A nation that just doesn't fit in anywhere. You can't comfortably say it's an Asian or
Oceanian country. It's a VERY underrated country. Most people see it as "That country above Australia" and that it's just a smaller version of Australia or Indonesia. Both of these impressions are TOTALLY WRONG, as
PNG is not even remotely similar to Indonesia OR Australia. Most people in Papua New Guinea shorten their name to PNG because the full name is annoying to write out when using it repeatedly. Papua New Guinea is not similar to Australia OR Indonesia, as the people of PNG are of Melanesian descent. They are somewhat related to
Solomon Islanders, but that's about it for similarities to neighbors. PNG is also a very rural country, and it's one of the only countries (if not the only one) in the world where the majority of the population still lives a tribal lifestyle. PNG still has tribes that inhabit the jungle as they have for thousands of years. Europeans
colonized Australia and the East
Indies and subjugated the natives, but PNG was
spared because the terrain was just too rough for it to be worth conquering. That's why the tribes still
survive today. They are very proud that they are some of the only people to maintain their
tribalism. That's not to say PNG is uncivilized. Yes, the tribes live in the jungle, but they are by no means ruthless savages. PNG is a very unique and underrated country. Most people still live in their native homelands, and they are very proud of this.