Kerowagi District Explained

Kerowagi District
Pushpin Map:Papua New Guinea
Coordinates:-6.2167°N 189°W
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Papua New Guinea
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Papua New Guinea
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Chimbu Province
Parts Type:LLGs
Parts Style:list
P1:Gena-Waugla Rural LLG
P2:Kerowagi Rural LLG
P3:Kup Rural LLG
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Kerowagi
Area Total Km2:547
Population Total:93107
Population As Of:2011 census
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics1 Title1:Main languages
Timezone1:AEST
Utc Offset1:+10

Kerowagi District is one of six districts of the Simbu Province in Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Kerowagi and the district has three Local Level Government (LLG) areas: Gena-Waugla Rural, Kerowagi Rural, and Kup Rural.

Kerowagi is located geographically towards the western part of the province and shares common administrative, political, economic and geographic features with Western Highlands Province. It is in the famous Waghi Valley, with Digine-Kubor Range to the south and Drekore Range to the north. It is regarded as one of the fertile valleys where cash crops are grown in abundance. The native people speak the Kuman language, which is their original dialect. The original tribes of the Kerowagi district are Siambugla-Waugla, Kombuku, Gena, Bandi, Kumai, Endugla No. 2, Bindeku, Graiku, Siglku, Kamaneku, Paglau and Dagle.

There are two secondary schools, Kondiu Rosary and Kerowagi, with many "top up" primary schools acting as feeder schools. Most locals are either self-employed or engaged in small scale economic activity. The district has some of the province's best road networks. One of the roads was sealed in 2004. Of all the districts in Simbu Province, Kerowagi is said to be developing at a much faster rate then the others. This is basically due to the fertility of the valley and its access to infrastructure, improved and established road networks, and mindset of the people and community. Most of the locals are coffee growers and work their own smallholder blocks. The coffee season starts from as early as March to end of June and this period is normally referred to as six-mun. The local people are benefiting from recent increases in the world price of coffee. Apart from coffee, they are also engaged in producing spices and other market produce for local consumers. The biggest health clinic in the district is St. Joseph Mingende Rural Hospital. Its status was changed from health centre to rural hospital in 2000, with a full-time medical doctor.