Misplaced Pages

Central Range

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

The New Guinea Highlands , also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera , is a long chain of mountain ranges on the island of New Guinea , including the island's highest peak, Puncak Jaya , Indonesia , 16,024 ft (4,884 m), the highest mountain in Oceania . The range is home to many intermountain river valleys , many of which support thriving agricultural communities. The highlands run generally east-west the length of the island, which is divided politically between Indonesia in the west and Papua New Guinea in the east. These mountains stretch from the Weyland Mountains starting in Wondama Bay Regency in the west to the Milne Bay Province in the east.

#288711

28-563: Central Range , Central Mountains , or Central Mountain Range may refer to several ranges of mountains, including: Central Range, New Guinea Central Range, Taiwan Central Range, Trinidad and Tobago Central Range, Venezuela See also [ edit ] Central Ranges Central Ranges (wine) Central Ranges xeric scrub Cordillera Central (disambiguation) , Spanish for "Central Range" [REDACTED] Topics referred to by

56-521: A cuscus possum, an antechinus , and Doria's tree-kangaroo ( Dendrolagus dorianus ). Four of these are endemic: the small marsupial black-tailed antechinus ( Murexechinus melanurus ), western shrew mouse , glacier rat , and alpine woolly rat . There are nearly 100 birds of which 28 are considered endemic or nearly so, including the vulnerable long-bearded honeyeater ( Melionyx princeps ), ribbon-tailed astrapia ( Astrapia mayeri ), and Macgregor's giant honeyeater , which although endangered generally

84-558: A large Leptomys , the eastern shrew mouse , and the lesser small-toothed rat . There are 55 bird species endemic to the mountains from a total of 348 birds found here. There are several endemic butterflies, particularly in the Weyland Mountains and the Wahgi Valley. Apart from the cultivated valleys, the montane forests are largely intact, although the logging industry is a constant threat as more and more access to

112-537: Is a cultural icon of the Ketengban people of the Star Mountains and therefore protected in some areas. Almost half of these remote grasslands are protected in national parks and they are in good condition although in recent times more people are accessing the highlands as visitors or through involvement in mining. There are several protected areas in the highlands. They include: Wabag Wabag

140-928: Is administered under Wabag Urban LLG . A regional outpost of the Western Highlands District under the Australian Administration of Papua and New Guinea, shortly before Independence in 1975 much of the Enga-speaking region of the Western Highlands was separated into a discrete District and then, at Independence, Province with Wabag as the Provincial Headquarters. There is a dense rural population and coffee and pyrethrum are widely grown in food gardens as cash crops though depredations during tribal fights and difficulties in marketing have inhibited

168-554: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages New Guinea Highlands The Central Cordillera, some peaks of which are capped with ice , consists of (from east to west): the Central Highlands and Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea including the Owen Stanley Range in the southeast, whose highest peak is Mount Victoria at 4,038 metres (13,248 feet),

196-563: Is the capital of Enga Province , Papua New Guinea . It is the least populous provincial capital in the country. It is on the Lai River; the Highlands Highway passes through the town, between Mount Hagen and Porgera . Europeans first visited the site in 1938-39 A radio camp and airstrip were established in 1938-39 but restrictions on transportation and the surrounding land's infertility long inhibited Wabag's development. It

224-571: The Australian Plate collides with the plates to the northeast, marking the southern boundaries of the Maoke and Woodlark plates. The width of the mountain range varies considerably, with a central thin segment near the borders of the two nations. The surface geology of the highlands is made up of metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks. The metamorphic rocks were Cretaceous and Eocene ocean sediments that were uplifted and folded between

252-609: The Waghi Valley in the Western Highlands , Papua New Guinea are heavily cultivated and support urban settlements most of the mountains have traditional tribal village communities in the grassy mountain valleys. The PNG highland provinces are Eastern Highlands Province ; Simbu Province (or Chimbu) whose centre is the small coffee-growing town of Kundiawa on the Wahgi River near Mount Wilhelm; Jiwaka Province ;

