2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum
Okay, so imagine you and your friends have a toy that you all really like to play with. But sometimes one of your friends says they want to play with the toy all by themselves, even though everyone agreed to share the toy when you first started playing with it.
That's kind of what's happening in a place called Bougainville. Bougainville is like a big island that belongs to a country called Papua New Guinea. But some people who live on Bougainville want to have their own country instead of being part of Papua New Guinea.
So they're going to have something called a referendum, which is like a special vote where everyone who lives on Bougainville can say whether they want to be their own country or still be part of Papua New Guinea.
It's kind of like when you and your friends have to vote on what game to play next, but in this case it's a really important decision about which country Bougainville belongs to.
That's kind of what's happening in a place called Bougainville. Bougainville is like a big island that belongs to a country called Papua New Guinea. But some people who live on Bougainville want to have their own country instead of being part of Papua New Guinea.
So they're going to have something called a referendum, which is like a special vote where everyone who lives on Bougainville can say whether they want to be their own country or still be part of Papua New Guinea.
It's kind of like when you and your friends have to vote on what game to play next, but in this case it's a really important decision about which country Bougainville belongs to.