Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
President: Denis Sassou Nguesso
Population
584,578
4,366,266
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
55.270 years
Capital City
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Brazzaville (population: 1,284,610)
Human Development Index
0.591
NA
GDP per capita
Literacy Rate
%
83.8%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
1.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
NA
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
parliamentary democracy
republic
Independence date
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Christian 50%, animist 48%, Muslim 2%
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)
Exports
External Debt
Exchange Rate
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon
Area
28,896 km sq
342,000 km sq
Coastline
5,313 km
169 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October); persistent high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator
