Melanesia · UN member
Papua New Guinea: Travel Guide & Requirements
Independent State of Papua New Guinea · Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini · Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini
Papua New Guinea is a country in Melanesia with its capital in Port Moresby. It has a population of 10.8 million (#91 in the world) and covers 462,840 km². The official languages are English, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin. The currency is the Papua New Guinean kina (PGK, K).
Where is Papua New Guinea? Map of Papua New Guinea
Oceania, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia.
- Region
- Melanesia
- Coordinates
- 6° S, 147° E
- Neighbours
- 1 — see list
- Coastline
- 5,152 km
- Papua New Guinea
- Neighbours
- Capital
- Largest cities
Map of Papua New Guinea showing Port Moresby (capital) and the largest cities: Lae, Arawa, Mount Hagen, Popondetta, Madang, Kokopo, Mendi and Kimbe.
Travel requirements
What you need to travel to Papua New Guinea
- Passport
ICSA's visa guide says passports should be valid for at least 6 months from the date of intended travel.
- Visa or eTA
Depends on your passport: of 198 passports, 180 need an eVisa, 18 get a visa on arrival. Check yours or see Papua New Guinea entry requirements for every passport.
- Return or onward ticket
ICSA's visa guide lists a copy of a travel itinerary with a confirmed onward or return ticket among the requirements for these visitor visa classes: Tourist (own itinerary), Tourist (tour package), Visiting Relative, Sp…
- Proof of funds
ICSA's visa guide asks visitor and Easy Visitor Permit applicants for their itinerary and a guarantee that they are financially secure.
- Travel insurance
No official requirement. The UK government says medical facilities are very basic, that evacuation by air ambulance to Australia is available in more serious cases, and to make sure you have adequate travel health insurance and accessible funds.
- Vaccinations
WHO's list says Papua New Guinea requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from travellers aged 1 year or over arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission, including those who have transited through …
- Arrival card
ICSA says the PNG Digital Arrival Card is a mandatory pre-arrival requirement for all persons travelling to Papua New Guinea, including PNG citizens, permanent residents and all foreign nationals, and has told airlines …
- Customs allowance
The PNG Digital Arrival Card asks every passenger to declare all goods, currency and items as required, including amounts over the currency reporting threshold.
- Travel advice
High risk — US and UK advice.
Entry rules: TravelRequirements.info — Entry Requirements Dataset (CC BY 4.0), each rule cited to an official government source. Always confirm with the airline and the official source before you travel.
Before you go
9 things to know before you travel to Papua New Guinea
- Safety: Travel to Papua New Guinea carries a high risk: the US State Department rates Papua New Guinea Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), and the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of the country.
- Best time to go: June to October — when daytime highs in Port Moresby are around 27–29°C.
- Money: the Papua New Guinean kina (PGK) — 1 US dollar is about 4.5440 PGK.
- Plugs: type I, 240 V, 50 Hz — standard 220–240 V: devices from the US or Japan (110–120 V) need a converter unless they are dual voltage (100–240 V).
- Emergency numbers: Police 112, Ambulance 111, Fire 110.
- Language: English, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin are official.
- Driving: on the left — speed limits are 60 km/h in built-up areas and 100 km/h outside built-up areas.
- Time zone: UTC+10 in Port Moresby.
- Capital: Port Moresby. About 10.8 million people live in Papua New Guinea.
