Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Languages
French (official); note - each ethnic group has its own language
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Exports
External Debt
Exchange Rate
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Area
245,857 km sq
28,896 km sq
Coastline
320 km
5,313 km
Climate
generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
