PNG TIME

ipblocker

10/15/2007

Fun Fact


A friend sent me a picture of this letter above from one of her 6 year old supporters.

It's a cute question, and very valid so I thought I'd spend a minute on it.
The reason it is so valid is that it is two names combined. Papua comes from the Melanesian term meaning "frizzy hair".

Papua New Guinea the "Last Unknown" to the rest of the world was "discovered" in 1526 by Portuguese sea captain Jorge de Meneses. Or did he really ‘Discover’ Papua New Guinea?

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The country's dual name results from its complex administrative history prior to Independence. The word papua is derived from a Malay word describing the frizzy Melanesian hair, and "New Guinea" (Nueva Guinea) was the name coined by the Spanish explorer YƱigo Ortiz de Retez

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