Together these make up the nation of Papua New Guinea in tropical Oceania, located in the western edge of the Pacific Ocean.

The mountainous regions of Papua New Guinea are the areas most susceptible to landslides causing damage.

These have a distinct plant and animal life from the main island but the natural forest has been cleared in places for logging and agriculture.

[5] Climate change is expected to alter the temperature and precipitation of the country, with implications for wildlife, ecosystems and agriculture.

Natural resources: gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries Land use: The rainforest is subject to deforestation as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; forest clearance, especially in coastal areas, for plantations; pollution from mining projects.

If the trend continues, more than half the forest that existed when Papua New Guinea became independent from Australia in 1975 will be gone by 2021.