Enga Province
| Enga Province | ||
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 Enga Province in Papua New Guinea |
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| Coordinates: 5°25′S 143°30′E / 5.417°S 143.500°E | ||
| Country | Papua New Guinea | |
| Capital | Wabag | |
| Districts | ||
| Government | ||
| • Governor | Peter Ipatas 1997- | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 11,704 km2 (4,519 sq mi) | |
| Population (2011 census) | ||
| • Total | 432,045 | |
| • Density | 37/km2 (96/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10) | |
Enga is one of the provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is located in the north most region of the highlands of PNG, having been divided from the Western Highlands to become a separate province when the provinces were created at the time of independence in 1975. The people of Enga are called Engans—they are a majority ethnic group—speaking one language in all its five districts: approximately 500,000 people. A small minority of Engans' land on the eastern side of the region remained in the Western Highlands, their territory being accessible by road from Mount Hagen but not directly from elsewhere in Enga territory.
Enga is the highest and is the second most rugged province (after Simbu Province) in Papua New Guinea. It covers an area of 2,800 km². Much of the province is at altitudes of over 2000 metres. Lower altitude areas are typically valleys which form the watershed for the two major river systems that drain the province, the Lagaip (which is a tributary of the Fly) and the Lai (which is a tributary of the Sepik).
The Papua New Guinea census of 2000 lists the population of Enga at 295,031 people, although the accuracy of the census is questionable. The provincial capital of Enga is Wabag. The two other main centres of population are Wapenamanda and Laiagam. Porgera, at the western edge of the province, is home to a gold mine operated by Barrick Gold.
Enga is unique among the provinces in Papua New Guinea in that it has only one major linguistic and ethnic group: Enga speakers. Although dialects of the Enga language vary greatly from Laiagam in the west to Wapenamanda in the east, Engans' shared ethnic identity overshadows the existence of other ethnic groups in the province, such as Ipili speakers (around Porgera) and Nete speakers.
Each province in Papua New Guinea has one or more districts, and each district has one or more Local Level Government (LLG) areas. For census purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units.
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