Religion in Papua New Guinea

[3] The 2000 census percentages were as follows:[4][5] The Summer Institute of Linguistics is a missionary institution drawing its support from conservative evangelical Protestant churches in the United States and to a lesser extent Australia; it translates the Bible into local languages and conducts extensive linguistic research.

[3] The Asabano people of Papua New Guinea had traditional methods of treating human remains that varied based on the type of relationship the survivors planned to have with the deceased.

[7] However, after their conversion to Christianity in the 1970s, the Asabano began burning or burying bone relics and commenced coffin burial in cemeteries.

[7] Some cargo cults - the beliefs in a lost "Golden Age", which would be re-established when the dead ancestors returned - sprang up in Papua New Guinea during the 20th century, including the Taro Cult and the events known as the Vailala Madness in the Gulf of Papua, which, by the late 1920s, was no longer active.

An example is the movement led by the remarkable "prophet" Yali in the Rai Coast District of northern Papua.

[18] She attended the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women and was given an award in 1995 and 2002 for her many years in the public service, particularly in the national government.

[20] Islam in Papua New Guinea counts for more than 5,000 followers,[21][22] (most of whom are Sunni) mainly as a result of a recent spike in conversions.

Despite being a dominant religion in neighbouring Indonesia, adherents of Islam make up a small segment of the population.

Religious groups are required to register the government in order to hold property and obtain tax-exempt status.