New Guinea's

Population Is

Now 2,183,000

From a Port Moresby Correspondent Papua-New Guinea’s first offi

cial census has put the country’s

population at 2,183,036.

FIGURES released by the Bureau of Statistics in Port Moresby in November show that only six per cent, of the country’s total population lives in urban areas.

The great majority of the country’s native people still live in their home villages or in communal settlements on the territory’s scores of planta tions, The census was taken on June 30.

One of the most interesting facts found by the census was that more than half of the territory’s population is concentrated in the country’s two most primitive areas—the Highlands and the Sepik district. These two areas have a combined population of 1,107,446.

Europeans and people of other races living in Papua-New Guinea make up less than two per cent, of the country’s population.

Census figures show that: • The population of the Trust Territory of New Guinea is 1,582,439. • The total number of native people is 2,148,300. • There are 34,736 non-indigenes, made up of Europeans, Chinese and mixed-race people.

• The rural population of the country is 2,054,150. • The total urban population is only 128,886.

Port Moresby, with a population of 42,133, including 9,911 Europeans, is by far the territory’s largest town.

Men only slightly outnumber women in the native population of the country but women are clearly outnumbered in the non-indigenous count.

There are 1,121,153 native males, 1,027,147 native females, 20,039 non-indigenous males and 14,647 females.

The longest standing myth exploded by the census was that half Papua- New Guinea’s total population lives in the Highlands.

The count for the Southern, Western and Eastern Highlands totalled only 848,854.

Sample Method

The territory’s chief statistician, Mr. H. M. Barton said there could possibly be an error of as much as 10 per cent, either way in the census count. The census was conducted on what is known as the sample method.

Under this system trained census takers made a complete count of the populations of several villages which were typical of those through out a large area.

The population of the whole area was then averaged out on a basis of an average number of people per village.

Complete enumeration was, how ever, made in all urban areas.

Lae, with 13,321 natives and 3,205 non-natives maintained its place as the territory’s second largest town It was followed by Rabaul 6,947 and 3,642; Madang 7,422, 1,423, and Wewak 7,939, 976.

Other major urban centres were Kieta 5,095, 340; Goroka 3,877, 941; Dam 3,461, 202; Mt. Hagen 2,765, 549; Bulolo 2,245, 480; Samarai 2,180, 284; Lorengau and Lombmm 2,096, 350; Kavieng 1,708, 435; Wau 890, 182.

The Goroka and Mt. Hagen figures show how quickly Mt. Hagen has been developing at the expense of Goroka, its traditional rival.

The Chimbu area of the New Guinea Highlands is the most populated area of the territory, with 167,251 people, or 59.73 per square mile.

Biggest in Highlands

Biggest population in any district is 293,377 in the Western Highlands, followed by 209,595 in Morobe and 203,820 in the Eastern Highlands.

One of the facts to emerge from the census was the great disparity between the numbers of native men and native women in Port Moresby and other urban centres.

Port Moresby had 20,914 native men and only 11,308 native women.

In comparison there were 4,159 non native women to 5,752 non-native men. The imbalance between native men and women declined when the total population of the central division was taken into account, but much the same position was revealed in other main urban centres.

Native women outnumbered native men in only two districts—Morobe and the Southern Highlands.