Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
President: Bronislaw Komorowski
Population
6,310,129
38,415,284
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
76.250 years
Capital City
Port Moresby
Warsaw
Largest city
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Warsaw (population: 1,702,140)
Human Development Index
0.516
0.875
GDP per capita
$2,600 US
$20,600 US
Literacy Rate
57.3%
99.8%
Corruption Perception Index
2
4.6
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0.9%
18%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Zygmunt Solorz-Zak ($1.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
1.900%
12.400%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Abolished
Political System
constitutional parliamentary democracy
republic
Independence date
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed)
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 89.8% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other 0.3%, unspecified 8.3% (2002)
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)
Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census)
machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003)
External Debt
$5,296,000,000 $
$320,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
kina (PGK) per US dollar - 2.6956 (2008 est.), 3.03 (2007), 3.0643 (2006), 3.08 (2005), 3.2225 (2004)
zlotych (PLN) per US dollar - 2.3 (2008 est.), 2.81 (2007), 3.1032 (2006), 3.2355 (2005), 3.6576 (2004) note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.400%
1.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
10
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 Europe, east of Germany
Area
462,840 km sq
312,685 km sq
Coastline
5,152 km
440 km
Climate
tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation
temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers
