Western Highlands is a province 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 ...

. The provincial capital is

Mount Hagen Mount Hagen ( tpi, Maun Hagen) is the third largest city in Papua New Guinea, with a population of 46,250. It is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea, ...

. The province covers an area of 4,299 km², and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated province (apart from 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 ...

). Tea and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

are grown in the Western Highlands.

Split to create Jiwaka Province

In July 2009, Parliament passed legislation to create two new provinces by 2012. One of these was to be created by removing

Jimi District Jimi District is a district of the Jiwaka Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Tabibuga. The population of the district was 71,379 at the 2011 census. Before May 2012, it was part of the Western Highlands Province. It is home to the Jimi ...

North Waghi District North Waghi District is a district of the Jiwaka Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Banz. The population of the district was 78,499 at the 2011 census.Anglimp-South Waghi District Anglimp-South Wahgi District is a district of the Jiwaka Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Minj. The population of the district was 194,109 at the 2011 census.Jiwaka Province Jiwaka is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is temporarily located in Kurumul. Mostly all provincial matters are handled in Kurumul while few are handled in Banz and Minj. The province covers an area of 4,798 km², and ...

. "Jiwaka" is a portmanteau combining the first two letters each of Jimi, Waghi and Kambia. Jiwaka Province officially came into being on 17 May 2012.

Economy

The Western Highlands economy is primarily based on coffee. Coffee is grown on plantations and small-holder blocks. They are picked, dried and processed for export. In addition, tea is also a major crop grown and processed, but in plantations by W. R. Carpenter & Co Ltd for local consumption and export. Apart from these, vegetables are grown for the domestic market, and sold mainly to markets Lae and Port Moresby.

Districts and LLGs

Since the separation of Jiwaka there are now four

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

in the province. Each district has one or more 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 inc ...

purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units.

Provincial leaders

The province was governed by a decentralised provincial administration, headed by a Premier, from 1978 to 1995. Following reforms taking effect that year, the national government reassumed some powers, and the role of Premier was replaced by a position of Governor, to be held by the winner of the province-wide seat in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.

Premiers (1978–1995)

Governors (1995–present)

Members of the National Parliament

The province and each district is represented by a Member of the National Parliament. There is one provincial

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district or c ...

and each district is an open electorate.

References

Provinces of Papua New Guinea Highlands Region {{WesternHighlandsProvince-geo-stub