Country
Belize Papua New Guinea
Leader
Population
327,719 6,310,129
Life Expectancy
68.280 years 66.460 years
Capital City
Belmopan Port Moresby
Largest city
Belize City (population: 61,461) Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Human Development Index
0.771 0.516 GDP per capita $8,400 US $2,600 US
Literacy Rate
76.9% 57.3%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9 2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
11.1% 0.9% Wealthiest Citizens Unemployment Rate 13.100% 1.900%
Death Penalty
Legal Abolished in practice
Political System
parliamentary democracy constitutional parliamentary democracy
Independence date
21 September 1981 (from UK) 16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship) Religions Roman Catholic 49.6%, Protestant 27% (Pentecostal 7.4%, Anglican 5.3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 5.2%, Mennonite 4.1%, Methodist 3.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.5%), other 14%, none 9.4% (2000) 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 Spanish 46%, Creole 32.9%, Mayan dialects 8.9%, English 3.9% (official), Garifuna 3.4% (Carib), German 3.3%, other 1.4%, unknown 0.2% (2000 census) 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) Exports sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish, prawns External Debt $1,079,000,000 $ $5,296,000,000 US Exchange Rate Belizean dollars (BZD) per US dollar - 2 (2008 est.), 2 (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004) kina (PGK) per US dollar - 2.6956 (2008 est.), 3.03 (2007), 3.0643 (2006), 3.08 (2005), 3.2225 (2004) Military Budget as percentage of GDP 1.400% 1.400% Beijing Olympics Medal Count Location Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Mexico Oceania, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia Area 22,966 km sq 462,840 km sq Coastline 386 km 5,152 km Climate tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May) tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation
