How this list was compiled: Items made on 2026-10-01. THE DRAWING IS DATED: it has 20 units (18 provinces, the National Capital District and Bougainville), and Papua New Guinea has 22 since Hela was split from Southern Highlands and Jiwaka from Western Highlands on 17 May 2012. The page numbers and asks the 16 provinces that are drawn as they are today and Bougainville; the two old shapes (Southern Highlands with Hela, Western Highlands with Jiwaka) are drawn and are not in this file, so they carry no number and no name; the National Capital District, a shape too small to tap whose mark needs a ring, is left out of this file too, because the sheet opens on the plain outline. The points of eight provinces (Central, East New Britain, East Sepik, Eastern Highlands, Enga, Gulf, Morobe, Northern) were moved inside their shapes, away from the middle the points file gives, so that the names written on the map do not run into each other. Chimbu keeps the points file's point, the one place where its number mark (12.4 units) lies wholly inside the shape, 13.9 units from its border; Eastern Highlands' point is 18 units inside its border, lower in the shape than the points file gives, so that its name stands clear of Chimbu's. The label quiz's name-fit rule cannot be met for Eastern Highlands with both marks inside their shapes: its name is written when it is asked or answered and is left out of the whole-map Study view. Every other point is at least 11 units inside its border, except on Manus, a narrow island, where the point is 7 units inside and the mark overhangs the sea. Today's 22 units and their names, read on 2026-10-01: the National Statistical Office of Papua New Guinea (https://www.nso.gov.pg/statistics/population/, population by province, 2024 census: 22 rows) and ISO 3166-2:PG as Wikipedia prints it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-2:PG: 20 provinces, one district, one autonomous region); the split of 2012 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Papua_New_Guinea. Labels follow those lists (Northern, West Sepik, Chimbu, Bougainville); Oro, Sandaun, Simbu and North Solomons are accepted. Which shapes are today's was measured on 2026-10-01 (areas on the sphere from the source file against the areas in the Wikipedia table): every drawn shape is within 4.2 percent of the published area except Enga, which the source draws 8.9 percent larger though its border did not change in 2012, and the two old shapes equal today's province plus the one split from it (Southern Highlands with Hela within 0.5 percent, Western Highlands with Jiwaka within 3.2 percent). Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Layers that cannot be tapped from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_rivers_lake_centerlines (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_rivers_lake_centerlines.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 6.7°S 148.3°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This blank map of Papua New Guinea opens on the plain outline of the country. Switch Rivers on for the Sepik and the Fly, or Borders on for the provinces as they were before 2012, without Hela and Jiwaka.
Read the full guide
Outline first
The sheet opens with nothing inside the outline. Press Print this map for a sheet to mark Port Moresby, towns or mountains on. Rivers adds the Sepik in the north and the Fly in the southwest, and Borders adds the lines between the provinces.
Why 17 shapes have numbers
The borders are those of before May 2012, when Hela was split from Southern Highlands and Jiwaka from Western Highlands. Those two shapes stay unlabeled. Numbered and Named label the 16 provinces drawn as they are today, and Bougainville.
The islands north and east of the mainland are numbered too: Manus, New Ireland, East and West New Britain, and Bougainville farthest east.
Questions and answers
How many provinces does Papua New Guinea have?
Twenty provinces, plus the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and the National Capital District: 22 units in all. Hela and Jiwaka, the newest, date from May 2012. The map source does not draw them, so this map numbers 17 shapes.
What is the capital of Papua New Guinea?
Port Moresby, on the south coast. It forms the National Capital District, a small area on the coast of Central Province. The map draws the district but it is too small to carry a number.
Which rivers are on the blank map of Papua New Guinea?
The Sepik and the Fly. The Sepik winds across the north of the mainland, and the Fly crosses the lowlands of the southwest. Switch Rivers on to see them.
Which countries are next to Papua New Guinea?
Indonesia shares the land border to the west, on the island of New Guinea. Australia lies to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east, both across the sea. They are drawn lightly on this map, without names.