France–Papua New Guinea relations bilateral cooperation between the FANC and PNG's defense forces was approved in November 2004, centered around training for peacekeeping operations. France–Papua New Guinea relations France – Papua New Guinea relations refer to foreign relations between France and Papua New Guinea. Official diplomatic relations were established in 1976. France has an embassy in Port Moresby but Papua New Guinea has no diplomatic representation in France. Papua New Guinea's embassy in Brussels covers France. In 1768, French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville landed at what is now Papua New Guinea during his circumnavigation of the world. He gave his name to an island
Territory of Papua and New Guinea de Menezes came upon the principal island "Papua". In 1545, the Spaniard Iñigo Ortiz de Retes gave the island the name "New Guinea" because of what he saw as a resemblance between the islands' inhabitants and those found on the African Guinea coast. Knowledge of the interior of the island remained scant for several centuries after these initial European encounters. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the island and it became known as German New Guinea. In 1884, a British protectorate was proclaimed over Papua – the southern coast of New Guinea. The protectorate, called