| Expedition | Daily Journal | Science | People | Education | Q&A | Glossary |
A History of Papua New Guinea
| 50,000 years ago (Pleistocene Epoch) | Humans first arrive from Southeast Asia, by sea, although during this time sea level was lower and a land bridge connected Australia and New Guinea. |
| 6000-7000 years ago | Austronesians (known today as Malays, Indonesians, Filipinos and Polynesians) sail from southern China and settle along the coast of New Guinea and on surrounding islands. These people live in villages, plant food crops such as yams, make clay pots and raise pigs and chickens. |
| 1526 | First recorded European sighting of New Guinea is made by two Portuguese explorers who are sailing by the island but do not land. Jorge de Meneses, first Portuguese governor of the Moluccas, names the island "Ilhas dos Papuas" from the Malay phrase "Orang papuwah" which means "frizzy haired man." |
| 1545 | Ynigo Ortiz de Reyes, Spanish captain sailing from Mexico, claims New Guinea for the King of Spain. It is debated whether he chose the name "Nueva Guinea" for the resemblance of the people or coastline of Guinea in Africa. |
| 1569 | Mercator's world map first includes New Guinea. |
| 1606 | Luis Vaez de Torres, a Spanish explorer, sails along New Guinea's south coast and claims it for Spain.Torres is the first to prove that Australia and New Guinea are not connected. The Torres Strait still bears his name. |
| 1623 | Jan Carstens reports a sighting of snow-capped peaks during a voyage along the southwest coast of New Guinea. His claims are not taken seriously as no one believes snow is possible so close to the equator. (4 / S) |
| 1660 | Dutch East India Company recognizes the Sultan of Tidore's sovereignty over New Guinea and signs an "international alliance" with the Sultan that states all Europeans, except the Dutch, are forbidden in western New Guinea. |
| 1714 | Spain "relinquishes" its claim on New Guinea to Holland and England in the Treaty of Utrecht. |
| 1768 | French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, lands on, explores, and names Bougainville, an island to the east of New Guinea. |
| 1770 | James Cook rediscovers the Torres Strait. |
| 1873 | Port Moresby is named after an English explorer who claims New Guinea for Great Britain. |
| 1878 | First gold rush takes place near Port Moresby in Laloki. |
| 1884 | Britain establishes a protectorate claiming southeastern New Guinea. Germany quickly follows suit and annexes northeastern New Guinea. |
| 1892 | The boundary between the Dutch-controlled western New Guinea and British-controlled southeastern New Guinea is established at 141ºE longitude, with the exception of a slight westward curve of the Fly River. |
| 1906 | Australia takes over administration of British New Guinea, which now is called Papua. |
| 1910 | The boundary between Dutch-controlled western and German-controlled northeastern New Guinea is established at 141ºE longitude. |
| 1914 | During WWI, Australian troops overrun German headquarters at Rabaul on New Britain and consequently, the Australian military runs German New Guinea for the next seven years. |
| 1920 | The League of Nations gives Australia a mandate to run German New Guinea. This mandated territory is governed separately from Papua (formerly British New Guinea.) |
| 1933 | As explorers begin to search the interior of New Guinea for gold, more remote tribes are discovered. |
| 1938 | Richard Archbold, an American explorer, flies over New Guinea's interior in a seaplane and discovers the Baliem Valley, the largest highland valley in New Guinea. This is home to the Dani Tribe, the most feared highland tribe. |
| 1942 | During WWII, Japanese troops quickly advance through northeastern New Guinea, occupying areas in Papua and New Guinea. |
| 1943 | American and Australian forces eliminate the threat of the Japanese troops on the main island of New Guinea. While Japanese troops remain on some of the surrounding islands through the end of the war, they are cut-off and not a serious threat to allied forces. |
| 1946 | The United Nations grants two territories of eastern portion of the island of New Guinea (Papua and New Guinea) to Australia as a trusteeship. The territories are called "The Territory of Papua and New Guinea." |
| 1954 | When doing aerial surveys, Australian authorities discover several highland valleys inhabited by an estimated 100,000 people. |
| 1961 | Elections involving the indigenous population take place for the first time. |
| 1963 | The United Nations grants rule of the western half of New Guinea to Indonesia. They name this new province of Indonesia Irian Barat (West Irian). |
| 1973 | Self-governed eastern New Guinea is renamed "Papua New Guinea." The western half of New Guinea is officially renamed Irian Jaya in 1973.Today, it is commonly known as "Papua." |
| 1975 | Australian dollar is replaced with the "kina" by the government. On 16 September, full independence is granted.Sir Michael Somare becomes Prime Minister. |
| 1977 | Parliamentary elections are held for the first time since independence. |
| 1989 | Concerns about environmental effects on the island of Bougainville, as well as the loss of profits fromPanguna, an Australian-owned copper mine, cause the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) to force closure of the mine. Following a long struggle, separatist rebel forces on Bougainville declare a secession from Papua New Guinea; Francis Ona proclaims "a republic of Bougainville." |
| 1997 | A prolonged drought during a strong El Nino period kills over 1,000 people in Papua New Guinea, and 1.2 million risk starvation.The government declares a national state of disaster in September. In October, The Burnham Truce ends the long, armed struggle by Bougainville separatists. |
| 1998 | April: Government representatives and secessionist leaders sign a permanent ceasefire agreement in Bougainville.The Peace Monitoring Group led by Australia oversees compliance. 3,000 people are killed and several villages are destroyed when several tsunamis (i.e., large waves) hit the northwest coast of the Papua New Guinea mainland following an earthquake in July.These tsunamis are hypothesized to have been cause by submarine landslides. |
| 2000 | Due to effects of global warming, it is determined that the Duke of York atoll is slowly sinking.Papua New Guinea authorities announce that the 1,000 inhabitants of the atoll must relocate. |
| 2001 | Bougainville Peace Agreement is signed, guaranteeing a referendum in 10 to 15 years on the future political status of Bougainville. |
| 2002 | Michael Somare is elected Prime Minister for the third time on 5 August. |
