Bulgaria (2001) | Papua New Guinea (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofiya, Sofiya-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol | 20 provinces; Bougainville, Central, Chimbu, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, East Sepik, Enga, Gulf, Madang, Manus, Milne Bay, Morobe, National Capital, New Ireland, Northern, Sandaun, Southern Highlands, Western, Western Highlands, West New Britain |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
15.11% (male 597,765; female 567,030) 15-64 years: 68.17% (male 2,588,805; female 2,665,736) 65 years and over: 16.72% (male 543,665; female 744,494) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 37.6% (male 1,107,568/female 1,070,594)
15-64 years: 58.5% (male 1,745,385/female 1,643,830) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 106,487/female 122,023) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables, fruits, tobacco, livestock, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets | coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, vanilla; shell fish, poultry, pork |
Airports | 215 (2000 est.) | 578 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
128 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 92 (2000 est.) |
total: 21
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
87 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 75 (2000 est.) |
total: 557
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 58 under 914 m: 489 (2007) |
Area | total:
110,910 sq km land: 110,550 sq km water: 360 sq km |
total: 462,840 sq km
land: 452,860 sq km water: 9,980 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Tennessee | slightly larger than California |
Background | Bulgaria earned its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multi-party election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which it began accession negotiations in 2000. | The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997 after claiming some 20,000 lives. |
Birth rate | 8.06 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 28.76 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$4.85 billion expenditures: $4.92 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $2.209 billion
expenditures: $1.994 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Sofia | name: Port Moresby
geographic coordinates: 9 30 S, 147 10 E time difference: UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers | tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 354 km | 5,152 km |
Constitution | adopted 12 July 1991 | 16 September 1975 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Bulgaria conventional short form: Bulgaria |
conventional long form: Independent State of Papua New Guinea
conventional short form: Papua New Guinea local short form: Papuaniugini former: Territory of Papua and New Guinea abbreviation: PNG |
Currency | lev (BGL) | - |
Death rate | 14.53 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.14 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $10.4 billion (2000 est.) | $1.814 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard M. MILES embassy: 1 Suborna Street, Sofia mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5740 telephone: [359] (2) 980-52-41 FAX: [359] (2) 981-89-77 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Leslie W. Rowe
embassy: Douglas Street, Port Moresby, N.C.D. mailing address: 4240 Port Moresby PI, US Department of State, Washington DC 20521-4240 telephone: [675] 321-1455 FAX: [675] 321-3423 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Philip DIMITROV chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-7969 FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973 consulate(s): New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Evan Jeremy PAKI
chancery: 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 805, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 745-3680 FAX: [1] (202) 745-3679 |
Disputes - international | - | relies on assistance from Australia to keep out illegal cross-border activities from primarily Indonesia, including goods smuggling, illegal narcotics trafficking, and squatters and secessionists |
Economic aid - recipient | $1 billion (1999 est.) | $266.1 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | Bulgaria, a former communist country struggling to enter the European market economy, suffered a major economic downturn in 1996 and 1997, with triple digit inflation and GDP contraction of 10.6% and 6.9%. The current government - which took office in May 1997 after pre-term parliamentary elections - stabilized the economy and promoted growth by implementing a currency board, practicing sound financial policies, invigorating privatization, and pursuing structural reforms. Additionally, strong assistance from international financial institutions - most notably the IMF which approved a three-year Extended Fund Facility worth approximately $900 million in September 1998 - played a critical role in turning the economy around. After several years of tumult, Bulgaria's economy has stabilized. Its better-than-expected economic performance in 1999 - despite the impact of the Kosovo conflict, the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and structural reforms - and strong growth in 2000 portends solid growth over the next few years; this assumes continued fiscal restraint, additional structural reforms, aid from abroad, and prosperous times in the EU economy. | Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by rugged terrain and the high cost of developing infrastructure. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the population. Mineral deposits, including copper, gold, and oil, account for nearly two-thirds of export earnings. The government of Prime Minister SOMARE has expended much of its energy remaining in power. He was the first prime minister ever to serve a full five-year term. The government also brought stability to the national budget, largely through expenditure control; however, it relaxed spending constraints in 2006 and 2007 as elections approached. Numerous challenges still face the government including regaining investor confidence, restoring integrity to state institutions, promoting economic efficiency by privatizing moribund state institutions, and balancing relations with Australia, its former colonial ruler. Other socio-cultural challenges could upend the economy including a worsening HIV/AIDS epidemic and chronic law and order and land tenure issues. Australia will supply more than $300 million in aid in FY07/08, which accounts for nearly 20% of the national budget. |
Electricity - consumption | 33.182 billion kWh (1999) | 3.439 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 2.2 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 1.7 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 36.217 billion kWh (1999) | 3.698 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
