Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
President: Alexander Lukashenko
Population
6,310,129
9,643,566
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
71.480 years
Capital City
Port Moresby
Minsk
Largest city
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Minsk (population: 1,742,120)
Human Development Index
0.516
0.817
GDP per capita
$2,600 US
$15,200 US
Literacy Rate
57.3%
99.6%
Corruption Perception Index
2
2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0.9%
32.5%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
1.900%
1.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Legal
Political System
constitutional parliamentary democracy
republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Independence date
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
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)
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
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)