280-666: The Western Highlands ; the rugged Enga Province the home of the Enga people with its administration in the very small town of Wabag on the Lai River , and containing the large Porgera Gold Mine ; Hela Province ; Southern Highlands Province , with its centre in the small town and airport of Mendi , and containing the Huli wigmen area around the town of Tari ; and parts of West Sepik Province and Western Province . The Highlands Highway connects many of these towns. Larger urban areas in

308-531: The 90 mammals found on the island, 44 are endemic, a very high proportion. The birds and animals include many Australasian species such as tree-kangaroos , bowerbirds , Australasian robins , honeyeaters , and birds of paradise. Four of the endemic mammals are critically endangered: the Bulmer's fruit bat , with only tiny communities remaining in the Papua New Guinea end of the island, and three rodents;

SECTION 10

#1732764688289

336-1132: The Albert Victor Mountains, the Sir Arthur Gordon Range, and the Bismarck Range , whose highest peak is Mount Wilhelm at 4,509 metres (14,793 feet), which is an extinct volcano with a crater lake; the Star Mountains on the Papua New Guinea – Indonesia border; and the Maoke Mountains or Snow Range in Indonesia, where perpetual snow was found by H. A. Lorentz in 1909 at 4,461 m (14,635 ft), and whose highest peaks are Puncak Jaya (Mt. Carstensz) at 4,884 m (16,024 feet), Puncak Mandala (Mt. Juliana) at 4,760 m (15,610 ft) and Puncak Trikora (Mt. Wilhelmina) at 4,750 m (15,580 ft). Although some valleys such as

364-517: The Australian mainland. The culture of inter-tribal warfare and animosity between the neighboring tribes have long been present in the Highlands. The New Guinea Highlands are home to a great variety of Australasian plant and animal communities, distinct from the surrounding lowlands to the north and south of the central ranges and varying up and along the mountain ranges. The habitats of

392-557: The Eocene and early Miocene periods. There are also Pleistocene stratovolcanoes in the highlands, including Mount Hagen and Mount Giluwe . The fertile Highlands have long been inhabited and artifacts uncovered in the Ivane Valley indicate that the Highlands were first settled about 50,000 years ago. The inhabitants were nomadic foragers but around 10,000 years ago began developing a fairly advanced agricultural society. Before

420-877: The Indonesian border including Telefomin and Strickland Gorge ; the Hunstein Range ; Mount Giluwe , a major birdwatching area for birds-of-paradise ; the volcanic limestone Kubor Range ; the Bismarck Range/Mount Wilhelm/ Schrader Range /Mount Gahavisuka , of which Mount Wilhelm is particularly rich in endemic species; and finally the Crater Mountain and Mount Michael in the Eastern Highlands. The montane rain forests (from 1,000 to 3,000m) can be further categorised into three broad vegetation zones on

448-488: The PNG Highlands include the Western Highlands capital and PNG's 3rd largest city Mount Hagen (near the extinct Mount Hagen (volcano) ), the Eastern Highlands capital and former colonial town of Goroka , and the mining town of Tabubil . The climate is humid as you would expect of the tropical rainforested island of New Guinea, but the higher mountain slopes are of course cooler than the lowlands. The Highlands are

476-601: The Wahgi Valley and Mount Hagen , and Richard Archbold in the 1930s. It was found that the highland valleys explored in the 1930s were inhabited by over a million people. During World War II , the eastern highlands saw the Kokoda Track campaign in which Australian and New Zealand soldiers, along with native guides who were pressed into service, fought and ultimately stopped the Japanese from advancing south towards Port Moresby and, ultimately, northern Queensland on

504-561: The development of a significant commercial agriculture sector and in any case it is Mount Hagen, not Wabag, that is the commercial metropole. Law and order problems, considerable violent crime and chronic house break-ins have continued to compromise the amenity of town life. A fine public library established by the Australian administration immediately before Independence in 1975 is long since dispersed, book pages being desirable for rolling cigarettes and reading books not having taken hold. The Enga Provincial Government buildings have been burned to

