The Markham Valley is a geographical area in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
. The name "Markham" commemorates Sir
Clements Markham, Secretary of the British
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
- Captain
John Moresby of the Royal Navy named the
Markham River
The Markham River is a river in eastern Papua New Guinea. It originates in the Finisterre Range and flows for to empty into the Huon Gulf at Lae.
Course
The Markham is a major river in eastern Papua New Guinea. Its headwaters (''Umi'' and ''Bi ...
after Sir Clements in the course of his voyage of exploration in
HMS ''Basilisk'' in 1873.
[
]
The valley contains two districts of
Morobe Province
Morobe is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands Province ...
:
Huon Gulf district on the east and
Markham district
Markham District is a district of the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and ...
on the west. The inhabitants of the valley are of Oceanic (Austronesian) descent and live in large villages under a
chieftain
A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribal societies
There is no definition for "tribe".
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...
political system.
The valley is described as "Flatter than a pancake for miles and miles in all directions, until it runs into the
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
s that surround it on three sides" and "always hot, and usually bone dry". The
Highlands Highway runs through the valley. The
Markham River
The Markham River is a river in eastern Papua New Guinea. It originates in the Finisterre Range and flows for to empty into the Huon Gulf at Lae.
Course
The Markham is a major river in eastern Papua New Guinea. Its headwaters (''Umi'' and ''Bi ...
runs through the valley. According to one visitor, about once a year, the local
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
ns burn the dry grass.
The Markham Valley runs from the port city of
Lae up to the junction of the Highlands Highway and the road to
Madang. The Markham Valley is approximately long and gains approximately in elevation. The dominant land use in the valley is as cattle pasture, with some sugar-cane production and chicken farming.
In 1993, the valley was devastated by landslides and breached
landslide dams caused by a
series of earthquakes with the largest measuring 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale.
Sixty people lost their lives in the disaster.
See also
*
Markham languages
*
Wampar Rural LLG
References
Valleys of Papua New Guinea
{{PapuaNewGuinea-geo-stub