New Guinea

New Guinea, world's second largest island, in the southwestern Pacific, just south of the equator and separated from northern Australia by the Torres Strait and the Arafura and Coral Seas. The island has an area of 319,713 sq mi (828,057 sq km), being about 1,500 mi (2,410 km) long and 400 mi (640 km) wide. The interior is mountainous, the coastal lowlands densely forested. Djaja Peak is the highest mountain, at 16,503 ft (5,030 m). The western part of New Guinea is a province of Indonesia, Irian Jaya. Papua New Guinea, the eastern part, is self-governing since 1973. Melanesians and Papuans are the two largest population groups. In remote mountain areas there are tribes that still practice headhunting. New Guinea was explored by Portuguese in the 16th century and named for Guinea, then a Portuguese colony in West Africa. It was later colonized by the Dutch, Germans, and British. The German sector was taken over by Australia after World War I. The island was bitterly contested by the Japanese and the Allies during World War II.