Papua New Guinea is a country that occupies more than half the island of New Guinea, about 100 miles north of Australia.
The country of Indonesia occupies the western end of the island.
This island was formed when part of the continent of Australia broke away millions of years ago.
Papua New Guinea gained its independence from the European country of Austria in 1975.
The country is a lush tropical paradise covered with mountains, forests, and woodland. It has 9,000 species of plants, 250 species of mammals, and 700 species of birds.
Almost 6 million people live there, and more than 700 different languages are spoken.
Many of those languages have only a few hundred speakers, though.
English is the official language, but few people outside of government and business speak it.
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