Claim: Papua New Guinea is a country.
Evidence: Papua New Guinea -LRB- PNG ; -LSB- ˈpæpuə_njuː_ˈgɪniː , _ ˈpɑː - , _ - pju - -RSB- , -LSB- ˈpæpjuə , _ pɑːˈpuːə -RSB- Papua Niugini Hiri Motu : Papua Niu Gini -RRB- , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea , is an Oceanian country that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia , a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia.