“This is a land of extraordinary variety. A land of high mountains, broad upland valleys, vast swamps and deltas; of endless forests, coastal plains, great rivers, myriad islands, reefs and cays. A land blessed with a greater variety of plant and animal life than any other region on this earth. A land broken and contorted by a harsh geography that has divided its peoples into more than 700 land-locked tribal and cultural groups -- more than 700 languages in population of fewer than [6] million.”

“The most fascinating study of all is man himself... Tribal groups vary in size from several hundreds to tens of thousands. There are extraordinary differences in physical appearance among the tribes. Even skin color is infinitely varied from the coal-black of the Buka through every shade of brown to the pale caramel of some coastal peoples.”

                                                      -Papua New Guinea, by James Sinclair