532-485: The ground more than once. The original airstrip is closed but Air Niugini run regular flights to Port Moresby from Wapenamanda Airport about 40 minutes away by road. Under the Köppen climate classification Wabag has a wet subtropical highland climate ( Cfb ). Temperatures are very consistent year round, with warm days and cool nights. Precipitation is very heavy year round in the form of rain, with June and July being

560-450: The high mountain forest extends from 2,500 to 3,000 metres in elevation. Conifers ( Podocarpus , Dacrycarpus , Dacrydium , Papuacedrus , Araucaria , and Libocedrus ) and broadleaf trees of the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae ) form a thin canopy, with a prominent understory. The montane forests are home to a rich wildlife, a great deal of which is unique to these mountains including many plants, reptiles, and over 100 birds and animals. Of

588-556: The introduction of the sweet potato , the Highlands had distinct forms of division of labor . In the Eastern Highlands the economy was mixed, with men hunting and cultivating, and women gathering and tending crops. Populations were small, dispersed, and focused on immediate consumption. In the Western Highlands , women were focused on producing large amounts of taro , while men abandoned hunting and were instead focused on animal husbandry and trading. The introduction of

SECTION 20

#1732764688289

616-450: The mountains have been separated into two ecoregions , depending on their elevation, the tropical montane forests and alpine grasslands, but within these broad bands there is a variety of wildlife along the island as some of the mountains stand quite a distance from others with some species of plant or animal existing on only one or two mountains. Particular centres of plant diversity are the Star Mountains area of western Papua New Guinea near

644-671: The mountains is achieved by road building. 20% of this ecoregion is contained within protected areas, mostly in the Indonesian half of the island, including the largest protected area in Southeast Asia , the huge Lorentz National Park in the highlands, a section of which is a montane forest ecosystem. Above 3,000 metres elevation, the high mountain forest transitions to remote sub-alpine habitats including alpine meadows, conifer forest, tree-fern ( Cyathea ) grasslands, bogs, and shrubby heaths of Rhododendron , Vaccinium , Coprosma , Rapanea , and Saurauia all quite different from

672-438: The mountains, distinguished by elevation. The lower montane forests extend from 1,000 to 1,500 metres elevation. They are dominated by broadleaf evergreen trees, including Castanopsis acuminatissima , Lithocarpus spp., elaeocarps , and laurels . Coniferous Araucarias may form thick stands. The upper montane forests, which extend from 1,500 to 2,500 metres in elevation, are dominated by moss-covered Nothofagus . Finally,

700-431: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Central_Range&oldid=1057223912 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

728-705: The source of several important rivers including the Sepik River and Ramu River in the north and the Fly River in the south, and lakes including Lake Kutubu , near which oil has been extracted since 1992 by Chevron . Mining is also very active in the region to the detriment of indigenous groups, with frequent friction. List of highest peaks in New Guinea Highlands by elevation. List of rivers in New Guinea Highlands by length. This chain of mountains continues to rise (with corresponding quakes) as

756-573: The sweet potato had a significant impact on animal husbandry in the area. As it could be used as pig fodder without the need for cooking, societies that adopted this new staple food were able to rapidly amass pigs. These pigs were then traded with surrounding societies, becoming the centerpiece of early economies in the area. The Highlands were not settled by the Western powers during the early colonial period and they were first visited by western zoologists and explorers, such as Mick Leahy , who opened

784-432: The tropical rain forest that covers most of New Guinea. The alpine habitat above 4,000 metres consists of compact rosette plants and cushion herbs, such as Ranunculus , Potentilla , Gentiana , and Epilobium , grasses ( Poa and Deschampsia ), bryophytes , and lichens . While there are several endemic plants there are few animals on the higher slopes, with only nine mammals found here: four rodents, two bats,

#288711