Nathaniel Austin, age 13, of Prescott, Ariz., for his question:
WHERE IS NEW GUINEA?
New Guinea is the second largest island in the world; only Greenland is larger. It is located to the east of Indonesia and the Philippines and just 95 miles north of Australia across the Torres Strait.
Hereto now yon pronounce the name: "new GIN ee." The "gin" rhymes with the word "chin."
New Guinea need to be divided into three parts. The two eastern parts were administered by Australia. The northeastern part was the United Nations Trust Territory of New Guinea and the southeastern part was the Australian Territory of Papua.
Fifteen years ago, in 1973, the eastern sections and several nearby islands became a single self governing state called Papua New Guinea. Two years later the state became completely independent.
The western half of New Guinea is the Indonesian province of Irian Jays. The United Nations in 1962 gave this territory to the Republic of Indonesia. Before that time it had been the Netherlands New Guinea.
The first European to visit New Guinea was a Portuguese explorer named Dom Jorge de Menezes, who arrived in 1527. By 1884 the large island had been divided into three parts, the Dutch having possession of western New Guinea, the Germane in control of the northeastern section and the British holding the southeastern territory.
The British soon transferred their colony to Australia and after World War I, the German section was placed under Australian control. After World War II it became a trust territory of the U.N. and it stayed under Australian control.
When Indonesia became a republic in 1949, it claimed West New Guinea. After a time under U.N. control, Indonesia took over officially in 1963 and renamed the area West Irian and later Irian Jaya.
The former German and British colonies were united in 1949 and renamed Papua New Guinea in 1971. It became an independent nation in 1975.
Much of the interior part of New Guinea is covered by high mountains and thick, tropical jungles. This land remains as one of the few remaining unexplored areas of the world.
The island has more than 100 inches of rain each year. The temperature is hot and humid. As you can imagine, plant life does extremely well.
Commercial crops include rubber, coconuts, coffee and cacao.
Wildlife included kangaroos, anteaters, snakes, crocodiles, butterflies and insects. The island also is famous for its colorful tropical birds, called birds of paradise.
Gold and silver has been found on the island, but the mineral resources have not as yet been developed.
There are three main groups of dark skinned natives on New Guinea: Papuans, Melanesians and Negritos or Pygmies. Some natives have never seen a white man and they live much the same as they 31d back in prehistoric days.