Papua New Guinea largest towns are also located, including Port Moresby (capital) and Lae; other major islands within Papua New Guinea include New Ireland, New Britain, Manus and Bougainville. Papua New Guinea is one of the few regions close to the equator that experience snowfall, which occurs in the most elevated parts of the mainland. The border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia was confirmed by treaty with Australia before independence in 1974. Maritime boundaries with Australia were confirmed by a treaty in 1978. Papua New Guinea is part of the Australasia ecozone, which also includes Australia, New Zealand, eastern Indonesia, and several
Provinces of Papua New Guinea Provinces of Papua New Guinea For administrative purposes, Papua New Guinea is divided into administrative divisions called provinces. Provincial governments are branches of the national government – Papua New Guinea is not a federation of provinces. There are 22 provinces, that includes the autonomous region (Bougainville) and the National Capital District. In 2009, the PNG parliament created two additional provinces, that officially came into being on 17 May 2012. They were Hela Province, which was split from Southern Highlands Province, and Jiwaka Province, which was split from Western Highlands Province. Each province forms a provincial electorate, called a constituency, for