Regions
On a broader scale, the nation is divided into four regions. These regional groupings are quite significant in daily life, as they are often the basis for organisation of government services, corporate operations, sporting competitions, and even the machinations of politics. For instance, there has been much discussion over the years of how many Prime Ministers have come from each region, and whether a particular region is due to provide the next one. Ministers and departmental heads are often appointed with an eye to maintaining an overall balance between the regions.
People generally identify quite strongly with their region, and inter-region rivalries can be intense. The four regions are:
- Highlands Region: Simbu, Eastern Highlands, Enga, Hela, Jiwaka, Southern Highlands, and Western Highlands.
- Islands Region: East New Britain, Manus, New Ireland, Bougainville (North Solomons), and West New Britain.
- Momase Region: East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, and West Sepik (Sandaun).
- Papua Region: Central, Gulf, Milne Bay, Northern Province (Oro), Western (Fly), and the National Capital District.
Momase is a recently devised portmanteau word which combines the first two letters of Morobe, Madang, and Sepik.
Read more about this topic: Provinces Of Papua New Guinea
Famous quotes containing the word regions:
“Nature seems to have taken a particular Care to disseminate her Blessings among the different Regions of the World, with an Eye to this mutual Intercourse and Traffick among Mankind, that the Natives of the several Parts of the Globe might have a kind of Dependance [sic] upon one another, and be united together by their common Interest.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“It is doubtful whether anyone who has travelled widely has found anywhere in the world regions more ugly than in the human face.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“We have wasted our spirit in the regions of the abstract and general just as the monks let it wither in the world of prayer and contemplation.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)