino and Maloyaroslavets and make assumptions about what would have happened if Napoleon had managed to penetrate into the rich midday provinces.
But apart from the fact that nothing prevented Napoleon from going to these midday provinces (since the Russian army gave him the way), historians forget that Napoleon's army could not be saved by anything, because it already carried in itself the inevitable conditions death. Why is this army, which found abundant food in Moscow and could not keep it, but trampled it underfoot, this army, which, having come to Smolensk, did not sort out food, but plundered it, why could this army recover in the Kaluga province, inhabited by those the same Russians as in Moscow, and with the same property of fire to burn what is lit?
The army could not recover anywhere. She, from the battle of Borodino and the robbery of Moscow, already carried in herself, as it were, the chemical conditions of decomposition.
The people of this former army fled with their leaders not knowing where, wanting (Napoleon and every soldier) only one thing: to get out personally as soon as possible from that stalemate which, though obscure, they were all aware of.
Only for this reason, at the council in Maloyaroslavets, when, pretending that they, the generals, were conferring, giving different opinions, the last opinion of the simple-hearted soldier Mouton, who said that everyone thought that they should only leave as soon as possible, closed all mouths, and no one , even Napoleon, could not say anything against this universally recognized truth.
But although everyone knew that they had to leave, there was still the shame of knowing that they had to run. And an external push was needed to overcome this shame. And this impulse came at the right time. It was the so-called French le Hourra de l "Empereur [imperial cheer].
The next day after the council, Napoleon, early in the morning, pretending to want to inspect the troops and the field of the past and future battle, with a retinue of marshals and an escort, rode in the middle of the line of disposition of troops. The Cossacks, snooping about the prey, stumbled upon the emperor himself and almost caught him. If the Cossacks did not catch Napoleon this time, then he was saved by the same thing that ruined the French: prey, on which both in Tarutino and here, leaving people, the Cossacks rushed. They, not paying attention to Napoleon, rushed to the prey, and Napoleon managed to get away.

General information

Official name - Independent State of Papua New Guinea. The state is located in Oceania, in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. The area is 462,840 km2. Population - 6 187 591 people. (for 2011). The official language is English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu. The capital is Port Moresby. The monetary unit is the kina.

The state is located in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, occupying the eastern part of Novaya Island, and also located on the islands of Bougainville and Buka (), the islands of the Louisiade archipelago and the Bismarck archipelago. On the island of New Guinea, the country borders on Indonesia, which occupies the western part of the island. In the east, Papua New Guinea is washed by the Solomon Sea, in the south by the Coral Sea, the Torres Strait and the Gulf of Papua, in the north by the Bismarck Sea. The total length of the border is 820 km, length coastline- 5,152 km.

The climate of the country is subequatorial and in most of the territory it is humid. The average temperature all year round is around +26°C. Seasons differ only in the amount of precipitation - dry and wet seasons. In total, it falls annually from 1,000 mm in the plains to 4,000 mm or more in the mountains. In the mountains at an altitude of 2,500-3,000 m, the average temperature is constantly around + 10 ° C, and there is almost continuous light rain, sometimes hail.

Story

The island of New Guinea was discovered by the Portuguese George de Menezes in 1526. The island got its name in 1545. So Ortis de Rete called it because of the similarity of the Papuans with the inhabitants of African Guinea. In the XVI century. New Guinea was considered the northern part of the Australian mainland, but in 1606 Torres established that it was an island.

Then, for more than 250 years, Europeans hardly remembered the existence of this island. True, the Dutch founded a colony on the west coast in 1828, but eight years later all the colonists died out. Since 1828, the western part of the island was considered a Dutch possession, but there was not a single Dutchman here, and only by chance did Dutch warships come here.

In 1884, the northeastern part of New Guinea was captured by Germany, the southeastern part by England. This southeastern part - the present Territory of Papua - was at first under the control of the Queensland authorities, and from 1906 under the control. The coastal tribes (Dorei, Monumbo, Bongu, Kate, Marind-Anim) and the tribes of the southeastern peninsula (Roro, Koita, Mekeo) came into contact with the white colonizers. The tribes of the inner regions of the island remained and in part still remain outside the "sphere of influence" of the colonialists. However, even some coastal tribes, which are commonly referred to as "coming into contact with European culture", for the most part have very little idea of this "European culture".

After the First World War, the German part of New Guinea ceded as a "mandatory" territory to Australia. After the Second World War, it became a "trust" territory under the same administration. The administration center was in the city of Rabaul ( island Novaya Britannia).

