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 the PNG national parliament. The 22 provincial members are chosen from single-member electorates. Each provincial member becomes governor of their province unless they take a ministerial position, in which case the governorship passes to an open member of the province. Immediately before independence on 16 September 1975, Papua New Guinea was divided into nineteen provinces and the National Capital District. These provinces corresponded to the "Districts" of the pre-Independence administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. It had been considered that an independent state with limited resources could ill afford the infrastructure of a two-level quasi-federal governmental structure.