Key facts
Papua New Guinea at a glance
Languages spoken: Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 living indigenous languages are spoken (about 12% of the world's total)
Geography & history
About Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea; the western half is part of Indonesia. PNG was first settled between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. Its harsh geography of mountains, jungles, and numerous river valleys kept many of the arriving groups isolated, giving rise to PNG’s ethnic and linguistic diversity. Around 500 B.C., Austronesian voyagers settled along the coast. Spanish and Portuguese explorers periodically visited the island starting in the 1500s, but none made it into the country’s interior. American and British whaling ships frequented the islands off the coast of New Guinea in the mid-1800s. In 1884, Germany declared a protectorate -- and eventu…
Read the full history
Papua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea; the western half is part of Indonesia. PNG was first settled between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. Its harsh geography of mountains, jungles, and numerous river valleys kept many of the arriving groups isolated, giving rise to PNG’s ethnic and linguistic diversity. Around 500 B.C., Austronesian voyagers settled along the coast. Spanish and Portuguese explorers periodically visited the island starting in the 1500s, but none made it into the country’s interior. American and British whaling ships frequented the islands off the coast of New Guinea in the mid-1800s. In 1884, Germany declared a protectorate -- and eventually a colony -- over the northern part of what would become PNG and named it German New Guinea; days later the UK followed suit on the southern part and nearby islands and called it Papua. Most of their focus was on the coastal regions, leaving the highlands largely unexplored. The UK put its colony under Australian administration in 1902 and formalized the act in 1906. At the outbreak of World War I, Australia occupied German New Guinea and continued to rule it after the war as a League of Nations Mandate. The discovery of gold along the Bulolo River in the 1920s led prospectors to venture into the highlands, where they found about 1 million people living in isolated communities. The New Guinea campaign of World War II lasted from January 1942 to the Japanese surrender in August 1945. After the war, Australia combined the two territories and administered PNG as a UN trusteeship. In 1975, PNG gained independence and became a member of the Commonwealth. Between 1988-1997, a secessionist movement on the island province of Bougainville, located off the eastern PNG coast, fought the PNG Government, resulting in 15,000-20,000 deaths. In 1997, the PNG Government and Bougainville leaders reached a cease-fire and subsequently signed a peace agreement in 2001. The Autonomous Bougainville Government was formally established in 2005. Bougainvilleans voted in favor of independence in a 2019 non-binding referendum. The Bougainville and PNG governments are in the process of negotiating a roadmap for independence, which requires approval by the PNG parliament.
Location
Oceania, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia
Climate
tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation
Terrain
mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills
Highest point
Mount Wilhelm 4,509 m
Natural resources
gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries
Natural hazards
active volcanism; frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis volcanism: severe volcanic activity; Ulawun (2,334 m), one of Papua New Guinea's potentially most dangerous volcanoes, has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Asso…
National symbols
bird of paradise
Driving
Speed limits & road rules in Papua New Guinea
The default speed limits in Papua New Guinea are 60 km/h in built-up areas and 100 km/h outside built-up areas. Posted signs always take priority over these defaults.
- 6060 km/hBuilt-up areasTowns and cities
- 100100 km/hOutside built-up areasCountry roads
- International Driving PermitRecognised: 1949 GenevaCarry the IDP together with your national licence
- Driving sideDrive on the leftOvertake on the right
- Seat beltsRequired by law
- Child seatsNo national child-restraint law
- Motorcycle helmetsRequired for riders
- Road deaths (2021)14.9 per 100,000 peopleHigher than most countries (median 12.4)
Speed limits: OpenStreetMap wiki — Default speed limits (CC BY-SA 2.0). Road-safety laws: WHO Global Health Observatory. Compare speed limits and alcohol limits by country. Defaults for cars; local signs, weather and vehicle type can lower them.
Safety
Is Papua New Guinea safe to visit?
Travel to Papua New Guinea carries a high risk: the US State Department rates Papua New Guinea Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), and the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of the country.
US State Department
UK Foreign Office (FCDO)Latest update: Updated information about interruptions to the supply of water and electricity (‘Warnings and insurance’ page).
Updated 17 Aug 2026 · Full travel advice
Sources: US Department of State travel advisories (public domain) and UK FCDO foreign travel advice (contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0). Checked daily. Advice can change quickly — always read the official page before you travel.
Weather
Best time to visit Papua New Guinea
The best time to visit Papua New Guinea is June to October, when daytime highs in Port Moresby are around 27–29°C. May and November are also a good time to go. December is the warmest month (30°C by day), August the coldest (24°C at night), and March the wettest with about 294 mm of rain.
