Olsobip is a station town in the north of the Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

n Western province

Western Province (Papua New Guinea)

Western Province is a coastal province in southwestern Papua New Guinea, bordering the Indonesian province of Papua. The provincial capital is Daru, on the island of Daru. The largest town in the province is Tabubil...

, located on the Upper Fly River. It is the seat of the Olsobip Rural LLG

Olsobip Rural LLG

The Olsobip Rural LLG is a local level government situated in the North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. In the year 2000, the LLG was the least populous of the district, with a population of only 3851 people. The capital of the LLG is a station town by the name of Olsobip....

. It has a rural airport (OLQ) but, set in a rich forest, it is unaccessable by road. As a result of its isolation, accurate census data is difficult to obtain from Olsobip.

History

Baptist missionaries were active in Olsobip, establishing the Olsobip Patrol Post.
The people of Olsobip belong to the Mountain-Ok culture area which is located in the Western range of Papua New Guinea. This cultural group are noted for their crafts, particularly handdrums which they trade.

Geography and climate

Olsobip is one of the northernmost stations in the province. It lies along the Upper Fly River in an isolated mountainous areas known as the Star Mountains

Star Mountains

The Star Mountains are a mountain range in western Papua New Guinea, stretching from the border with Indonesia, at about to the Hindenburg Range...

. Although no official scientific weather station has ever been established in the area it is known to be extremely wet and has been claimed to be one of the wettest places on earth with a rainfall in excess of 10m a year. The villagers are known to have patches of land for growing vegetables.

Transport

Olosbip is a highly inaccessible settlement. Although located along the Upper Fly River, it is not easily accessible by river and is not connected by road. The small airstrip, Olsobip Airport, was built in 1964/5 by local labourers.