Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
President: Joseph Kabila
Population
6,310,129
73,599,190
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
55.740 years
Capital City
Port Moresby
Largest city
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Kinshasa (population: 7,785,960)
Human Development Index
0.516
0.361
GDP per capita
$2,600 US
Literacy Rate
57.3%
67.2%
Corruption Perception Index
2
1.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0.9%
7.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
1.900%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
NA
Political System
constitutional parliamentary democracy
republic
Independence date
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
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)
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other (includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs) 10%
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)
French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
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%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
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
Central Africa, northeast of Angola
Area
462,840 km sq
2,344,858 km sq
Coastline
5,152 km
37 km
Climate
tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation
tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season (April to October), dry season (December to February); south of Equator - wet season (November to March), dry season (April to October)
