New Guinea (also known by other names) is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km². Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago. Geologically it is a part of the same tectonic plate as Australia. When world sea levels were low, the two shared shorelines (which now lie 100 to 140 metres below sea level), combining with lands now inundated into the tectonic continent of Sahul, also known as Greater Australia. The two landmasses became separated when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the end of the last glacial period.

Anthropologically it is considered part of Melanesia.^{[citation needed]} Politically, the western half of the island comprises two Indonesian provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half forms the mainland of the country of Papua New Guinea. New Guinea has a population of about 7.5 million who inhabit a land with a hot humid rainy climate. The constantly dripping rain forests cover a high mountain-dominated interior with features rapidly descending to the sea coast. It has a very low population density of only 8 inh/km².