In 1948, the Territory of Papua and the Trust Territory were united by the Australian government in what is known as an administrative union centered on Moresby. The United Territory has its own legislative council, but its power is small, for any decision of it can be vetoed by an administrator appointed by Australia. The composition of the council itself is rather a mockery of self-government: of its 29 members, 17 are appointed directly by the administrator, of the remaining 12 "unofficial" members, three represent missions, three are planters and miners, three are elected by the rest of the population of European origin, and, finally, three represent Papuans and Melanesians. , but they are not elected, but are also appointed by the administrator. The administrator has dictatorial rights. As for the participation of the aboriginal population in the government of their country, it has actually been reduced to zero. The council consists of 25 people of European origin and three natives. Ten thousand people of European origin elect three members of the council, and two million Papuans and Melanesians do not elect anyone, they have only three "representatives" appointed from above.

The western part of New Guinea, which for decades was called the Dutch, now, after the formation of the Indonesian Republic, gravitates towards the latter, although its political position has not yet been completely determined. It is now called West Irian.

The Anglo-Australian colonial administration officially divides the entire part of New Guinea under its jurisdiction into five zones, according to the degree of its real power: 1) areas under the complete control of the colonial administration (mainly coastal); 2) areas under "partial control"; 3) areas "under the influence" of the administration; 4) "uncontrolled"; 5) "unknown areas". Colonial officials and people of European origin in general do not dare to penetrate into the fourth and fifth zones - the inner regions of the island, and even armed detachments are afraid to send into "unknown areas".

In 1938, about 60 thousand Papuans were discovered in the valley of the river. Balim (on the northern slopes of the Snowy Mountains). A number of tribes were discovered in 1942 - 1943, during the military operations in New Guinea. There is information about tribes discovered in 1945. There is no doubt that in the central mountainous regions of New Guinea, especially in Zazadny Irian, tribes still live that have not yet seen a European.

Sights of Papua New Guinea

Long Island(Long Island) is a volcanic island off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. Long Island is located in the New Guinea Sea and is separated from New Guinea by the Vityaz Strait. Included in the Bismarck Archipelago. The area of the island is 414 km2. Island of volcanic origin; the last three largest eruptions occurred here 16,000, 4,000 and 300 years ago.

Port Moresby- the capital of the country, a city well located in a natural harbor and rightfully deserved the title of "gateway" of the country. In 1873, Port Moresby was founded as a small colonial settlement, but, thanks to numerous Christian missions and a good location, in just a few years it turned into an important commercial and administrative center.

Architecturally, Port Moresby is an eclectic mix of old colonial buildings, modern office buildings and shopping centers, as well as various types of poor people's houses on the outskirts.

During the Second World War (again due to its location in the harbor) Port Moresby was one of the main staging posts for the Allied troops, and as a result of fierce fighting, there were not too many really old buildings in the city. It is worth paying attention to the colorful Parliament building, located in the northern part of Port Moresby. The oldest building in the city is the United Church of El, which was built in 1890 and miraculously survived during the hostilities.

Of the sights, one can also name Paga Hill (almost 100 meters high), which offers a wonderful view of Port Moresby and its surroundings.

National Botanical Park, located in Port Moresby, is a real paradise for numerous flocks of birds and an island of unique tropical nature. An incredible collection of orchids attracts not only numerous tourists to the park, but also local residents.

The diverse flora (more than 20,000 species of plants) and fauna of Papua New Guinea is considered one of the country's important state treasures and is protected in national parks (there are four of them in the country) and nature reserves(more than twenty).

A unique mangrove zone along the coast of New Guinea is a swampy area overgrown with various rare species of herbaceous plants and shrubs. Sugarcane thickets and groves of sago palms are also not uncommon in these places.

At an altitude of 1500 meters in the forests of Papua New Guinea, conifers begin to predominate, including araucaria, known for their valuable wood.

The most famous mammals that can be found in the national parks of the country are such marsupials as bandicoot and wallaby. In the reserves located on the territory of coastal zones, the main object of interest are turtles of various types and sizes, as well as crocodiles.

Not far from the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, is one of the most visited national parks — Varirata park. The hiking trails of the park are very colorful, safe and quite suitable for self-study extraordinary flora and fauna of tropical forests.

Mount Gahavisuka National Park famous for its mountain orchids and unique wild rhododendrons, as well as hiking and climbing trails.

Most of the territory of Papua New Guinea is represented by mountainous reliefs and volcanic chains. In total, the country has 18 active volcanoes and even more inactive or dormant. Volcanic activity often leads to devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. Such activity of volcanoes in Papua New Guinea is explained by the fact that the country's territory is located at the junction of two lithospheric plates, which are very slowly shifting, causing tremors of the earth's crust.

