Southern Highlands Province
Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea’s national 2011 census, the total population of Southern Highlands (after the separation of Hela Province) is 515,511 spread across 15,089 square kilometers (5,826 sq mi).
Ethnic groups
Before the split there were two major ethnic groups, the Huli people and the Angal speakers. Today the majority of the population in Southern Highlands is made up of Angal or Angal Heneng speakers. They occupy the three provinces of Southern Highlands (Nipa, Mendi, Lai Valley, Imbongu (lower Mendi)), Hela (Magarima) and Enga (parts of Kandep)
Split to create Hela Province
In July 2009, Parliament passed legislation to create two new provinces by 2012. One of these was to be created by removing the districts of Tari-Pori, Komo-Magarima, and Koroba-Kopiago from the Southern Highlands Province to form the new Hela Province. Hela Province officially came into being on 17 May 2012
Regions
After the split of Hela, the province is divided into roughly three distinct geographic regions:
The West: which includes the Southern Highlands districts of Nipa, Mendi, Lai Valley, Imbogu (lower Mendi), Hela District of Magarima, Kutubu and part of Kendep (Enga Province), and is the home of the speakers of dialects of the Anggal Heneng language.
The East: which includes the districts of Kagua, Ialibu, Pangia and Erave, and is the home of the speakers of the Imbongu, Kewa, and Wiru languages, and home to the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea, Mount Giluwe.
The Lowlands: which stretch across the southern part of the Southern Highlands province from the volcanic peaks of Mount Bosavi to include the oilfields of Lake Kutubu, and includes the language groups of Biami (shared with Western Province) Foe, and Fasu.
Districts and LLGs
There are five districts in the province. Each district has one or more Local Level Government (LLG) areas. For census purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units
District | District Capital | LLG Name |
---|---|---|
Ialibu-Pangia District | Ialibu | East Pangia Rural |
Ialibu Urban | ||
Kewabi Rural | ||
Wiru Rural | ||
Imbonggu District | Imbonggu | Ialibu Basin Rural |
Imbonggu Rural | ||
Lower Mendi Rural | ||
Kagua-Erave District | Kagua | Erave Rural |
Kagua Rural | ||
Kuare Rural | ||
Aiya Rural | ||
Mendi-Munihu District | Mendi | Karints Rural |
Lai Valley Rural | ||
Mendi Urban | ||
Upper Mendi Rural | ||
Nipa-Kutubu District | Nipa | Lake Kutubu Rural |
Mount Bosavi Rural | ||
Nembi Plateau Rural | ||
Nipa Rural | ||
Poroma Rural |
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
By TUBS – This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16875318