Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is one of the 193 UN member states, in Melanesia. UN Tourism counted 211,000 international arrivals there in 2019, rarer than 87% of the 199 places with figures, so its stamp in Globestamp is printed in Prism.
- International arrivals
- 211,000in 2019, UN Tourism
- Rank by visitors
- 174th of 199most visited first
- Stamp finish
- Prismrarer than 87%
- Area
- 467,140 km² (180,364 sq mi)
- Population
- 8.8 millionNatural Earth estimate
- Provinces
- 20in Globestamp’s regions layer
- Airports
- 37with scheduled flights
- World Heritage Sites
- 1on Globestamp’s list
Does Papua New Guinea count as a country?
Yes. Papua New Guinea is one of the 193 UN member states, so every common list counts it: the UN’s 193, Globestamp’s 250 and the Travelers’ Century Club’s 330.
| List | Counts Papua New Guinea? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | Yes, a member |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes: Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea – Islands Region (Admiralty Islands, Bougainville, New Britain, New Ireland) |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | No |
The Papua New Guinea stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. Papua New Guinea’s is Prism: the full spectrum with glints, the finish for places with 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year. With 211,000 international arrivals in 2019, Papua New Guinea is rarer than 87% of the 199 places with figures. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to Papua New Guinea
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts Papua New Guinea when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Photos only at an airport make a transit stamp in lighter ink, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Places in Papua New Guinea you can collect
Under the country itself, Globestamp keeps layers of places on your globe, and a photo taken at one ticks it. These are the ones it knows in Papua New Guinea, from 1 World Heritage Site to 11 volcanoes.
World Heritage Sites 1
Kuk Swamp (2008). On the bucket list →
Volcanoes 11
Ulawun · Mount Balbi · Baluan Island · Mount Bosavi · Ambitle · Bagabag and 5 more. On the bucket list →
Botanical gardens 1
National Capital Botanical Gardens. On the bucket list →
Largest cities
| City | People (urban area) |
|---|---|
| Port Moresby | 283,733 |
| Lae | 131,052 |
| Madang | 62,023 |
| Mt. Hagen | 59,064 |
Airports
Papua New Guinea has 37 airports with scheduled flights, 2 of them large. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).
20 provinces to fill in
Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits Papua New Guinea into 20 provinces (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.
All 20
Central · Chimbu · East New Britain · East Sepik · Eastern Highlands · Enga · Gulf · Madang · Manus · Milne Bay · Morobe · New Ireland · of Bougainville · Oro · Port Moresby · Sandaun · Southern Highlands · West New Britain · Western · Western Highlands
Questions people ask
Is Papua New Guinea a country?
Yes. Papua New Guinea is one of the 193 UN member states, so every common list counts it: the UN’s 193, Globestamp’s 250 and the Travelers’ Century Club’s 330.
How many tourists visit Papua New Guinea a year?
UN Tourism (via the World Bank) counted 211,000 international arrivals in Papua New Guinea in 2019, the 174th most of the 199 places with figures. Countries count arrivals in different ways (some include day-trippers and cruise passengers), so treat it as a rough rank rather than an exact number of tourists.
How rare is a Papua New Guinea stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Prism, the finish for places with 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year, rarer than 87% of the places with figures. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does Papua New Guinea count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes, and more than once: the Travelers’ Century Club lists Papua New Guinea, and counts Papua New Guinea – Islands Region (Admiralty Islands, Bougainville, New Britain, New Ireland) as separate destination. The club’s list has 330 destinations.
Places as rare as Papua New Guinea
Near Papua New Guinea
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.