One of the most active volcanic mountain ranges is located on the island of New Britain, which is part of the Bismarck archipelago. The three most famous active volcano islands - Langila, Bamus and Ulavun. Volcanoes are of considerable interest for both climbers and speleologists, since their slopes are rich in caves of various sizes, secret grottoes and unique vegetation.

Cuisine of Papua New Guinea

The national cuisine of Papua New Guinea is a rather colorful mixture of the culinary traditions of various peoples of Oceania and Southeast Asia. As a rule, the basis of most dishes are various root vegetables and meats such as pork and various poultry.

One of the most common dishes among the local population is " Mu Mu", which is an oven-baked stew of pork, sweet potatoes, rice, and a few local herbs. The first is usually served " bugandi"- a simple soup seasoned with an egg.

In coastal regions, meat dishes are usually replaced by various types of fish, which are caught in abundance in the seas that wash the shores of Papua New Guinea. In most cases, rice or sorghum is a side dish for meat or fish, yams and a peculiar taste of taro cereal are also popular.

As appetizers before the main course, various salads made from vegetables and those root crops that can be eaten raw are popular. Bread is often replaced with specially fried breadfruit.

For dessert, a variety of fruits are offered, from bananas and mangoes to passion fruit and pineapples. Dessert is also popular. dia"- sliced bananas, sago and coconut cream. Sago is also used to make sweet pies with various fillings. Dishes from sweet sugar cane stalks are especially popular in coastal areas.

Quench your thirst in Papua New Guinea with local lemonade (muli-wara), good local coffee or an incredible variety of fresh fruit juices, including those made from a mixture of various fruits.

Papua New Guinea on the map

5 811

Tropical rainforests grow. The western part of the island is the territory of Indonesia, and the eastern part is occupied by the state of Papua New Guinea.

New Guinea

indon. Pulau Irian New Guinea, talk pisin Niugini

Political division of New Guinea

Characteristics

Square	786,000 km²

highest point	4884 m

Population	9 500 000 people (2010)

Population density	12.09 people/km²

Location

5°19′S sh. 141°36′ E d. HGIOL


water area	Pacific Ocean

Countries

Regions	West Papua, Papua, Momase, Papua, Highlands





Audio, photo and video at Wikimedia Commons

Geography

Flora and fauna

Dense rainforests, formed by hundreds of tree species, rise up the slopes of the mountains. However, now there are also plantations and orchards. Coconut palms, bananas, sugar cane, melon tree, tubers - taro, yams, sweet potato, cassava and other crops grow. Gardens alternate with forests. Plots of land are cultivated for only 2-3 years, then overgrown with forest for 10-12 years. Thus fertility is restored.

Above 1000-2000 m, forests become more uniform in composition, conifers begin to predominate in them, especially araucaria. These trees are of economic importance: their wood is a valuable building material. However, the delivery of sawn timber is difficult due to the paucity of good roads.

"Garden of Eden"

In 2005, a group of American researchers discovered a place in the rainforests of the mountainous region of New Guinea, which they called the "Garden of Eden".

This area of about 300 thousand hectares is located on the slopes of the Foggia Mountains in the western part of New Guinea and was isolated from the influence of the outside world.

Scientists have discovered in the "Garden of Eden" more than 20 previously unknown species of frogs, four new species of butterflies, five species of palm trees unknown to science, and many other plants. Several species of the rarest marsupials were found - tree kangaroos, as well as the six-feathered "bird of paradise" Berlepsha, previously considered extinct.

All animals - the inhabitants of the highlands - are not afraid of humans, in particular, the rare long-beaked prochidna allowed scientists to pull themselves together.

Story

Early history

In ancient times, New Guinea was connected to Australia. The division occurred as a result of rising global sea levels relatively recently. This explains the presence on New Guinea of numerous species of marsupials living in Australia. Human settlement occurred at least 45 thousand years BC. e. from Asia. Subsequently, more than a thousand Papuan-Melanesian tribes descended from the settlers. The absence of large, domesticable animals on the island hindered the development of agriculture and made cattle breeding impossible. This contributed to the preservation of the primitive communal system in large areas of New Guinea up to the present day. The diversity of languages and many tribes was due to the isolation of people from each other due to the mountainous landscape and the lack of technical means to promote communication and cultural exchange.

