The Middle Fly District of the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

is a large, coastal district that forms the central area of the

Fly River The Fly River is the third longest river on the island of New Guinea, after the Sepik and Mamberamo, with a total length of . It is the largest by volume of discharge in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its catchment, an ...

basin. It contains the Local-Level Government areas of: Balimo Urban, Bamu Rural, Gogodaia Rural, Lake Murray Rural, and Nomad Rural, and the population centres of

Balimo Balimo Urban LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Western Province, Papua New Guinea Western Province is a coastal province in southwestern Papua New Guinea, bordering the Indonesian provinces of Highland Papua and South Papua. The provinci ...

, Bamu, Gogodala and

Nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

. It also contains the largest lake in the country, Lake Murray.

Demographics

The population of the district in the 2011 census was 79,349. The most Populous LLG in the area at that time was Gogodala, with almost 25,000 people, making Gogodala the most populous LLG in the province.

Politics

The political seat of the district is

. Balimo is situated slightly north of the Fly River, and is an inland settlement of about 4000 people.

Climate

The district is situated on a plain. The plain is a very humid environment, and has a stable tropical temperature of 27 to 32 degrees Celsius. Humid conditions and wetlands are responsible for a major

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

concern.

Geography

The district covers the central area of the Western Province. It shares a Provincial border with

Southern Highlands Province Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea's national 2021 census, the total population of Southern Highlands province is 927,306. History Separation of H ...

and

Gulf Province Gulf Province is a province of Papua New Guinea located on the southern coast. The provincial capital is Kerema. The 34,472 km2 province is dominated by mountains, lowland river deltas, and grassland flood plains. In Gulf Province, the Kiko ...

in the east. It shares an international boundary with the Papua province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in the west and borders

South Fly District South Fly District is a district of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Daru Daru is the capital of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and a former Catholic bishopric. Daru town falls under the jurisdiction of Dar ...

in the south, and the

North Fly District The North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea is the northernmost, smallest, and arguably the most remote of the three districts of the province. It contains the Local-Level Government (LLG) areas of Kiunga Rural, Kiunga Urb ...

in the north.

Economy

The Middle Fly District is one of the most underdeveloped economies in the world. The major mining economy of the North Fly has not benefited the residents of the Middle Fly District until recently with the establishment of the PNG Sustainable Development Program which now owns the

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

share of the

Ok Tedi Mine The Ok Tedi Mine is an Open pit mine, open-pit copper mine, copper and gold mine Mining in Papua New Guinea, in Papua New Guinea located near the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River, in the Star Mountains Rural LLG of the North Fly District of the ...

. Residents of this district have previously been involved in

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

against BHP for its environmental impact on their

subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing and shelter) rather than to the market. Definition "Subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself and family at a minimum level. Basic subsiste ...

lifestyle.

References