Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
President: Laura Chinchilla
Population
6,310,129
4,636,348
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
77.890 years
Capital City
Port Moresby
San Jose
Largest city
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
San Jose (population: 335,007)
Human Development Index
0.516
0.847
GDP per capita
$2,600 US
$12,100 US
Literacy Rate
57.3%
94.9%
Corruption Perception Index
2
5.1
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0.9%
36.8%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
1.900%
6.500%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Abolished
Political System
constitutional parliamentary democracy
democratic republic
Independence date
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
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 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2%
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)
