There are about and there were no surveys done, so who knows? About two million estimated people on the island at this point. They speak between 700 and a thousand different lan uages. A giant chunk of the entire globe's language diversity comes from new guinea. It makes the allied and japanese armies look a little like one part john wayn in a war film, combined with one part pith helmet wearing great white explorer.
Can suicidal bravery and fanatical determination make up for material, industrial and numerical insufficiency? As the Asia-Pacific conflict turns against the Japanese these questions are put to the test. The results are nightmarish.