(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

(along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the

Gulf of Papua The Gulf of Papua is located in the southern coast region of New Guinea. It has a total surface area of . Geography Some of New Guinea's largest rivers, such as the Fly River, Turama River, Kikori River, Purari River, and Wawoi River flow ...

, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. The city emerged as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, it was a prime objective for conquest by the

Imperial Japanese The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

forces during 1942–43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. As of the 2011 census, Port Moresby had 364,145 inhabitants. An unofficial 2020 estimate gives the population as 383,000. The place where the city was founded has been inhabited by the Motu-Koitabu people for centuries. The first Briton to see it was

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Captain John Moresby in 1873. It was named in honour of his father, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Fairfax Moresby. Although Port Moresby is surrounded by Central Province, of which it is also the capital, it is not part of that province but forms the

National Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politi ...

. The traditional landowners, the Motu and Koitabu people, are represented by the Motu Koita Assembly. Port Moresby hosted the APEC summit in November 2018. However, there were concerns about security given the capital's reputation for violent crime.

History

Before colonisation

Colonisation

British flag raised on new guinea annexed by queensland

In 1883,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

attempted to annex the south-eastern corner of the New Guinea Island (subsequently known as Papua), fearing that Germany would take control of the entire eastern half of the island. British authorities refused to approve the annexation following the German annexation of

in 1884, but four years later it established a protectorate over Papua as

British New Guinea The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the a ...

. In 1905, the recently federated Australian government passed the Papua Act which came into effect in 1906. The act transferred Papua, with Port Moresby as its capital, to direct Australian rule. From then until 1941 Port Moresby grew slowly. The main growth was on the peninsula, where port facilities and other services were gradually improved. The first butcher's shop and grocery opened in 1909, electricity was introduced in 1925, and piped water supply was provided in 1941. Douglas Street Port Moresby

World War II

During

, some Papuan men enlisted in the Papua Infantry Battalion and others as carriers over trails and rough terrains (

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

s) as supply support to Allied and Japanese armies during long jungle marches. Historian William Manchester outlines in his biography of General Douglas MacArthur, '' American Caesar'', that acting as porters was well down the natives' list of acceptable voluntary activities and that they would fade away without great inducements. American Caesar, William Manchester, 1978, Little Brown Company, 793 pages, , pp.306: "On and about Jul-Sep 1942 and MacArthur's troops stop the Japanese in the difficult jungles of New Guinea and General Kenney gifts Port Moresby to the SAC by moving the bomber line to five new air bases." Many Papuan residents of Port Moresby either returned to their family villages or were evacuated to camps when the threat of Japanese invasion loomed. By September 1942, the city was an important Allied complex of bases, and thousands of troops were stationed in the area or more often, staged through it, as it was the last Allied bastion on the island and, conversely, a key staging and jumping off point as the Allies began conducting offensive warfare themselves, pushing back the Japanese advances. American Caesar, William Manchester, 1978, Little Brown Company,793 pages, , pp.290-307: "On and about Feb-Dec 1942 and MacArthur's reorganization of troops, lack of theater priority, his support for Guadalcanal and his daring offensive gamble in going to meet the Japanese in the difficult jungles of New Guinea as a way of conducting a forward defense of Australia, rather than risk a war of maneuver when he had insufficient forces to move around." General MacArthur located his headquarters in Port Moresby from November 1942 to October 1944. Site of POM downtown UC being redeveloped

Site of POM downtown UC being redeveloped

In 1945, the

Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New G ...

was formed when Papua and the former German New Guinea, which had been administered by Australia since 1918, were amalgamated under a single Australian administration though several laws remained in two territories and remain so, which can be complicating with provinces sitting on two sides of the otherwise extinct boundary. Port Moresby became the capital of the new combined territory and a focal point for the expansion of public services. Port Moresby was granted city status in 1972, with

Oala Oala-Rarua Oala Oala-Rarua (12 June 1934 – 17 May 1980) was a Papua New Guinean educator, civil servant, trade unionist, politician and diplomat. He served as a member of the House of Assembly and Assistant Minister for the Treasury between 1968 and 1972, ...

becoming the first Lord Mayor.

