Goroka, town, east-central Papua New Guinea, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Goroka is a centre of European settlement in the central highlands and a commercial and transportation hub for the region. It has an airport and also lies on the Highlands Highway, an important truck route leading 110 miles (180 km) east to Kainantu and Aiyura and eventually reaching the coast at Lae on the Solomon Sea. Coffee, passion fruit, vegetables, timber, pigs, and cattle from the vicinity are transported through Goroka, and there is some industry.
Goroka is a resort centre because of its mile-high elevation. The town has a medical research institute, a teachers college, and an animal-husbandry station and is the site of a large biennial agricultural show. The town’s J.K. McCarthy Museum has artifacts and photographs chronicling the history and culture of the surrounding highlands and early European exploration of the area. Pop. (2004 est.) 17,900.