On the territory of New Guinea, there is an ancient agricultural settlement of Kuka, showing the isolated development of agriculture over 7-10 millennia and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Discovery by Europeans

Long before the discovery of New Guinea by Europeans, inhabitants of the ancient Indonesian states hunted here for slaves and exotic birds. Already in the 8th century, the lords of the Srivijaya empire from the island of Sumatra gave the Chinese emperors of the Tang Dynasty black slaves caught on the New Guinean shores and many parrots. On the bas-reliefs of the largest Javanese temple of Borobudur (the first half of the 9th century), one can see images of such “orang papua” - curly-haired people.

The discoverers of New Guinea were Spanish and Portuguese navigators at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1526, the Portuguese don Jorge de Menezes landed on the northwestern coast of the island, according to legend, he called the lands he discovered Ilhas dos Papuas- "Islands of Papua", from the Malay word meaning "curly"; apparently, the coarse curly hair of the Melanesian natives was meant.

In the 1870s, the territory was explored by Russian scientists. In 1875, the scientist N. N. Miklukho-Maclay requested the government of the Russian Empire with a proposal to establish a Russian protectorate over part of the island, which was later named after the scientist Miklukho-Maclay Coast, but Alexander II rejected his proposal.

In the 1880s, the rest of the island was divided between the Netherlands, Great Britain and the German Empire. The western half of New Guinea remained behind the Netherlands, the British acquired the southeast, the Germans - the northeast, which they called Kaiser Wilhelm Land. In 1885 and in 1895, Great Britain and Germany, who owned lands in the eastern part of New Guinea, recognized the authority of the Netherlands over the western part of the island. The border between Dutch New Guinea and its eastern part ran along 141 degrees east longitude.

The British part was given to Australia in, and the German after

There are not so many places left on the planet that the ubiquitous tentacles of civilization have not reached. And yet there is still a place where locals they look at a flying plane as a deity and go to war with a neighboring tribe. We're talking about Papua New Guinea.

Certainly this unique country. Many cultures, languages, customs, landscapes, animals and flora. As already mentioned, completely wild tribes live in the local jungle, whose decoration is still considered to be the presence in the hut of a collection of ... enemy skulls. Nevertheless, tourists have nothing to fear, since, firstly, they are always under supervision, and secondly, they do not fall under the category of enemies.

Local valleys, mountains, waterfalls, rivers and swamps are great for hiking. But, of course, the main attraction is the underwater world of the seas surrounding this virgin country. Recently, Papua New Guinea has become one of the world leaders in terms of attractiveness for diving enthusiasts, being, in addition, the birthplace of mcdiving.

The best season, in terms of climate, comes here from May to October, while it should be borne in mind that the climate can change even within a few tens of kilometers. During the summer period, the country hosts a lot of events that attract tourists from all over the world.

Although the tribes inhabiting the country speak many dialects, English is the official language of the country. So, with a tolerable possession of it, there will be no problems with communication.

Of the sights, the capital, Port Moresby, should be highlighted. Back in the 19th century, an English captain founded a settlement in his name here, then various missionaries moored here, and little by little the small village turned into a city. However, the most rapid growth of the capital experienced during the Second World War. This was due to the fact that the largest American military base was located here, as well as the fact that Port Moresby was the only surviving city in the country, the rest swept to the ground. In general, the panorama sandwiched between the bay and mountain range capital, enchants with its beauty, revealing amazing beauties.

What to wish if the heating does not cope with the heating of the apartment? An excellent option is wall-mounted air conditioners from well-known manufacturers Dantex or Daikin. And summer will come and they will just as well create a cool and fresh microclimate in the room.

In the southwestern part of the capital, between the bays, is located Old city. It still has colonial buildings, evoking the atmosphere of the Victorian era, Kipling and the ubiquitous soldiers in red uniforms. Further south is Paga hill, whose height is 99 meters, and already behind it begins an endless series of city beaches. It is worth noting that it is on the beaches that the main festivals and festivities are held, during which local residents demonstrate to tourists the breathtaking art of dance.

In the northern part of the city there are administrative institutions, the building of the Parliament built in the national style. Not far from the Parliament is the National Museum, which contains collections of exhibits on the culture, history, ethnography and geography of the country. The State University is also located in this area. A little to the west, endless botanical gardens, in which more than 3000 orchids have been collected. The area of \u200b\u200bthe gardens is divided into several parts, each of which is a miniature version of a particular region of the country. Walking paths are made in the form of suspended wooden decks, so that a tourist can move around without fear of damaging this or that blade of grass or leaf.

In general, a tourist going to Papua New Guinea has the opportunity to feel like a pioneer, this alone is enough to hit the road!