Southern Highlands Province

Information in this article has not yet been updated to take into account the effects of the creation of Hela Province.

Southern Highlands Province Saden Halens (Angal Dialect)
Southern Highlands Province
Flag
Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea
Coordinates: 6°10′S 143°20′E
Country	Papua New Guinea
Capital	Mendi
Districts	List Mendi-Munihu District District Imbonggu District Kagua-Erave District Ialibu-Pangia Nipa-Kutubu District
Government
• Governor	Suspended since 16 June 2018
Area
• Total	15,089 km2 (5,826 sq mi)
Population  (2011 census)
• Total	510,245
• Density	34/km2 (88/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+10 (AEST)
HDI (2018)	0.479 low · 21st of 22

Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea's national 2011 census, the total population of Southern Highlands (after the separation of Hela Province) is 515,511 spread across 15,089 square kilometers (5,826 sq mi).

Ethnic groups

Before the split there were two major ethnic groups, the Huli Speakers and the Angal Speakers or Angal Heneng. Today the majority of the population in Southern Highlands is made up of Angal or Angal Heneng speakers. They occupy the three provinces of Southern Highlands (Nipa, Mendi, Lai Valley, Imbongu (lower Mendi)), Hela (Magarima) and Enga (parts of Kandep).

Split to create Hela Province

In July 2009, Parliament passed legislation to create two new provinces by 2012. One of these was to be created by removing the districts of Tari-Pori, Komo-Magarima, and Koroba-Kopiago from the Southern Highlands Province to form the new Hela Province. Hela Province officially came into being on 17 May 2012.

Regions

After the split of Hela, the province is divided into roughly three distinct geographic regions:

1. The West: which includes the Southern Highlands districts of Nipa, Mendi, Lai Valley, Imbogu (lower Mendi), Hela District of Magarima, Kutubu and part of Kendep (Enga Province), and is the home of the speakers of dialects of the Anggal Heneng language.
2. The East: which includes the districts of Kagua, Ialibu, Pangia and Erave, and is the home of the speakers of the Imbongu, Kewa, and Wiru languages, and home to the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea, Mount Giluwe.
3. The Lowlands: which stretch across the southern part of the Southern Highlands province from the volcanic peaks of Mount Bosavi to include the oilfields of Lake Kutubu, and includes the language groups of Biami (shared with Western Province) Foe, and Fasu.

Districts and LLGs

There are five districts in the province. 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.

District	District Capital	LLG Name
Ialibu-Pangia District	Ialibu	East Pangia Rural
		Ialibu Urban
		Kewabi Rural
		Wiru Rural
Imbonggu District	Imbonggu	Ialibu Basin Rural
		Imbonggu Rural
		Lower Mendi Rural
Kagua-Erave District	Kagua	Erave Rural
		Kagua Rural
		Kuare Rural
		Aiya Rural
Mendi-Munihu District	Mendi	Karints Rural
		Lai Valley Rural
		Mendi Urban
		Upper Mendi Rural
Nipa-Kutubu District	Nipa	Lake Kutubu Rural
		Mount Bosavi Rural
		Nembi Plateau Rural
		Nipa Rural
		Poroma Rural

Provincial leaders

The province was governed by a decentralised provincial administration, headed by a Premier, from 1978 to 1995. Following reforms taking effect that year, the national government reassumed some powers, and the role of Premier was replaced by a position of Governor, to be held by the winner of the province-wide seat in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.

Premiers (1978–1995)

Premier	Term
Andrew Andaija	1978–1980
Tegi Ebeial	1980–1985
Yaungtine Koromba	1985–1990
Albert Mokai	1990–1992
provincial government suspended	1992–1995

Governors (1995–present)

Premier	Term
Dick Mune	1995–1997
Anderson Agiru	1997–2000
Hami Yawari	2003–2006
Anderson Agiru	2007–2012
William Powi	2012–present

Members of the National Parliament

The province and each district is represented by a Member of the National Parliament. There is one provincial electorate and each district is an open electorate.

Premier	Term
Southern Highlands Provincial	William Powi
Ialibu-Pangia Open	Peter O'Neill
Imbonggu Open	Pila Niningi
Kagua-Erave Open	Wesley Raminai
Mendi Open	Michael Nali
Nipa-Kutubu Open	Jeffery Komal

2006 state of emergency

On 1 August 2006, the government of Papua New Guinea declared a state of emergency in the country's Southern Highlands region. According to Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, troops were deployed to restore 'law, order and good governance' in the region, following accusations of corruption, theft and misuse of government buildings at the hands of the regional government.

As a region rich in energy resources, the Southern Highlands was at the centre of plans to construct a gas pipeline to pump natural gas to Queensland in north Australia. The project would have resulted in much needed revenue for Papua New Guinea, and as it was believed that the instability in the region could jeopardise the project, the national government decided to intervene by declaring a state of emergency. The move was supported by Parliament, although some criticism was leveled at the government for restricting press access to the region while the state of emergency was in force. The companies involved subsequently opted for the current PNG Gas project which has export facilities outside Port Moresby. This is operated by Esso Highlands, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and is expected to begin production in 2014.