Sandaun Province (formerly West Sepik Province) is the northwesternmost mainland

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 covers an area of 35,920 km² (13868 m²) and has a population of 248,411 (2011 census). The capital is

Vanimo Vanimo is the capital of Sandaun Province (West Sepik) in north-westernmost Papua New Guinea and of Vanimo-Green River District. It is located on a peninsula close to the border with Indonesia. Religion Its Holy Cross Pro-Cathedral is the epi ...

. In July 1998 the area surrounding the town Aitape was hit by an enormous

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

caused by a Magnitude 7.0 earthquake which killed over 2,000 people. The five villages along the west coast of Vanimo towards the International Border are namely; Lido, Waromo, Yako, Musu and Wutung.

Name

Sandaun is a Tok Pisin word derived from English "sun down," since the province is located in the west of the country, where the sun sets. The province was formerly named West Sepik Province, for the

Sepik River The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Se ...

that flows through the province and forms part of the province's southern border.

Physical Geography

The Sandaun Province has beaches along the northern coast, as well as mountainous areas throughout the province, primarily in the southern area of the province. Several rivers flow throughout the province, most notable the Sepik River. The area, like much of Papua New Guinea, is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

Districts and LLGs

There are four districts 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 in ...

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 In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. There is one provincial electorate and each district is an open electorate.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Provinces of Papua New Guinea Momase Region