Irrigation in Southern and Eastern Asia in figures – AQUASTAT Survey – 2011: Papua New Guinea

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Water Quality and Sanitation

Geologically, Papua New Guinea is a young country. The presence of high mountain ranges and abundant rainfall leads to high runoff over most of the country. There are nine hydrological drainage divisions (basins). The largest river basins are the Sepik, Fly, Purari and Markham. Even though the Sepik has the lowest annual discharge, it has the
largest catchment area, 78 000 km2, followed by the Fly River with 61 000 km2, Purari with 33 670 km2, and Markham with 12 000 km2. The other catchments are less than 5 000 km2 in area and very steep.