新奇事件簿 布干维尔独立公投（在线收听）

The process is under way for the possible introduction of a new member to the global family of nations. The people of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea have voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum. The vote was held on the island between the 23rd of November and the 7th of December. The vote was a non-binding referendum, which means the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government does not have to pass it into law. However, PNG gave the vote its full consent and should now consider acting on the result of the vote. Voters had two options - greater autonomy or full independence. Over 181,000 people cast their ballot and nearly 98 per cent of them voted in favour of independence.

全球国际大家庭可能要加入一名新成员，该程序正在进行。巴布亚新几内亚的布干维尔人民在全民公投中以压倒性投票赞成独立。投票于11月23日至12月7日在岛上举行。这次投票是一次没有约束力的公民投票，这意味着巴布亚新几内亚（PNG）政府不必将其通过成为法律。但PNG完全同意该投票，且现在应该考虑根据表决结果采取行动。选民有两个选择——更大的自主权或完全独立。超过18.1万人投了票，其中近98%的人投票赞成独立。

Bougainville is the largest island of the PNG chain of islands. It is geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago and used to be known as the Republic of North Solomons. It has a population of around 250,000 people. Bougainvilleans started a fight to achieve their independence in the 1960s. This was a decade before Papua New Guinea was granted independence in 1975. Bougainville was declared part of PNG in 1976. This sparked the Bougainville Civil War between 1988–1998. Over 20,000 people lost their lives in that conflict. The Prime Minister of PNG said: "I ask for some time for the people of PNG to absorb and process this result." He said his government was committed to adhering to the poll's result.

布干维尔是巴布亚新几内亚群岛中最大的岛屿。它在地理上是所罗门群岛的一部分，曾被称为北所罗门共和国。其人口约为25万。在20世纪60年代，布干维尔人开始了争取独立的斗争。那是在巴布亚新几内亚1975年获得独立前的10年。1976年，布干维尔被宣布为巴布亚新几内亚的一部分。这引发了1988-1998年间的布干维尔内战。在那场战争中，超过2万人失去了生命。PNG总理表示：“我请求PNG的人们花些时间来消化和接受这个结果。”他称他的政府致力于坚持投票结果。