Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
President : Ollanta Humala
Population
584,578
29,549,517
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
72.730 years
Capital City
Lima
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Lima (population: 7,737,000)
Human Development Index
0.591
0.788
GDP per capita
$10,200 US
Literacy Rate
%
87.7%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
3.6
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
29.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
7.900%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished except for special circumstances
Political System
parliamentary democracy
constitutional republic
Independence date
28 July 1821 (from Spain)
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)
Roman Catholic 81%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.4%, other Christian 0.7%, other 0.6%, unspecified or none 16.3% (2003 est.)
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
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages
