Papua New Guinea (2005) | China (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 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 | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 38.1% (male 1,072,910/female 1,037,635)
15-64 years: 58.1% (male 1,662,166/female 1,559,685) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 99,777/female 113,095) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 24.3% (male 163,821,081; female 148,855,387)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 452,354,428; female 426,055,713) 65 years and over: 7.3% (male 43,834,528; female 49,382,568) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels, tea, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, poultry, pork | rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish |
Airports | 571 (2004 est.) | 489 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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 (2004 est.) |
total: 324
over 3,047 m: 27 2,438 to 3,047 m: 88 1,524 to 2,437 m: 147 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 32 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 550
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 62 under 914 m: 478 (2004 est.) |
total: 165
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 29 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 78 (2002) |
Area | total: 462,840 sq km
land: 452,860 sq km water: 9,980 sq km |
total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | slightly smaller than the US |
Background | 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. | For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making, and output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to be relaxed. |
Birth rate | 29.95 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 15.85 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.174 billion
expenditures: $1.232 billion, including capital expenditures of $344 million (2004 est.) |
revenues: $161.8 billion
expenditures: $191.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000) |
Capital | Port Moresby | Beijing |
Climate | tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
Coastline | 5,152 km | 14,500 km |
Constitution | 16 September 1975 | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 |
Country name | conventional long form: Independent State of Papua New Guinea
conventional short form: Papua New Guinea former: Territory of Papua and New Guinea abbreviation: PNG |
conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo abbreviation: PRC |
Currency | - | yuan (CNY) |
Death rate | 7.37 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 6.77 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.463 billion (2004 est.) | $149.4 billion (2002 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert W. FITTS
embassy: Douglas Street, Port Moresby mailing address: 4240 Port Moresby PI, US Department of State, Washington DC 20521-4240 telephone: [675] 321-1455 FAX: [675] 321-3423 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
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 | in 2000, China joined ASEAN discussions towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct" - a non-legally binding, confidence-building measure; much of the rugged, militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but talks to resolve the least contested middle sector resumed in 2001; ongoing talks with Tajikistan have failed to resolve the longstanding dispute over the indefinite boundary; Kazakhstan is working rapidly with China to delimit its large open borders to control population migration, illegal activities, and trade; 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; demarcation of the land boundary with Vietnam has commenced, but details of the alignment have not been made public; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite |
Economic aid - recipient | $400 million (1999 est.) | $NA |
Economy - overview | 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 oil, copper, and gold, account for 72% of export earnings. The economy has improved over the past two years, following a prolonged period of instability. Former Prime Minister Mekere MORAUTA had tried to restore integrity to state institutions, to stabilize the kina, restore stability to the national budget, to privatize public enterprises where appropriate, and to ensure ongoing peace on Bougainville. Australia annually supplies $240 million in aid, which accounts for 20% of the national budget. Challenges face Prime Minister Michael SOMARE, including gaining further investor confidence, continuing efforts to privatize government assets, maintaining the support of members of Parliament, and balancing relations with Australia, the former colonial ruler. | In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2002, with its 1.28 billion people but a GDP of just $4,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agriculture and industry have posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and growing income disparities). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure - such as water control and power grids - and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary local levies on farmers. Access to the World Trade Organization strengthens China's ability to maintain sturdy growth rates, and at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. Although Beijing has claimed 7%-8% annual growth in recent years, many observers believe the rate, while strong, is more like 5%. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.561 billion kWh (2002) | 1.206 trillion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 10.25 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 400 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 1.679 billion kWh (2002) | 1.308 trillion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 82%
hydro: 17% nuclear: 1% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wilhelm 4,509 m |
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | rain forest subject to deforestation as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution from mining projects; severe drought | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
Environment - international agreements | 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 |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
Exchange rates | kina per US dollar - 3.2225 (2004), 3.5635 (2003), 3.8952 (2002), 3.3887 (2001), 2.7822 (2000) | yuan per US dollar - 8.2767 (January 2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997) |
Executive branch | 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 (vacant) cabinet: National Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the National Executive Council; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually is appointed prime minister by the governor general |
chief of state: President Hu Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote) |
Exports | NA | $312.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Exports - commodities | oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish, prawns | machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels |
Exports - partners | Australia 28%, Japan 5.8%, Germany 4.7%, China 4.6% (2004) | US 20.4%, Hong Kong 17.5%, Japan 16.9%, South Korea 4.7%, Germany 3.7%, Netherlands 2.7%, UK 2.6%, Singapore 2.2%, Taiwan (2001) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $6 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 34.5%
industry: 34.7% services: 30.8% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 18%
industry: 49% services: 33% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,200 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.9% (2004 est.) | 8% (official estimate) (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 147 00 E | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
Geography - note | shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast | world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal, is the world's tallest peak; soybean, one of the oldest of cultivated crops, is believed to have originated in China |
Heliports | 2 (2004 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 19,600 km
paved: 686 km unpaved: 18,914 km (1999 est.) |
