Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. Prime minister : Peter O'Neill
President: Michael Sata
Population
6,310,129
13,817,479
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
52.570 years
Capital City
Port Moresby
Lusaka
Largest city
Port Moresby (population: 283,733)
Lusaka (population: 1,267,440)
Human Development Index
0.516
0.453
GDP per capita
$2,600 US
$1,600 US
Literacy Rate
57.3%
80.6%
Corruption Perception Index
2
2.8
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0.9%
15.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
1.900%
14.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Abolished in practice
Political System
constitutional parliamentary democracy
republic
Independence date
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
24 October 1964 (from UK)
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)
Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%
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)
English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