51.52% hydro: 8.35% nuclear: 40.12% other: 0.01% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Black Sea 0 m highest point: Musala 2,925 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wilhelm 4,509 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes | rain forest subject to deforestation as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution from mining projects; severe drought |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Bulgarian 83%, Turk 8.5%, Roma 2.6%, Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Gagauz, Circassian, others (1998) | Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian |
Exchange rates | leva per US dollar - 2.0848 (January 2001), 2.1233 (2000), 1.8364 (1999), 1,760.36 (1998), 1,681.88 (1997), 177.89 (1996)
note: on 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated; the post-5 July 1999 lev is equal to 1,000 of the pre-5 July 1999 lev |
kina per US dollar - 3.03 (2007), 3.0643 (2006), 3.08 (2005), 3.2225 (2004), 3.5635 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Petar STOYANOV (since 22 January 1997); Vice President Todor KAVALDZHIEV (since 22 January 1997) head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Ivan KOSTOV (since 19 May 1997); Deputy Prime Minister Petur ZHOTEV (since 21 December 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 27 October and 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2001); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister election results: Petar STOYANOV elected president; percent of vote - Petar STOYANOV 59.73% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by governor general Sir Paulius MATANE (since 29 June 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Sir Michael SOMARE (since 2 August 2002); Deputy Prime Minister Puka TEMU (since 29 August 2007) cabinet: National Executive Council appointed by governor general on recommendation of prime minister elections: none; monarch is hereditary; governor general nominated by parliament and appointed by chief of state; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition usually is appointed prime minister by governor general |
Exports | $4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 44,580 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels | oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish, prawns |
Exports - partners | Italy 14%, Turkey 10%, Germany 9%, Greece 8%, Yugoslavia 8%, Belgium 6%, France 5%, US 4% (2000) | Australia 30.2%, Japan 8.2%, China 5.7% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has been removed - it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi control) | divided diagonally from upper hoist-side corner; the upper triangle is red with a soaring yellow bird of paradise centered; the lower triangle is black with five, white, five-pointed stars of the Southern Cross constellation centered |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $48 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
15% industry: 29% services: 56% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 35.5%
industry: 37% services: 27.5% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $6,200 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 4% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 43 00 N, 25 00 E | 6 00 S, 147 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia | shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | 2 (2007) |
Highways | total:
36,724 km paved: 33,786 km (including 314 km of expressways) unpaved: 2,938 km (1999) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3.4% highest 10%: 22.5% (1995) |
lowest 10%: 1.7%
highest 10%: 40.5% (1996) |
Illicit drugs | major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals | major consumer of cannabis |
Imports | $5.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 24,020 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Russia 24%, Germany 14%, Italy 8%, Greece 5%, France 5%, Romania 4%, Turkey 3%, US 3% (2000) | Australia 52%, Singapore 12.6%, China 5.9%, Japan 4.3% (2006) |
Independence | 3 March 1878 (from Ottoman Empire) | 16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | 10.8% (2000 est.) | 4.8% (2007 est.) |
Industries | electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel | copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining of gold, silver, and copper; crude oil production, petroleum refining; construction, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 14.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 48.46 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 52.52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 44.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10.4% (2000 est.) | 1.8% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | ACP, ADB, APEC, ARF, ASEAN (observer), C, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 26 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 12,370 sq km (1993 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Administrative Court; Supreme Court of Cassation; Constitutional Court (12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms); Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 other members; responsible for appointing the justices, prosecutors, and investigating magistrates in the justice system; members of the Supreme Judicial Council elected for five-year terms, 11 elected by the National Assembly and 11 by bodies of the judiciary) | Supreme Court (the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the proposal of the National Executive Council after consultation with the minister responsible for justice; other judges are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission) |
Labor force | 3.83 million (2000 est.) | 3.557 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 26%, industry 31%, services 43% (1998 est.) | agriculture: 85%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
1,808 km border countries: Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Yugoslavia 318 km, Turkey 240 km |
total: 820 km
border countries: Indonesia 820 km |
Land use | arable land:
43% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 14% forests and woodland: 38% other: 3% (1999 est.) |
arable land: 0.49%
permanent crops: 1.4% other: 98.11% (2005) |
Languages | Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown | 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) |
Legal system | civil law and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - National Movement for Simeon II 120, UDF 51, BSP 48, DPS 21 |
unicameral National Parliament (109 seats, 89 filled from open electorates and 20 from provinces and national capital distict; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); constitution allows up to 126 seats
