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The
Languages of Papua
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Ethnic
groups:
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Melanesian,
Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian,
Polynesian
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Religions:
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Roman
Catholic 27%, Evangelical Lutheran
19.5%, United Church 11.5%,
Seventh-Day Adventist 10%, Pentecostal
8.6%, Evangelical Alliance 5.2%,
Anglican 3.2%, Baptist 2.5%, other
Protestant 8.9%, Bahai 0.3%,
indigenous beliefs and other 3.3%
(2000 census)
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Languages:
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Tok
Pisin, English, and Hiri Motu are
official languages; some 860
indigenous languages spoken (over
one-tenth of the world's total)
note:
Tok
Pisin, a creole language, is widely
used and understood; English is spoken
by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less
than 2%
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Literacy:
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definition:
age
15 and over can read and write
total
population: 57.3%
male: 63.4%
female: 50.9%
(2000 census)
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Education
expenditures:
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NA
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People
- note:
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the
indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is
one of the most heterogeneous in the world;
PNG has several thousand separate
communities, most with only a few hundred
people; divided by language, customs, and
tradition, some of these communities have
engaged in low-scale tribal conflict with
their neighbors for millennia; the advent of
modern weapons and modern migrants into
urban areas has greatly magnified the impact
of this lawlessness
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Burmese,
the mother tongue of the Bamar and official language of Burma, is related to
Tibetan and to the Chinese languages. It is written in a script consisting of
circular and semi-circular letters, which were adapted from the Mon script,
which in turn was developed from a southern Indian script in the 8th century.
The earliest known inscriptions in the Burmese script date from the 11th
century. It is also used to write Pali, the sacred language of Theravada
Buddhism, as well as several ethnic minority languages, including Shan, several
Karen dialects, and Kayah (Karenni), with the addition of specialised characters
and diacritics for each language. The Burmese language incorporates widespread
usage of honorifics and is age-oriented. Burmese society has traditionally
stressed the importance of education. In villages, secular schooling often takes
place in monasteries. Secondary and tertiary education take place at government
schools.
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