total: 1.4 million km
paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.7%
highest 10%: 40.5% (1996) |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 30% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine |
Imports | NA | $268.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Australia 46.4%, Singapore 21.6%, Japan 4.3%, New Zealand 4.2% (2004) | Japan 17.6%, Taiwan 11.2%, US 10.8%, South Korea 9.6%, Germany 5.7%, Hong Kong 3.9%, Russia 3.3%, Malaysia 2.5% (2001) |
Independence | 16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship) | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 13.5% (2002 est.) |
Industries | copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining of gold, silver, and copper; crude oil production; construction, tourism | iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications |
Infant mortality rate | total: 51.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 55.63 deaths/1,000 live births female: 47.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
27.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.2% (2004 est.) | -0.8% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, APEC, ARF, AsDB, C, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 525,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | 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) | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) |
Labor force | 3.32 million (2004 est.) | 706 million (2000 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 85%, industry NA, services NA | agriculture 50%, industry 23%, services 27% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 820 km
border countries: Indonesia 820 km |
total: 22,147.34 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.46%
permanent crops: 1.44% other: 98.1% (2001) |
arable land: 13.31%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.49% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2%, Motu spoken in Papua region
note: 715 indigenous languages - many unrelated |
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) |
Legal system | based on English common law | a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Parliament - sometimes referred to as the House of Assembly (109 seats, 89 elected from open electorates and 20 from provincial electorates; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 15-29 June 2002 and April and May 2003; completed in May 2003 (voting in the Southern Highlands was not completed during the June 2002 election period); next to be held not later than June 2007 election results: percent of vote by party - National Alliance 18%, URP 13%, PDM 12%, PPP 8%, Pangu 6%, PAP 5%, PLP 4%, others 34%; seats by party - National Alliance 19, URP 14, PDM 13, PPP 8, PANGU 6, PAP 5, PLP 4, others 40; note - association with political parties is fluid (2003) |
unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 64.93 years
male: 62.76 years female: 67.21 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 71.86 years
male: 70.02 years female: 73.86 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 64.6% male: 71.1% female: 57.7% (2002) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5% male: 89.9% female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
Location | 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 | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
Map references | Oceania | Asia |
Maritime claims | 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 |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin territorial sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 47,586 GRT/60,934 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 17, chemical tanker 1, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 8 (Singapore 2, United Kingdom 6) (2005) |
total: 1,764 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,915,047 GRT/25,366,296 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 328, cargo 822, chemical tanker 25, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 1, container 134, liquefied gas 26, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 263, refrigerated cargo 26, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 42, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Croatia 1, Germany 1, Hong Kong 16, Japan 2, Panama 2, South Korea 1, Spain 1, Taiwan 9, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Papua New Guinea Defense Force (includes Maritime Operations Element, Air Operations Element) | People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $16.9 million (2003) | $20.048 billion (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending more likely ranges from $45 billion to $65 billion for 2002 |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY02) | 1.6% (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending is more likely between 3.5% to 5.0% of GDP for 2002 |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 370,087,489 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 203,003,036 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 10,089,458 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1975) | Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
Nationality | noun: Papua New Guinean(s)
adjective: Papua New Guinean |
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese |
Natural hazards | active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence |
Natural resources | gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | oil 264 km (2004) | crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Party [Dr. Banare BUN, party leader]; Melanesian Alliance Party or MAP [Sir Moi AVEL, party leader]; National Alliance Party or NA [Michael SOMARE, party leader; George MANOA, party president]; National Party [Melchior PEP, party leader]; Papua and Niugini Union Party or PANGU [Chris HAIVETA, party leader]; Papua New Guinea First Party [Cecilking DORUBA, party leader]; Papua New Guinea Labor Party [Bob DANAYA, party leader]; Papua New Guinea Party (was People's Democratic Movement or PDM) [Sir Mekere MORAUTA, party leader]; People's Action Party or PAP [Moses MALADINA, party leader]; People's Labor Party or PLP [Ekis ROPENU, party leader]; People's National Congress or PNC [Peter O'NEILL, party leader]; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Andrew BAING, party leader]; Pipol First Party [Luther WENGE, party leader]; Rural People's Party [Peter NAMUS, party leader]; United Party [Bire KIMASOPA, party leader]; United Resources Party or URP [Tim NEVILLE, party leader] (2004) | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals |
Population | 5,545,268 (July 2005 est.) | 1,284,303,705 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 37% (2002 est.) | 10% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.26% (2005 est.) | 0.87% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kimbe, Lae, Rabaul | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 28 (1998) | AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998) |
Radios | - | 417 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total: 67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double-track) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1999 est.) |
Religions | 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% | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: services are adequate; facilities provide radiotelephone and telegraph, coastal radio, aeronautical radio, and international radio communication services
domestic: mostly radiotelephone international: country code - 675; submarine cables to Australia and Guam; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); international radio communication service |
general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 62,000 (2002) | 135 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 15,000 (2002) | 65 million (January 2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (all in the Port Moresby area)
note: additional stations at Mt. Hagen, Goroka, Lae, and Rabaul are planned (2004) |
3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
Total fertility rate | 3.96 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 1.82 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 10,940 km (2003) | 110,000 km (1999) |