elections: last held from 30 June to 10 July 2007; next to be held in June 2012 election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - National Alliance 27, PNGP 8, PAP 6, URP 6, PANGU 5, PDM 5, independents 19, others 33; note - election to 1 seat was nullified note: 15 other parties won 4 or fewer seats; association with political parties is fluid |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.2 years male: 67.72 years female: 74.89 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 65.62 years
male: 63.41 years female: 67.95 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 98% (1999) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.3% male: 63.4% female: 50.9% (2000 census) |
Location | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey | 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 |
Map references | Europe | Oceania |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
81 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 938,706 GRT/1,440,374 DWT ships by type: bulk 44, cargo 16, chemical tanker 4, container 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 6, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 3, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 56,157 GRT/72,821 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 20, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: 6 (UK 6) (2007) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense Forces, Internal Troops | Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF; includes Maritime Operations Element, Air Operations Element) (2008) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $344 million (FY00) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.4% (FY00) | 1.4% (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,891,498 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,581,697 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
56,104 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 3 March (1878) | Independence Day, 16 September (1975) |
Nationality | noun:
Bulgarian(s) adjective: Bulgarian |
noun: Papua New Guinean(s)
adjective: Papua New Guinean |
Natural hazards | earthquakes, landslides | active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis |
Natural resources | bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land | gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries |
Net migration rate | -4.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1,500 km (1999) | oil 264 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Alliance for National Salvation or ANS (coalition led mainly by Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF) [Ahmed DOGAN]; Bulgarian Business Bloc or BBB [Georgi GANCHEV]; Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Georgi PURVANOV, chairman]; Democratic Left or DL (bloc led by BSP, includes Ecoglasnost Political Club and Bulgarian Agrarian National Union) [leader NA]; Euro-left [Aleksandur TOMOV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or UMRO [Aleksander KARAKACHNOV]; Kingdom of Bulgaria Federation [leader NA]; Movement for Rights and Freedom or DPS [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Simeon II [Simeon II, former king]; New Civic Party for Bulgaria [Bogomil BONEV]; People's Union or PU (includes Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union and Democratic Party) [Anastasiya MOZER]; St. George's Day [Lyuben DILOV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF (an alliance of pro-democratic parties) [Ivan KOSTOV] | National Alliance Party or NA [Michael SOMARE]; Papua and Niugini Union Party or PANGU PATI [Andrew KUMBAKOR]; Papua New Guinea Party or PNGP [Sir Mekere MORAUTA]; People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Michael OGIO]; People's Action Party or PAP [Gabriel KAPRIS]; United Resources Party or URP [William DUMA] (2007) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | agrarian movement; Bulgarian Democratic Center; Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Democratic Alliance for the Republic or DAR; New Union for Democracy or NUD; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas | NA |
Population | 7,707,495 (July 2001 est.) | 5,795,887 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 35% (2000 est.) | 37% (2002 est.) |
Population growth rate | -1.14% (2001 est.) | 2.163% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Burgas, Lom, Nesebur, Ruse, Varna, Vidin | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 24, FM 93, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 28 (1998) |
Radios | 4.51 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
4,294 km standard gauge: 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified; 917 km double track) narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (1998) |
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Religions | Bulgarian Orthodox 83.5%, Muslim 13%, Roman Catholic 1.5%, Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Jewish 0.8%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 1% (1998) | Roman Catholic 22%, Lutheran 16%, Presbyterian/Methodist/London Missionary Society 8%, Anglican 5%, Evangelical Alliance 4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1%, other Protestant 10%, indigenous beliefs 34% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.035 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.062 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.873 male(s)/female total population: 1.043 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
extensive but antiquated domestic: more than two-thirds of the lines are residential; telephone service is available in most villages; a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions, the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay international: direct dialing to 58 countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) |
general assessment: services are minimal; facilities provide radiotelephone and telegraph, coastal radio, aeronautical radio, and international radio communication services
domestic: access to telephone services is not widely available; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone density is less than 3 telephones per 100 persons international: country code - 675; submarine cables to Australia and Guam; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); international radio communication service |
Telephones - main lines in use | 3.255 million (2000) | 63,700 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 596,000 (2000) | 75,000 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 96 (plus 1,030 repeaters) (1995) | 3 (all in the Port Moresby area; stations at Mt. Hagen, Goroka, Lae, and Rabaul are planned) (2004) |
Terrain | mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast | mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills |
Total fertility rate | 1.13 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.79 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 17.7% (2000 est.) | 1.9% up to 80% in urban areas (2004) |
Waterways | 470 km (1987) | 11,000 km (2006) |