Some of its citizens live in modern cities surrounded by high-tech conveniences. Today, Papua New Guinea is still emerging into the modern world. Finally, in 1975, Papua and New Guinea combined to form the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. After World War I, both of these territories came under Australian control. The British and the Germans divided the eastern half into British New Guinea in the south (later called Papua) and German New Guinea in the north (later, New Guinea). The Dutch, who came first, claimed the western half, which is today part of Indonesia. In the 19th century, European powers divided the island into three sections. Noting this feature, Jorge de Meneses, a Portuguese official visiting there in 1526, dubbed the island Ilhas dos Papuas, meaning “Land of the Fuzzy-Haired People.” The Spanish navigator Ynigo Ortiz de Retes felt that the islanders resembled the inhabitants of Guinea, West Africa, so he named the island Nueva Guinea, or New Guinea. The population was also physically diverse-barring one widespread characteristic. People’s lives revolved around appeasing those spirits. Many believed that the horizon hid a realm of demons and departed ancestors who affected their lives for evil or good. Most groups lived in fiercely defended enclaves, completely oblivious to the outside world.

They followed diverse customs, wore distinctive dress, and spoke over 800 languages. The population formed no unified national group but was composed of over a thousand small and often-warring tribes. Some scaled its mountainous spine to populate temperate highlands blessed with broad valleys and fertile soils. * They trekked along its steamy coastline, settling its vast swamps, dense jungles, and scattered outer islands. At the eastern end of the Malay Archipelago, they encountered New Guinea, a rugged tropical island-the second largest in the world. IN THE ancient past-over a period of many years-waves of people migrated south through Asia in search of a new home.

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