Independence

In September 1975, Papua New Guinea became an independent country with Port Moresby as its capital city. Prince

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

, represented the Queen of Papua New Guinea at the celebrations. New government, intellectual and cultural buildings were constructed in the suburb of

Waigani Waigani is a suburb of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. It includes the Parliament Building of Papua New Guinea, the National and Supreme Court, the University of Papua New Guinea, Morauta House Morauta House is an office complex in Waigani, ...

to supplement and replace those of downtown Port Moresby. They included those for government departments, including a National Parliament Building, which was opened in 1984 by Prince Charles and blends traditional design with modern building technology. The Papua New Guinea National Museum and National Library are in

. A mansion was built in Port Moresby just west of the old legislative building but the last pre-independence chief minister and first prime minister of the sovereign state declared it not nearly grand enough; it was made the residence of Australian high commissioners and a mansion suitable to Somare's demands was built in Waigani. Several of the government buildings have been abandoned due to long-term neglect. Chief amongst these are Marea Haus (known to most locals as the "Pineapple Building") and the Central Government Offices. Nearby buildings, such as Morauta Haus and Vulupindi Haus, are starting to show significant signs of decay due to a lack of maintenance. However, widespread restoration rather than demolition of long-disused office buildings has been highly active since the first decade of the 21st century. The legislative building before independence and the first parliament building is long-gone but the old court house in town Port Moresby remains, bearing its pre-independence label with its previous title. The population of the Port Moresby area expanded rapidly after independence. In 1980, the census return registered a population of 120,000; by 1990, this had increased to 195,000.

Climate

Moresby has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Aw'') with relatively constant temperatures throughout the year. Port Moresby's average yearly rainfall is just over , making it the driest place in New Guinea. The

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

starts in December and ends in May; the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

covers the remaining six months. This is due to the south easterly

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

s running parallel to the coast, and the city being surrounded by high mountains. The average high temperatures range from depending on time of year, while the average low temperature shows very little seasonal variation, hovering around the mark. It tends to be slightly cooler in the city during the dry season.

District, LLGs and suburbs

Poor coastal housing at Hanuabada in Port Moresby1

Port Moresby is the single district of the

, which contains three Local Level Government (LLG) areas. For

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units. The National Capital District machinery of government also incorporates the Motu Koita Assembly, established by an act of parliament to represent the traditional landowners of Port Moresby, the Motu and Koitabu people. The Assembly governs the traditional lands and inhabitants of the ten recognised villages, and is the only entity of its kind in Papua New Guinea. The Chair of the Motu Koita Assembly also holds the position of Deputy Governor of the National Capital District. Port Moresby refers to both the urbanised area of the National Capital District and more specifically to the main business area, known locally as "Town". Since the 1990s the original town centre has ceased to have restaurants and night life, though it is very successful and prosperous-looking as an office centre. The affluent housing region north of downtown along and up from the coast remains so, though there are now few modest residential houses, most of which are replaced with substantial mansions and apartment buildings. The suburb of Boroko, once the commercial heart of Port Moresby, is very idle, with many former shopping buildings now empty; the west is full of high rises, shopping centres and affluent housing. Other neighbourhoods of Port Moresby include Koki, with its popular fresh produce market, Newtown,

Konedobu Konedobu is a suburb of Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. It is located in the valley in between Touaguba Hill and Burns Peak. The suburb is the location of numerous Government departments, including the headquarters of the Royal Pa ...

, Kaevaga, Badili, Gabutu,

Kila Kila Kila'' or ''KILA can refer to: * Kíla, Irish folk band * Koila, Kozani, a village in northern Greece * Kila Marr, a xenologist in the fictional ''Star Trek'' universe * Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) * Kīla (Buddhism), an iconic ...

, Matirogo, Three Mile, Kaugere, Sabama, Korobosea, Four Mile, Hohola, Hohola North,

Boroko Boroko is a suburb of Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea. It includes a residential area and a sports and recreation precinct, and was once a significant commercial centre but the business area is now in decline. History The town ...

, Gordons, Gordons North,

Erima Erima is a suburb of Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong ...

, Saraga,

, Morata and

Gerehu Gerehu is a large residential suburb to the north of Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea. The suburb is divided into stages from 1 to 7 and is home to approximately 20,000 of Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also re ...

. There are villages like Hanuabada, the largest in Papua New Guinea.

Crime

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

'' describes Port Moresby as "one of the most dangerous cities in the world". Parts of Port Moresby have security problems with house break-ins being the main problem. '' ABC Australia'' reports that "many homes have big fences covered in metal sheeting, locked gates and internal steel security doors." Carjacking is now rife in the capital and stopping at the few functional traffic lights is not recommended after dark when marauding gangs gather at the intersections. Security guards are widely employed as the police force is underresourced and weakened by internal corruption. Travel by foot is not recommended in and about the city and suburbs due to continuing breakdown in law and order. The

UN Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princi ...

Cities Programme, using a method called Circles of Sustainability, has assessed the urban security of Port Moresby as 'critical'.

