Area 4,299 km² | Time zone AEST (UTC+10) | |
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Districts ListDei DistrictMount Hagen DistrictMul-Baiyer DistrictTambul-Nebilyer District University Melanesia Nazarene Bible College | ||
Covenant plaque laid in talga western highlands province
Western Highlands is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 4,299 km², and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated province (apart from the National Capital District). Tea and coffee are grown in the Western Highlands.
Contents
- Covenant plaque laid in talga western highlands province
- Map of Western Highlands Province Papua New Guinea
- Split to create Jiwaka Province
- Economy
- Districts and LLGs
- Members of the National Parliament
- References
Map of Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
Split to create Jiwaka Province
In July 2009, Parliament passed legislation to create two new provinces by 2012. One of these was to be created by removing Jimi District, North Waghi District, and the South Waghi part of Anglimp-South Waghi District from the Western Highlands Province to form the new Jiwaka Province. "Jiwaka" is a portanteau word combining the first two letters each of Jimi, Waghi and Kambia.
Jiwaka Province officially came into being on 17 May 2012.
Economy
The Western Highlands economy is primarily based on coffee. Coffee is grown on plantations and small-holder blocks. They are picked, dried and processed for export. In addition, tea is also a major crop grown and processed, but in plantations by W. R. Carpenter & Co Ltd for local consumption and export. Apart from these, vegetables are grown for the domestic market, and sold mainly to markets Lae and Port Moresby.
Districts and LLGs
Since the separation of Jiwaka there are now four 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.
Members of the National Parliament
The province and each district is represented by a Member of the National Parliament. There is one provincial electorate and each district is an open electorate. The following table lists Members before and after the 2007 general election.