Sandaun

Sandaun Province is a province of Papua New Guinea located in the country’s northwestern corner. It stretches along the northern coast and shares a western land border with Indonesia. The provincial capital is Vanimo, a coastal town near the border.

Geography and environment: The landscape ranges from low coastal plains to inland highlands and rainforest. The Sepik River basin influences parts of the province, and its waterways support fishing and transport in rural areas. The climate is tropical with a pronounced wet season.

Administration and people: Sandaun is divided into several districts and local-level governments and is ethnically diverse, with many language groups. Tok Pisin and English are widely used in education and government, while hundreds of indigenous languages are spoken at the village level.

Economy and transport: The economy is largely rural and subsistence-based, with some commercial logging and coastal fishing. Agriculture includes cash crops such as cocoa and copra, along with vegetables and fruit. Infrastructure is limited, and transport relies on a network of roads, air links through Vanimo Airport, and a border crossing at Wutung.

History: The province was formerly known as West Sepik Province and was renamed Sandaun in the early 2000s to reflect local language usage for the western region.