The Kina is the official currency of Papua New Guinea. It is divided in a hundred toea. The Kina was issued on 19 April 1975, replacing the Australian Dollar. The term Kina comes from the Tolai area of Kuanua and refers to a precious pearl shell widely used in the area for buying and selling.
Economy
Over 75% of the nation's inhabitants are completely reliant on a subsistence economy.
Vast amounts of mineral resources (oil, copper, and gold) can be found in Papua New Guinea, making up nearly 3/4 of exports. Coffee, cocoa, tea, and palm oil are also major exports.
Papua New Guinea faces numerous challenges that prevent high economic growth, including its rugged terrain, high infrastucture development costs, law and order issues, and a poor system of land title.
Papua New Guinea’s economy is highly dependent imports for manufactured materials.
History
In 1975, a 1 Kina coin was introduced - spherical with a hole in the centre. This designation was gotten smaller since 2006 while its larger predecessor was removed from circulation in December, 2008.
Large denomination bills were introduced starting in 1977 with the 20 kina note. In 1990, a 50 kina banknote was inroduced, and in 2005 they launched the 100 kina note.
In 1980, 50 toea coins were introduced, though they were intended for commemorative means and were not consistent in design.
In 2008, a new, bimetallic, 2 kina coin was introduced to replace the two kina note.
