Madang Province
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Location of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea |
Madang has many of
Papua New Guinea's highest peaks, it's most active
volcanos, and it's biggest mix of
languages (175). The
province is the country's third leading producer of
cocoa and
copra and second producer of
cattle.
Ramu sugar and
Jant/Gogol woodchip mill are amongst PNG's biggest employers. Most areas are still far from transport and undeveloped.
Man's contact with the
New Guinea mainland has extended through the past 50,000 years, and although as yet unproven one would presume this figure to be true for this region also. Scientists have found evidence of human settlement 12,000 to 15,000 years ago near
Simbai. In the past 6,000 years
sailors originating from around
Korea have traversed this area, leaving their mark in the
Austronesian languages which are unevenly distributed along the coastline amongst the Papuan language villages.
The
Yabob and
Bilbil people used big sailing canoes to trade their pots from
Karkar Island to western
Morobe. They were part of the
Vitiaz Strait trade network.
Bundi was the centre of trade between
Astrolabe Bay and the Highlands. Trade involved
shells,
salt,
clay pots and wooden
bowls from the
lowlands and stone
axes,
feathers and women from the
Asaro,
Simbu and
Jimi valleys.
The Madang coast received its first real western exploration at the hands of the
Russian explorer
Nicolai Miklouho-Maclay in
1871. He introduced
pineapples,
mangoes,
beans,
pumpkins and other new foods. In
1884 the
German New Guinea Kompagnie started development of the region, building
tobacco,
cotton and
coffee plantations at
Bogia and around Astrolabe Bay. In
1886,
Johannes Flierl started a
Lutheran Mission at
Simbang. The
Catholic Divine Word Order established missions at Bogia in
1901 and
Alexishafen in
1904.
In
1914,
Australian
troops captured
Rabaul and took control of
German New Guinea. A military administration continued for 7 years. This was ratified by the
Treaty of Versailles in
1919. Once again, very little development took place and the next momentous occasion was the occupation of the region by the
Japanese in the
Second World War (1 May
1942 for
Madang town). Madang was destroyed in heavy fighting with much loss of life on both sides. The township was recaptured by
Allied soldiers on 24th April
1944. Post-war developments have been few and mainly restricted to the coast and Madang town. Madang town is the base of
Divine Word University which was established in 1996.
Madang Province is a large and deep region some 300
kilometres long and 160 kilometres wide with four large and many small offshore
islands. The province totals 29,000
square kilometres and has a
population of 365,106 (
2000 census). To the south lies the towering
Bismarck Ranges with heights ranging over 4,000
metres, with
Mount Wilhelm (4509), PNG's tallest mountain being found in those ranges. The warm
Bismarck Sea laps the northern coast, and the region is drained northward by the larger
Ramu,
Sogeram,
Gogol and
Malas Rivers. The mountains are
timber rich with large stands of trees and
rain forest, whilst the
coastal plain is open and studded with
palm trees.
Offshore islands are, in almost all cases, actively volcanic with many of the islands causing their populations to be moved to the coast on regular occasions when
eruptions occur. Part of the
Pacific Ocean's "
ring of fire" this active volcanic region has created crater
lakes, smoking
volcanic cones and
black sand beaches.
The Madang province receives ample
rainfall (3.2 metres in Madang itself) with the months of November to June being the wettest.
Due to changes caused by outside contact over the years, cultural loss has been great but isolation of many groups has caused that rate of change to be diversely uneven. Because of the
environmental diversity, this province also has a very diverse culture as well. Tall lithe coastal people from
Karkar Island, short nuggety highlands men from
Simbai and river people from the Ramu.
Many Madang area
costumes include
bamboo frames decorated with the very common
cockatoo and
parrot feathers as
birds of paradise are relatively uncommon. The Ramu people are prolific carvers and the lower Ramu has cultural links with the villages of the artistically diverse
Sepik River region. It is interesting to note that the resurgence of cultural festivals (i.e.
Maborasa Festival) has seen many people donning the fantastic traditional dress, feathers and paints of their
ancestors.
Foods eaten include those grown in fertile coastal
gardens,
shellfish and
fish,
fruit,
green vegetables,
bananas,
taro,
sweet potato and
yams which relish dry
soils.
Sago is a staple of the Ramu river people especially in its lower reaches. The mountain people have very good gardens with excellent produce.
Austronesian sailors settled on this coast some 5 to 6,000 years ago and the languages of these intrepid but largely unknown sailors are found along the coast of the province.
Takia,
Lukep,
Gedaged,
Manam and
Bilbil languages are examples of this. Inland, the
Katiati,
Hinihon,
Saki and
Waskia languages are examples of Papuan or non-Austronesian languages found in the region. The Ramu river languages include
Gamei,
Giri,
Tangu,
Romkun and
Igana and the
Rai Coast languages include
Garia and
Usino. Linguistically, Madang province is typified by a large number of very small language groups, many with less than 1,000 people.
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Madang Province Tourism website
