Officially known as the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the country of Papua New Guinea is located in Oceania and consists of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea as well as its offshore islands in Melanesia, which is a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Port Moresby is the country's capital, and it is on its southeastern coast. With an area of 462,840 km2 (178,700 sq mi), the nation is the third largest island nation in the world.

At the national level, Papua New Guinea established its sovereignty in 1975 after being ruled by three external powers since 1884, including nearly 60 years of Australian administration beginning during World War I. It became a Commonwealth realm on its own in 1975, and Elizabeth II was crowned as its queen. It also became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Papua New Guinea is one of the world's most linguistically diverse nations, with 839 spoken languages. It is also the most rural as of 2019, with only 13.25% of its population living in major cities. Over 8 million people live in customary communities for the most part. It was reported in December 2022 that a yet-to-be-published study suggests the true population is close to 17 million, despite government estimates putting the number at 9.4 million.