Bridging the State-Society Gap. Tom Seta

       BACKGROUND: THE PAPUA NEW GUINEA CONTEXT

      With a population of around 5.7 million, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the largest Pacific island country, both in land area and population size. It is difficult to generalize about the people and culture of PNG because 800 languages are spoken and traditions and customs vary greatly across the country. The people traditionally lived in small, self-regulating communities, and before colonization in the late 19^th century were not aligned with or subject to any overarching system of laws and governance. Although these communities sometimes interacted for the purposes of trade, intermarriage, or warfare, they remained largely isolated from each other.

      Since its independence from Australia in 1975, PNG has emphasized building a shared sense of national identity among its people. However, the primary allegiance and identity of most Papua New Guineans remain defined by their local kin-based group and wantoks.^[1]

      Most or 85% Papua New Guineans live in rural areas, subsisting on agriculture, forestry, and fishing. They have little access to the police or the formal justice system and are largely beyond the reach of government services, including education and health care. In fact, the largest service provider in PNG is not the state, but the Christian churches. The strain on overstretched, under-resourced government services has been made worse by rapid population growth, with the population almost tripling since independence.