NA

Total renewable water resources:

801 cu km (1987)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.1 cu km/yr (56%/43%/1%) per capita: 17 cu m/yr (1987)

Natural hazards:

active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis

Environment - current issues:

rain forest subject to deforestation as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution from mining projects; severe drought

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast

People
Papua New Guinea

Population:

5,931,769 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 37.3% (male 1,124,174/female 1,086,478) 15-64 years: 58.7% (male 1,791,342/female 1,690,089) 65 years and over: 4% (male 111,023/female 128,663) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 21.5 years male: 21.6 years female: 21.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.118% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

28.14 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 46.67 deaths/1,000 live births male: 50.68 deaths/1,000 live births female: 42.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 66 years male: 63.76 years female: 68.35 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

3.71 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.6% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

60,000 (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

600 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Papua New Guinean(s) adjective: Papua New Guinean

Ethnic groups:

Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian

Religions:

Roman Catholic 27%, Evangelical Lutheran 19.5%, United Church 11.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10%, Pentecostal 8.6%, Evangelical Alliance 5.2%, Anglican 3.2%, Baptist 2.5%, other Protestant 8.9%, Bahai 0.3%, indigenous beliefs and other 3.3% (2000 census)

Languages:

Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2%, Motu spoken in Papua region note: 820 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world's total)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 57.3% male: 63.4% female: 50.9% (2000 census)

Education expenditures: