colony · North America and Oceania

Territory of New Guinea

1920 CE – 1949 CE · capital Rabaul; later Lae

The former German New Guinea, governed by Australia under a League of Nations mandate, where the 1930s brought gold rushes and first contact with the Highlands.

Origins

An Australian force captured German New Guinea in 1914 and held it under military rule. In 1920 the League of Nations granted Australia a mandate over the territory, covering northeastern New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville, and civil government began in 1921 with Rabaul as capital.

Rule and society

German plantations were expropriated and sold to Australian ex-servicemen. Gold strikes at Edie Creek and Bulolo from 1926 led to dredges being flown in by aircraft, making New Guinea a pioneer of air freight. In 1933 the Leahy brothers and patrol officer Jim Taylor entered the densely populated Highlands, unknown to outsiders. Volcanic eruptions in 1937 led to plans to move the capital to Lae.

Decline and legacy

Japan seized Rabaul in January 1942 and made it its major base in the South Pacific. Civil administration was suspended until 1945, and in 1949 the territory, now a UN trust territory, was joined with Papua as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

Lineage

German New Guinea 1884 CE – 1914 CETerritory of New GuineaTerritory of Papua and New Guinea 1949 CE – 1975 CE

Connections (2)

Territory of New Guinea was a colony of Commonwealth of Australia1920 CE – 1949 CE
Territory of New Guinea was conquered by Empire of Japan1942 CE – 1945 CE

More states of North America and Oceania →

Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Territory of New Guinea. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/territory-of-new-guinea
MLA: “Territory of New Guinea.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/territory-of-new-guinea. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Territory of New Guinea.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/territory-of-new-guinea.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Territory of New Guinea’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/territory-of-new-guinea (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