Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General Prime minister: Denzil Douglas
Population
6,310,129
50,726
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
74.840 years
Capital City
Port Moresby
Largest city
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Basseterre (population: 12,920)
Human Development Index
0.516
0.83
GDP per capita
$2,600 US
Literacy Rate
57.3%
97.8%
Corruption Perception Index
2
NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0.9%
6.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
1.900%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Legal
Political System
constitutional parliamentary democracy
parliamentary democracy
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)
Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic
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)
