New Guinea is a large tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, north of Australia.
It is the world's second largest island, boasting an area of about 316,000 square miles, or 818,000 square kilometers. Only the island of Greenland is larger. The island is divided into two political units called Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is one of the world's last great frontiers. Its raw landscape runs the gamut from swamps and tropical rain forests to rugged mountains with limestone peaks.