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Tok Pisin
English
Although it is an official language of Papua New Guinea, English is only spoken by 1–2% of the population.2
Hiri Motu
Papuan languages
The longest-established languages of Papua New Guinea are known as the Papuan languages.
Outside of Papua New Guinea, Papuan languages are also spoken in the Indonesia, East Timor, the Solomon Islands,
Austronesian languages
People speaking languages belonging to the Austronesian family arrived in New Guinea approximately 3,500 years ago.citation needed
The Austronesian languages are widely spread across the globe, as far west as Malagasy in Madagascar, as far east as Rapa Nui on Easter Island, and as far as north as the Formosan languages of Taiwan. Austronesian has several primary branches, all but one of which are found exclusively on Taiwan.
Literacy
57.3% of the population of Papua New Guinea over 15 years of age are literate.2
Notes
- ^ Ethnologue: Languages of Papua New Guinea. In 2006, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stated that "Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages (languages, not dialects)" (Statement at the World Leaders Forum, Columbia University, September 21, 2006; website of the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea).
- ^ a b CIA World Factbook: Papua New Guinea
References
- Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Fifteenth edition ed.). Dallas, Tex.: SIL International.
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