nes
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate:
tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon
(May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation

Terrain:
mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wilhelm 4,509 m

Natural resources:
gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries

Land use:
arable land: 0.46%
permanent crops: 1.44%
other: 98.1% (2001)

Irrigated land:
NA sq km

Natural hazards:
active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring of Fire"; the
country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud
slides; tsunamis

Environment - current issues:
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: 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

Geography - note:
shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest
swamps along southwest coast

People Papua New Guinea

Population:
5,545,268 (July 2005 est.)

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.)

Median age:
total: 21.09 years
male: 21.25 years
female: 20.93 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.26% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
29.95 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
7.37 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 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.)

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 l