Brief History
Papua New Guinea shares, the eastern portion of, the second largest island in the world with Indonesia. The first Europeans to exert control over the area were the Dutch in the 1800's. In the same century the Germans claimed control over the north portion of the island and the British claimed control over the souther part. In 1906 control was handed to the Australians. It was in 1975 that Papua New Guinea gained full independence which it has maintained since.
