Best Time to Visit Papua New Guinea

Geographical location

Papua New Guinea is the third largest island state in the world in terms of area and has about 7.5 million inhabitants.

Geographically it belongs to Australia and is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. Papua New Guinea consists of the eastern half of the island New Guinea (the west belongs to Indonesia) as well as several offshore island groups.

The landscape is very mountainous, highest point of the country is Mount Wilhelm with about 4500 meters height. Papua New Guinea has a very diverse landscape. The mountains are characterised by great differences in altitude, there are valleys, glaciers, volcanoes, forests and rainforests.

The regions between the mountains and the coast are extremely fertile. On the north coast of the island of New Guinea there are large coral reefs and a breathtaking underwater world.

Together with other islands such as the Mariana Islands and Palau, the country formed a colony of the German Empire (German New Guinea) until the end of the First World War. However, the official German language was quickly replaced by Australia, and today English is the official language in Papua New Guinea.

Travel to Papua New Guinea is generally by Air Niugini from Australia, Singapore or Bangkok.

Climate in Papua New Guinea

A tropical, humid and hot climate prevails on the coasts of Papua New Guinea. The hottest months are December and January with peaks of up to 39 °C. In the mountains of the island the temperatures are noticeably lower than on the coasts. The climate changes from an altitude of about 1500 meters from the tropical to the temperate climate and at night it can even come to frost in the high altitudes.

An alpine climate begins at an altitude of over 2,000 metres, with snow on some of the peaks of the mountains in Papua New Guinea all year round. Generally there is much higher rainfall on the islands from December to April, spring is considered the main rainy season. From May, the rainfall will decrease significantly, in the south of the country it will remain particularly dry between the end of May and November.