Great Papuan Plateau
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Great Papuan Plateau is a karst plateau in the Southern Highlands, Hela and Western Provinces of Papua New Guinea. It is bordered the upper stretches of the Kikori River and the Strickland River on the east and west, respectively, and the Karius Range, the southern edge of the highlands, including Mount Sisa (2,650 m), to the north, and Mount Bosavi (2,507 m) to the south.
The eastern part of the plateau, east of the Sioa River, covers about 525 square miles (1,360 km2) and had a sparse population of 2,100 people (1966 government census), speaking at least five different languages. The dominant ethnic groups of this region are the Bosavi, Hawalisi, and Onabasulu. Further to the west are the Etoro, Bedamuni, and Sonia. In general, these groups practice swidden agriculture with exploitation of taro.
The Great Papuan Plateau has petroleum resources, and a pipeline from the plateau to Daru is under construction.
The Great Papuan Plateau is included within the Kikori River Basin/Great Papuan Plateau included in 2006 on a tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, for its well-preserved natural systems and culturally significant sites.
History
The original inhabitants of the area is unclear, because of a dearth of evidence. According to the Bosavi people, they have always inhabited the plateau.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5599740. Authority coordinates are -6.604, 142.588. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966 and 2006.
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This entry incorporates text from “Great Papuan Plateau” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.