New Guinea

The name Papua is believed to derive from the Malay word meaning 'frizzly-haired', referring to the curly hair of the island's inhabitants.

New Guinea is often compared in shape to a bird-of-paradise, leading to the names Bird's Head Peninsula and Bird's Tail Peninsula.

New Guinea is part of the same tectonic plate as Australia and was once connected to it during low sea levels.

New Guinea is home to nearly a thousand different tribal groups and an equivalent number of separate languages, making it the most linguistically diverse area in the world.

New Guinea has been identified as the world's most floristically diverse island, surpassing Madagascar and Borneo.