First settlement Archaeological evidence indicates that modern humans first arrived in what became
New Guinea and Australia, as well as the
Bismarck Archipelago, around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago.
Bougainville was settled by around 28,000 years ago, and the more distant
Manus Island by around 20,000 years ago. These were part of the
earliest migrations of humans from Africa, and the resulting populations remained relatively isolated from the rest of the world throughout prehistory.
Rising sea levels isolated New Guinea from Australia about 10,000 years ago, although
Aboriginal Australians and
New Guineans had already diverged from each other from about 37,000 years ago. Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC, making it one of the few areas in the world
where people independently domesticated plants. Before the onset of full-scale agriculture, some plants had already been domesticated, including
sago,
Canarium indicum, and
karuka. It is unknown whether they also settled on the mainland at this time, but there is strong evidence of their presence in coastal areas from around 500 BC. It is likely through these trading networks that banana and
sugarcane moved from New Guinea to other areas of the world. Trade became rarer around 300 AD, as demand for goods shifted to the
Maluku Islands and
Timor. After European interest in the region grew in the 16th century, Dutch influence grew over the
Sultanate of Tidore. As Dutch authorities become more interested in New Guinea, they confirmed and extended the sultanate's claims over western New Guinea. Goods were often traded along established chains, and some villagers would be familiar with and sometimes know the languages of the immediately neighbouring villages (although language by itself was not a marker of political allegiance). Some wider trading networks existed in maritime areas. While people did not move far along these routes, goods moved long distances through local exchanges, and cultural practices likely diffused along them.
European influence It is likely that some ships from China and Southeast Asia visited the island at times, and that there was some contact with New Guinean communities. The Portuguese explorer
António de Abreu was the first European to discover the island of New Guinea. and led to significant population growth in the highlands. and
Britain controlled the eastern half of New Guinea. By the 1800s, there was some trade with the
Dutch East Indies. Beginning in the 1860s, people from New Guinea were effectively taken as slaves to
Queensland and
Fiji as part of the
blackbirding trade. This was stopped in 1884. Most of those taken were from coastal Papua. Those who returned to New Guinea brought their experiences with Western culture with them, but the largest impact was the development of a
Melanesian Pidgin that would eventually become the
Tok Pisin language. Christianity was introduced to New Guinea on 15 September 1847 when a group of
Marist missionaries went to
Woodlark Island. Missions were the primary source of Western culture as well as religion. The eastern half of the island was divided between Germany in the north and the United Kingdom in the south in 1884. The
German New Guinea Company had initially tried to develop plantations, but when this was not successful began to engage in barter trade.
annexation of southeast New Guinea in 1884 In 1888, the British protectorate was annexed by Britain. In 1902, Papua was effectively transferred to the authority of the
newly federated British
dominion of Australia. With the passage of the
Papua Act 1905, the area was officially renamed the
Territory of Papua, In German New Guinea
Tok Pisin began to spread through local adoption, and was reluctantly used by German authorities. Australian forces were supported during this campaign through significant contributions from local soldiers and helpers. A
war of attrition continued until 1944, when allied forces fully recaptured Papua and New Guinea. In total, the
New Guinea campaign resulted in the deaths of approximately 216,000 Japanese, Australian, and U.S. servicemen on both the mainland and offshore islands. During the war, the civil government of both territories was suspended and replaced by a joint military government. These created alternative power structures, which while sometimes filled by traditional leaders, saw the beginning of a shift towards leaders with administrative or business experience. The leadup to the 1968 election saw the formation of
Pangu Pati, the first political party. Bougainville was geographically close to the
British Solomon Islands, and its people are more culturally linked to those of the Solomon Islands than to others in the territory. However, the mine was seen as crucial for diversifying the economic base of Papua New Guinea from agriculture alone. In March 1971
the House of Assembly recommended that the territory seek self-governance in the next parliament, which was agreed to by Australia. Somare sought a better relationship with regional movements, which increased the number of local groups, but also decreased their salience and encouraged them to join the national political system. The push for independence was driven by internal policies of the Whitlam government, rather than responding to particular calls from Papua New Guinea. Somare continued as the country's first Prime Minister.
Independence in 1973 alongside
Bill Morrison, Minister for External Territories of the
Whitlam government Upon independence, most Australian officials, including agricultural, economic, educational, and medicinal staff, left the territory. Very little training had been provided to their successors. National governments changed through constitutional means. Somare retained the prime ministership following the
1977 election, and was ousted through a vote of no confidence in 1980 and was replaced by
Julius Chan. Somare became prime minister again following the
1982 election, but lost another vote of no confidence in 1985. While warfare significantly decreased under Australian governance, tribal fighting in the highland areas increased in the 1970s. These areas had been under outside control for less time, meaning former tribal conflict was still remembered and restarted upon independence. The first state of emergency there was declared in 1979, although it and similar interventions did not quell the violence. Unemployment and imbalanced gender ratios in cities meant tribal fighting morphed into the
emergence of gangs. Gang violence led to a state of emergency in Port Moresby in 1984, which led to the intervention of the
Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). The effectiveness of this deployment led to further
police and military interventions elsewhere. Both the police and military became more politicised, and less disciplined. Demand for private security increased as a response, and foreign investment was deterred. In 1995, provincial governments were reformed, becoming made up of relevant national MPs and a number of appointed members. Some of their responsibilities were devolved towards local governments, a factor that caused significant controversy due to an expected lack of capacity at this level. This lack of capacity has meant that national MPs gained significant powers at the local level. The
Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed in 2001, under which Bougainville would gain higher autonomy than other provinces, and an independence referendum would be held in the future. In 2011, there was a
constitutional crisis between the parliament-elect Prime Minister,
Peter O'Neill (voted into office by a large majority of MPs), and Somare, who was deemed by the supreme court to retain office. The parliament voted to delay the upcoming elections, however they did not have the constitutional authority to do this, and the
Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission continued to prepare. The
2012 national elections went ahead as scheduled, and O'Neill was once again elected as prime minister by a majority of parliament. Somare joined O'Neill's government, charges against the court judges and others who supported Somare were dropped, and legislation asserting control of the judiciary and that affecting the office of the prime minister was repealed. The 2012–2017 O'Neill government was dogged by corruption scandals. Financial scandals, as well as criticism of the purchase of expensive cars for
APEC Papua New Guinea 2018 meeting, created pressure on O'Neill and led to defections from government. The government set 23 November 2019 as the voting date for
a non-binding independence referendum in the
Bougainville autonomous region. Voters overwhelmingly voted for independence (98.31%). Prime Minister James Marape's
PANGU Party secured the most seats of any party in the
2022 election, enabling him to continue as PNG's Prime Minister. On 11 June 2025, during an
UN conference in Nice, France, Papua New Guinea signed the
High Seas Treaty, signalling its commitment to protect marine life beyond its borders through territorial waters. ==Government and politics==