In 1848, unable to establish a land base the Dutch, British, and German governments declared unoccupied ownership of New Guinea. The first trading and administrative posts were established fifty years later and by time of the first ever successful hostile landing in 1945 by the Japanese military the British had transfered responsibilty for eastern New Guinea to Australia and Holland had responsibility for western New Guinea. During World War II the Papuans gave vital assistance to the Allies by carring equipment and injured men across New Guinea. In 1957 Australia and the Netherlands begun plans for independance of an united New Guinea by the 1970s.
In 1961 a West Papuan Congress was held and a parliament or Niew Guinea Raad was established. Indonesia then invaded and later started the first of several racial cleansing operations to remove Papuans from areas which Indonesian settlers wish to occupy. To date an estimated 300,000 of the original 700,000 Papuans have died and approximately 800,000 Indonesians have moved into Irian Jaya (western New Guinea). Their national flag is called the morning star and consists of a white star on a red field with blue and white horizontal stripes away from the flag pole; under Indonesian occupation it is punishable by execution to raise or be found with the national flag.
Eastern New Guinea in 1975 became the independant state of Papua New Guinea. The PNG flag has a yellow bird of paradise on a red diagonal field above the southern cross stars on a black field next to the flag pole.
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