The
Territory of Papua was a
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n possession comprising the southeastern quarter of the island of
New GuineaNew Guinea, located north of Australia, is the world's second largest island. It became separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period. The name Papua has long been associated with the island...
, existing from roughly 1902 to 1949. It had previously been administered from London as British New Guinea and remained a
de jureDe jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact"....
British possession until 1975 when Papua New Guinea was granted independence by Australia. The territory now forms the southern part of
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, and makes up roughly half of that country.
In 1883 Sir
Thomas McIlwraithSir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1877 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893...
, the Premier of
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, ordered Henry Chester (1832-1914), the Police Magistrate on Thursday Island to proceed to
Port Moresby||-||-||-||}Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, population 255,000 , is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . The city is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea.The area on which the city was founded has been inhabited by...
and formally annex New Guinea and adjacent islands in the name of the British government.
The
Territory of Papua was a
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n possession comprising the southeastern quarter of the island of
New GuineaNew Guinea, located north of Australia, is the world's second largest island. It became separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period. The name Papua has long been associated with the island...
, existing from roughly 1902 to 1949. It had previously been administered from London as British New Guinea and remained a
de jureDe jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact"....
British possession until 1975 when Papua New Guinea was granted independence by Australia. The territory now forms the southern part of
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, and makes up roughly half of that country.
History
In 1883 Sir
Thomas McIlwraithSir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1877 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893...
, the Premier of
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, ordered Henry Chester (1832-1914), the Police Magistrate on Thursday Island to proceed to
Port Moresby||-||-||-||}Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, population 255,000 , is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . The city is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea.The area on which the city was founded has been inhabited by...
and formally annex New Guinea and adjacent islands in the name of the British government. Chester made the proclamation on 4 April, 1883, but the British government repudiated the action.
On 6 November 1884, after the Australian colonies had promised financial support, the territory became a British
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
.
On 4 September, 1888 it was annexed, together with some adjacent islands, by
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
as British New Guinea.
The northern part of modern Papua New Guinea, then known as
Kaiser-WilhelmslandKaiser-Wilhelmsland was part of the German New Guinea, South Pacific protectorate of the German Empire. Named in honor of Wilhelm II, who was the German Emperor and King of Prussia, it included the north-eastern part of the present day Papua New Guinea. From 1884 until 1918, the territory was a...
and part of the
colonyIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
of
German New GuineaGerman New Guinea was a former German protectorate from 1884 to 1914, consisting of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. German New Guinea is now entirely part of Papua New Guinea....
, had been under German commercial control since 1884 and passed to direct rule by the German government in 1899.
In 1902, Papua was effectively transferred to the authority of the new British
dominionA dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of semi-autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, from the late 19th century. They included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the...
of
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. With the passage of the Papua Act of 1905, the area was officially renamed the Territory of Papua, and Australian administration became formal in 1906 although Papua remained a
de jure British possession until the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975, an anomaly which has continuing minor legal significance with respect to certain statutes which have force in the former Papua but not the former Australian New Guinea.
Shortly after the start of the
Pacific WarThe Pacific War was the part of World War II—and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. The war began as a conflict with the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China on July 7, 1937, but by December 1941, became part of the greater World War II,...
, the island of New Guinea was invaded by the
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese. Papua was the least affected region. Most of
Western New GuineaWestern New Guinea is the western half of the island of New Guinea. It is the easternmost part of Indonesia, consisting of two provinces: Papua and West Papua. It was previously known by various names, including Netherlands New Guinea , West New Guinea , West Irian , and Irian Jaya...
, at that time known as Dutch New Guinea, was occupied, as were large parts of the Territory of New Guinea (the former German New Guinea, which was also under Australian rule after
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
), but Papua was protected to a large extent by its southern location and the near-impassable Owen Stanley Ranges to the north. Civil administration was suspended during the war and both territories (Papua and New Guinea) were placed under
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
for the duration.
Post-war, the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949 united the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, which later became the fully independent
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. However, for the purposes of
Australian nationalityAustralian nationality law is based primarily on the principle of Jus soli. The status of Australian citizenship was created by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 which received Royal Assent on 21 December 1948 and came into force on 26 January 1949.Prior to this date Australians were...
a distinction was maintained between the two territories.
See also
- List of colonial heads of Papua
- History of Papua New Guinea
The history of Papua New Guinea can be traced back to about 60,000 years ago when people first migrated towards the Australian continent. The written history began when European navigators first sighted New Guinea in the early part of the 16th century....