France – Papua New Guinea relations are the

foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through mu ...

between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Official diplomatic relations were established in 1976. France has an embassy in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

but Papua New Guinea has no diplomatic representation in France. Papua New Guinea's embassy in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

covers France.

History

In 1768, French explorer

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolution ...

landed at what is now Papua New Guinea during his circumnavigation of the world. He gave his name to an island just to the east of New Guinea. In the 1870s and 1880s, the Marquis de Rays, a French nobleman, attempted to establish a French colony on New Ireland called New France. He sent four ill-fated expeditions to the island, the most famous of which caused the death of 123 settlers. In 1980, the new state of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

, formerly the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

, which had just that year declared independence from France, quelled an uprising with the help of forces from Papua New Guinea. Throughout the 1980s, Papua New Guinea remained highly critical of France due to France's commitment to testing nuclear explosions in the South Pacific. Papua New Guinea co-sponsored with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

a scientific study of the

Moruroa atoll Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

in 1983, but distanced itself from the report when the results concluded that health and environmental risks from nuclear testing were negligible.

Modern relations

Papua New Guinea took part in the second France-Oceania Summit held in Paris in June 2006. Prime Minister Sir

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

opened the session on the political stability of

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. Sir Michael also visited

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, a ...

in April 2005, and "expressed interest in increased cooperation with the French overseas community of New Caledonia". The French government describes this cooperation as "progressing slowly", while noting that "the framework agreement for fisheries cooperation between PNG and New Caledonia which came into effect on 15 October 2002 has not led to more substantial cooperation at this point". In November 2007, Papua New Guinea's

Oro Province Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km2, and has 176,206 inhabitants (2011 census). The province shares la ...

was struck by

cyclone Guba Severe Tropical Cyclone Guba was the most recent tropical cyclone to form in the Port Moresby area of responsibility. The storm resulted in 149 fatalities and severe damage across southeastern Papua New Guinea in November 2007. The firstly-named c ...

, and France provided humanitarian aid in the form of medicine, water purification products, food and clothing for victims with the assistance of the Armed Forces of New Caledonia (FANC) and in the context of the FRANZ agreement. Papua New Guinea is a member of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Special Committee on Decolonization The United Nations Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, or the Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24), is a committee of ...

. The French government has noted what it calls Port Moresby's "moderate" attitude on the issue of the decolonisation of

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

- which, like Papua New Guinea, is located in

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

. The

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

maintains a Friendship Group with Papua New Guinea.

Economic relations

Economic relations are minimal. In 2003, French exports to Papua New Guinea were worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

2 million, accounting for just 0.3% of the country's imports.

Military cooperation

The Armed Forces of New Caledonia (FANC) cooperate with the

Papua New Guinea Defence Force The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into bei ...

through joint exercises. In May 2005, a joint exercise was conducted. A plan for bilateral cooperation between the FANC and PNG's defense forces was approved in November 2004, centered around training for peacekeeping operations.

Notes and references

External links