Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
Population
7,590,758
6,310,129
Life Expectancy
81.070 years
66.460 years
Capital City
Jerusalem
Port Moresby
Largest city
Jerusalem (population: 714,000)
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Human Development Index
0.93
0.516
GDP per capita
$31,400 US
$2,600 US
Literacy Rate
97.1%
57.3%
Corruption Perception Index
6
2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
14.2%
0.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
Sammy Ofer & family ($4.0bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
5.600%
1.900%
Death Penalty
Abolished except for special circumstances
Abolished in practice
Political System
parliamentary democracy
constitutional parliamentary democracy
Independence date
14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
Religions
Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004)
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
Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language
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
machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel
