Melanesia
Video Chat with People from Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is one of the most linguistically diverse places on earth, with hundreds of local languages, so on a video chat you'll usually meet in Tok Pisin or English. Tok Pisin is the everyday common language across most of the country, English is used in business, government and education, and Hiri Motu is heard around Port Moresby and the south. Port Moresby, Lae, the highland towns of Mount Hagen and Goroka, coastal Madang and the islands around Rabaul and Kokopo are all places you could connect with.
Most of the country runs on UTC+10, the same clock as Brisbane, while Bougainville is an hour ahead. That makes PNG evenings late morning in the UK and early evening in Manila or Singapore, so Asia and Australia line up best. Rugby league is a passion, and State of Origin season gets everyone talking. The Goroka and Mount Hagen shows, with their sing-sings and bilas (traditional dress), highland coffee, mumu feasts cooked on hot stones, the Kokoda Track, diving and birds of paradise are all great topics.
Papua New Guinea at a glance
| Flag | ๐ต๐ฌ |
|---|---|
| Official name | Independent State of Papua New Guinea |
| Capital | Port Moresby |
| Region | Oceania ยท Melanesia |
| Official languages | English, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin |
| Currency | Papua New Guinean kina (K, PGK) |
| Calling code | +675 |
| Time zones | Papua New Guinea Time (Pacific/Port_Moresby); Bougainville Time (Pacific/Bougainville) |
How to say hello
A friendly local greeting makes a great first impression.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tok Pisin | Gude! Yu stap gut? | GOO-deh, yoo stahp goot | Hello! Are you doing well? |
| Tok Pisin | Apinun! | ah-pee-NOON | Good afternoon! |
| Tok Pisin | Tenkyu tru! | TEN-kyoo troo | Thank you very much! |
Tips for chatting with people from Papua New Guinea
- If someone answers in Tok Pisin, try it back: "Mi stap gut" (mee stahp goot) means "I'm good," and many words are easier to guess than you'd think.
- Ask which province they're from. The highlands, the coast and the islands have very different food, dress and festivals.
- Rugby league is the surest icebreaker, especially from May to July when State of Origin is on.
- Accents and expressions vary a lot; our tips on understanding English accents help if you're chatting in English.
Only meet people from Papua New Guinea
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Papua New Guinea, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Papua New Guinea and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Papua New Guinea, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Papua New Guinea are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Papua New Guinea borders 1 country. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: