Tabubil, Papua New Guinea
| Tabubil | |
|---|---|
 Tabubil
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| Coordinates: 5°16′30″S 141°13′35″E / 5.27500°S 141.22639°E | |
| Country | Papua New Guinea |
| Province | Western Province |
| District | North Fly |
| LLG | Star Mountains Rural |
| Established | 1972 |
| Elevation | 457 m (1,499 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 10,270 |
| Languages | |
| • Main languages | Tok Pisin, English |
| • Traditional language | Ok languages |
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10) |
| Location |
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| Mean min temp | 20 °C (68 °F) |
| Annual rainfall | 8,000 mm (315.0 in) |
| Climate | Af |
Tabubil is a planned, company operated township located in the Star Mountains area of the North Fly District of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. The town, including the adjoining relocated village of Wangabin and the industrial area of Laydown (where industrial equipment was originally laid down before being installed at the mine ~1970–1980), is the largest settlement in the province, although the provincial capital, Daru is a similar size. It had a recorded population of 10,270 at the 2011 census.
Tabubil is set in extremely dense jungle fed by one of the highest rainfalls in the world. The town is the largest settlement in the country that has never been a provincial capital, or incorporated within one. The town was established primarily to serve the mine of Ok Tedi, which is currently mining copper and gold.
Tabubil lies in the heart of the Min Nation, an area with a distinct ethnic makeup that straddles the Indonesian border, and extends towards the southern Sepik areas and throughout the northern Fly River system. During the early years of colonisation of New Guinea it was unknown how many people, if any, lived in this remote and seemingly impassable and inhospitable terrain.
Before the 1940s, outside contact with the Min people was either brief, or merely vicarious. It is thought the Min were pushed north hundreds or even thousands of years ago by war with the southern Gogodala peoples, who were a strong warrior nation that currently reside on the plains of the central Fly area of the Western Province.
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