re:

0-14 years: 37.3% (male 1,124,174/female 1,086,478)
15-64 years: 58.7% (male 1,791,342/female 1,690,089)
65 years and over: 4% (male 111,023/female 128,663) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 21.5 years
male: 21.6 years
female: 21.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.118% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

28.14 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 46.67 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 50.68 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 42.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 66 years
male: 63.76 years
female: 68.35 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

3.71 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.6% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

60,000 (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

600 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and
typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Papua New Guinean(s)
adjective: Papua New Guinean

Ethnic groups:

Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian

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)

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)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.3%
male: 63.4%
female: 50.9% (2000 census)

Education expenditures:

NA

Government
Papua New Guinea

Country name:

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

Government type:

constitutional parliamen