The provinces of Papua New Guinea are the primary administrative divisions of the country. Provincial governments are branches of the national government– 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...

 is not a federation

Federation

A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

 of province

Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

s. The country has 20 province-level divisions: 18 provinces, one autonomous region (Bougainville

Bougainville Province

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville, previously known as North Solomons, is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island , and the province also includes the island of Buka and assorted outlying islands including the Carterets...

) and the National Capital District.

Parliament has approved the creation of two additional provinces by 2012: Hela Province, which will consist of part of the current Southern Highlands Province, and Jiwaka Province, which will be formed by dividing Western Highlands Province.
Immediately before independence on 16 September 1975, Papua New Guinea was divided into nineteen provinces and the National Capital District.