Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea is a province of the Anglican Communion. It was created in 1976 when the Province of Papua New Guinea became independent from the Province of Queensland in the Church of England in Australia (officially renamed the Anglican Church of Australia in 1981) following Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975. The first Archbishop and Primate of Papua New Guinea was David Hand, the Bishop of Port Moresby. Succeeding Primates were also as a diocesan bishops until the consecration of Joseph Kopapa, who was Primate from 2010 to 2012.
Languages of Papua New Guinea Languages of Papua New Guinea The languages of Papua New Guinea today number over 850. These languages are spoken by the inhabited tribal groups of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In 2006, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stated that "Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages (languages, not dialects)" making it the most linguistically diverse place on earth. Its official languages are Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu and Papua New Guinean Sign Language. Tok Pisin, an English-based creole, is the most widely spoken, serving as the country's lingua franca. Papua New Guinean Sign Language became the fourth official language in