Transport

Port Moresby is served within the city by buses and privately owned taxis. Flights are vital for transport about the country, highways not being widely available. Port Moresby is served by Jacksons International Airport, the biggest international airport and

Papua New Guinea Defence Force The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into be ...

Air Wing base in the country. As the national highway system is not fully linked, there are many internal flights to other towns, such as Lae and

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histo ...

, which have no direct road connection to Port Moresby.

Economy

Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources, which account for two thirds of their export earnings. Though PNG is filled with resources, the lack of development led foreign countries to take over some sites. Continuing foreign demand for PNG's resources led the United States to set up an oil company that began to export in 2004. This was the largest project in PNG's history. The project increased the potential to triple PNG's export revenue. Papua New Guinea gained much assistance from Australia and was offered two hundred million dollars a year in aid, and many countries such as Singapore, Japan and China have also played a great part in PNG's industry business. The decision to host the 2018 APEC meeting, bringing a large number of world leaders to Port Moresby, indicates the speed with which Port Moresby is entering the world economy. There has been substantial building of housing, office towers, shopping malls and commercial establishments over much of the city. The waterfront area has been completely redeveloped with apartments, restaurants and shopping centres. Sporting facilities were upgraded significantly for the 2015 South Pacific Games, and further development took place in preparation for the 2016 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup. Air Niugini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea, and Airlines PNG, the second biggest airline in the country, have their head offices on the grounds of Jacksons International Airport.

Sports

The

1969 South Pacific Games The 1969 South Pacific Games, held from 13–23 August 1969 at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, was the third edition of the South Pacific Games. A total of 1,150 athletes participated in the games. Participating countries Twelve Pacific nations ...

, held from 13 to 23 August 1969 at Port Moresby, were the third

South Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games wer ...

to be held. A total of 1,150 athletes participated. The

1991 South Pacific Games The 1991 South Pacific Games, held from 7–21 September 1991 at Port Moresby and Lae in Papua New Guinea, was the ninth edition of the South Pacific Games. This was the first time that events at one games had been held in two cities. The decisi ...

held from 7–21 September 1991 at Port Moresby and along Lae were the ninth

to be held. This was the first time that events at one games had been held in two cities. The decision to do so was to allow both locations to benefit from the construction of new facilities.

Cricket PNG Cricket PNG, originally founded as the Papua New Guinea Cricket Board of Control, is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Papua New Guinea. Its current headquarters is in Port Moresby. Cricket PNG was founded in 1972 and was el ...

is the official

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

of the sport of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

. Its headquarters is in Port Moresby. Cricket PNG is Papua New Guinea's representative at the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

and is an associate member and has been a member of that body since 1973. It is also a member of the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council. The city hosted the 2017 FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup, where the Papua New Guinea national basketball team won the gold medal. The city is home to the Port Moresby Vipers rugby league team who play in the

Papua New Guinea National Rugby League The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition (or the PNGNRL for short, for sponsorship reasons the PNGNRL Digicel Cup) is a semi-professional rugby league competition held annually in Papua New Guinea. Changes in Sponorship have mean ...

. The National football stadium is also home to the PNG Hunters, a rugby league team that compete in the majority Australian

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby

The

2015 Pacific Games The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby. More tha ...

was held in Port Moresby from 4 to 18 July 2015. In September 2009, the Pacific Games Council, at its meeting coinciding with the 2009 Pacific Mini Games, elected Port Moresby as the host of the 2015 Games. The final vote was 25–22 in favour of Port Moresby over Tonga to host. The 2015 Pacific Games involved 24 countries from the Pacific regions competing in 28 sports events, including:

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, soccer,

touch rugby Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby football in which players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball. A formal, competitive variety, known as Tou ...

, table tennis, weightlifting,

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

, swimming, cricket,

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

, shooting, sailing, va'a, rugby 7s, powerlifting, rugby league 9s,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, beach volleyball, athletics,

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

, karate, lawn bowls, bodybuilding, boxing,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, and canoeing. Papua New Guinea ranked first with the most medals followed by New Caledonia and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

. The opening ceremony took place on the 4th of July 2015 involving various traditional dances. The closing ceremony involved singers such as J Boog, Fiji, O-Shen and George Mamua Telek.

