NEW GUINEA, or PAPUA, a large island in Australasia, next to Australia and Greenland the largest on the globe; area, about 312,000 square miles; length about 1,500 miles, breadth from 200 to 400. It is separated from Aus tralia on the S. by Torres Strait, and from the Moluccas on the W. by Gilolo Passage.
The coasts are for the most part lofty, with mountains coming close to the sea, but in the neighborhood of Torres Strait the shore presents the appearance of a marshy flat covered with dense forests. In the interior there are still loftier mountains, covered with perpetual snow and volcanoes. In the S. E. end Mount Owen Stanley rises to the height of 13, 205 feet; farther W. and near the N. coast Mount Schopenhauer reaches 20. 000 feet. The island is rich in tropical products, possesses a copious and pecu liar flora and fauna (birds of paradise being especially numerous and gor geous), and is suitable for tropical agri culture. The coast is miasmatic in many places; the mountainous interior is re ported healthier. On the W. coast there are numerous Malay settlements, but the bulk of the inhabitants are Papuans, a race resembling the negroes of Guinea. Some are disposed to be friendly, others are fierce and intractable.
The discovery of New Guinea was made by the Portuguese early in the 16th century, but little was known of it till recently. The naturalists were the first to make incursions into its inte rior, and among these A. R. Wallace, who visited it in 1858, was the pioneer. The missionaries came next, and mission stations have been formed by Germans on the N. E. coast, and by the London Missionary Society at various points on the S. E. coast. Germany and the Aus tralian colonies also began to take an interest in New Guinea, and the latter urged the home government to annex the E. port of the island, the W. portion hav ing long been recognized as Dutch. At
length the delimitation and division of the island between Great Britain, Ger many and Holland was settled in 1885. That part of the island lying W. of the 141st meridian was assigned to Holland, and comprises 151,789 square miles; the N. part of the rest of the island was as signed to Germany, and the S. to Great Britain. The former German territory, called Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, contains about 70,000 square miles, the English territory 90,540 square miles.
The government is in the hands of an administrator appointed by the crown, assisted by an executive and a legisla tive council. New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland each contribute to the expense of the government. Land can not be purchased except from the admin istrator. The deportation of the natives is forbidden, as is also the sale to them of firearms, intoxicating spirits, or opium. The official center is Port Moresby. The islands of Torres Strait, which are the seat of a valuable pearl shell and trepang fishery, and which practically command the strait, have all been annexed to Queensland. The Dutch have done little or nothing for their por tion of the island. The Europeans in the colony give their attention mostly to trad ing or gold mining. The population of the Dutch portion is estimated at 200, 000; of the German, 110,000; of the Brit ish, 350,000. The imports of New Guinea in 1917-1918 amounted to $1,384,074, and the exports to $1,073,545. The chief products are pearls, copra, and rubber. The German protectorate was occupied by an Australian force on Sept. 12, 1914, and from that time to the close of the war was under the military power of the British. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris it passed into the hands of the British Empire.