
Papua New Guinea
The highlands of New Guinea have long been settled. In 1511, the Portuguese discovered the island of New Guinea. In the second half of the 18th century, Dutch, British, and German colonizers came one after another. [1] In 1906, British New Guinea was transferred to Australia for management and renamed as an Australian Papua Territory. German New Guinea was occupied by the Australian army during World War I and was entrusted with Australian management by the League of Nations on December 17, 1920. [1] It was occupied by Japan in 1942. In 1945, the United Nations entrusted it back to Australia for trusteeship. [1] In 1949, Australia merged the former British and German territories into one administrative unit, known as the "Territory of Papua New Guinea". Internal autonomy was implemented on December 1, 1973. Independence on September 16, 1975. Michael Somare was appointed as the first Prime Minister.