Sports venues

Sir John Guise Stadium The Sir John Guise Stadium is a multi-sport and athletics venue located in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea, and is part of the larger Sir John Guise Sports Precinct which also includes an indoor arena, beach volleyball/hockey c ...

is the premier sports venue with a capacity of 15,000. It was completely rebuilt in 2015. * Amini Park is a

ground in Port Moresby. The ground is named for the Amini family, several of whom have played cricket for Papua New Guinea (both the men's and women's teams), the ground has seen the men's team play Australia, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The women's team played Japan in a three match series at the ground in September 2006. *

Lloyd Robson Oval PNG Football Stadium (known as ''Lloyd Robson Oval'' until 2015) is a sporting ground in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It hosted three games for the 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup. It has been the home ground for the Papua New Guinea nat ...

is a sporting ground in Port Moresby and has hosted 3 games for the

1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup The 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (sometimes shortened to 1992 Rugby League World Cup) was the tenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup, and continued to use the three-year format, stretching across the years 1989 to 1992. As with the ...

. It has been the home ground for the

Papua New Guinea national rugby league team The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby league football. In Papua New Guinea, Rugby League is a highly popular sport and is regarded as the country's national sport. The national side ar ...

since 1975 and the Port Moresby Vipers. It has a total capacity of approximately 17,000. * National Football Stadium – Papua New Guinea's National Football Stadium, formerly known as Lloyd Robson Oval, is located in Port Moresby and hosted three matches for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The venue (Loyd Robson Oval) was completely redeveloped in 2015 and has an all-seated capacity of 15,000. This was completed in time for the Pacific Games. The venue has hosted the PNG national side since 1975 and has previously hosted Rugby League World Cup matches in 1986 and 1990. It is also home of the Hunters, the local Papua New Guinea team who play in the Intrust Super Cup which is the Queensland NRL tournament. The National Football Stadium features a permanent main grandstand with seating for 3,000 including a roof and corporate facilities while temporary stands around the ground boost the seating capacity. There are also lights and a video screen. * PMRL Stadium is a football stadium in Port Moresby and it is used mainly for football and hosts the home matches of

PRK Hekari United Hekari United, formerly known as POM Souths, Souths United, PRK Souths United and Hekari Souths United, is a professional football club formed in 2006, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The club holds the record for most titles in the Pap ...

of the

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League The KPHL National Soccer League, also known as the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited National Soccer League for sponsorship reasons, is the men's top division of professional soccer in Papua New Guinea. It is a nationwide league formed in 2006 by ...

and

OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...

. The stadium has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 15,000 spectators. *

Hubert Murray Stadium The Hubert Murray Stadium is a sports venue located in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea. It was developed for the 1969 South Pacific Games on reclaimed land at Konedobu that had previously been shoreline mangroves. The athlet ...

is a sports venue located in Port Moresby and was developed for the

on reclaimed land at

that had previously been shoreline mangroves. The athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the new stadium, which was named after Sir

Hubert Murray Sir John Hubert Plunkett Murray (29 December 1861 – 27 February 1940) was a judge and Lieutenant-Governor of Papua from 1908 until his death at Samarai. Early life Murray was born in Sydney, the son of Irish-born Terence Aubrey Murray ( ...

, a former lieutenant governor. In 2015–16 it was completely rebuilt as a large capacity football ground.

Education

International schools

The International Education Agency provides private education via six international schools; Korobosea International School, Boroko International School, Ela Murray International School, Gordon International School, Port Moresby International School and IEA TAFE college. There are approximately three hundred staff. The Port Moresby International School (POMIS) has been operating since the 1950s. It is an International Education Agency school and is the premier international high school in Port Moresby. It enrolls nearly 1000 students from Grades 7 to 12. Port Moresby Japanese Language School (ポート・モレスビー補習授業校 ''Pōto Moresubī Hoshū Jugyō Kō'') was a supplementary Japanese school in the city.大洋州の補習授業校一覧
(). MEXT. February 13, 2002. Retrieved on April 7, 2015. "ポートモレスビー Port Moresby Japanese Language School c/o Embassy of Japan P.O. Box 1040 Port Moresby P.N.G." It closed in August 2009.関係機関へのリンク

. The Japan School of Doha. Retrieved on March 31, 2015. "ポート・モレスビー補習授業校（2009年8月休校）" and "（ニューメキシコ）アルバカーキ補習授業校（休校）" and "（プエルトリコ）プエルトリコ補習授業校（2006年3月閉校）"

Twin towns – sister cities

Port Moresby is twinned with: * Jinan, China * Suva, Fiji *

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Australia

References

Notes

External links

Official Port Moresby−National Capital District website
* {{Authority control Populated places in Southern Region (Papua New Guinea) . Capitals in Oceania Capital districts and territories Provincial capitals in Papua New Guinea Gulf of Papua Southern Region, Papua New Guinea Port cities in Oceania Ports and harbours of Papua New Guinea Populated places established in 1873 1873 establishments in Oceania