- Jan29°C27°C
- Feb29°C27°C
- Mar29°C27°C
- Apr29°C27°C
- May28°C26°C
- Jun28°C26°C
- Jul27°C25°C
- Aug27°C24°C
- Sep28°C25°C
- Oct29°C25°C
- Nov29°C26°C
- Dec30°C27°C
Best time Good Less ideal
Before you go
Plugs, voltage & emergency numbers in Papua New Guinea
Plugs & sockets
240 V, 50 Hz · Standard 220–240 V: devices from the US or Japan (110–120 V) need a converter unless they are dual voltage (100–240 V).
Emergency numbers
112 works from any mobile phone, even without a SIM card in most networks. All countries →
Sources: Wikipedia — Mains electricity by country and List of emergency telephone numbers (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Currency · 26 October 2026
Papua New Guinean kina exchange rates today
Papua New Guinea uses the Papua New Guinean kina (PGK, K). One US dollar buys 4.5440 PGK; over the last 30 days the PGK has lost 3.8% against the dollar.
What other currencies cost in PGK
Currency converter
Daily reference rates from the open-source currency-api (CC0), 26 Oct 2026. Banks and exchange offices add a margin.
World rankings
Where Papua New Guinea ranks
How Papua New Guinea compares with the rest of the world — open any card for the full ranking.
Airports
Airports in Papua New Guinea
580 airports and airfields — 2 large, 19 medium and 556 small, plus 3 heliports. 37 have scheduled passenger flights.
Borders
Neighbouring countries
Papua New Guinea borders 1 country along 824 km of land borders. Coastline: 5,152 km.
People
Population & society
Religion
Largest cities: Port Moresby (410,000)
Economy
Economy
Main industries
oil and gas; mining (gold, copper, and nickel); palm oil processing; plywood and wood chip production; copra crushing; construction; tourism; fishing; livestock (pork, poultry, cattle) and dairy farming; spice products …
Export partners
China 28%, Japan 25%, Australia 17%, Taiwan 8%, India 4% (2023)
Top exports
natural gas, gold, copper ore, palm oil, nickel (2023)
Travel tools
Handy before every trip to Papua New Guinea
Next public holiday
Christmas Day — Friday, 25 December 2026. Then Boxing Day (26 Dec).
Papua New Guinean passport
Ranked #127: 38 countries visa-free, 32 with visa on arrival, 5 with an eTA and 38 with an eVisa.
Papua New Guinean passport photo
Exact size, head position and background for Papua New Guinea's passport and visa photos — make one free with AI checks.
Calling Papua New Guinea
Dial +675 before the local number. Internet domain .pg.
Climate footprint
8.3 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2024 — 0.79 t per person.
Entry requirements
Visa rules for every passport visiting Papua New Guinea: visa-free stays, eVisas, visas on arrival and documents to bring.
News
Latest travel news about Papua New Guinea
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Australia considers more visa options for Papua New Guineans
Australia says it is open to further talks on easing visa arrangements for Papua New Guineans, and a new 12-month, multiple-entry visa for NRL matche…
Frequently asked questions about Papua New Guinea
What do I need to travel to Papua New Guinea?
How long must my passport be valid for Papua New Guinea?
Where is Papua New Guinea?
What is the capital of Papua New Guinea?
What language is spoken in Papua New Guinea?
What currency does Papua New Guinea use?
What is the calling code of Papua New Guinea?
Which countries border Papua New Guinea?
How strong is the Papua New Guinean passport?
What is the speed limit in Papua New Guinea?
Is Papua New Guinea safe to visit?
When is the best time to visit Papua New Guinea?
What plug type does Papua New Guinea use?
How many airports does Papua New Guinea have?
Sources: CIA World Factbook (public domain); World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0); names, languages and currencies: mledoze/countries (ODbL); flag: flag-icons (MIT); coat of arms: Wikimedia Commons (file page); exchange rates: Daily reference rates from the open-source currency-api (CC0); airports: OurAirports.