unways:
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 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 561
1,524 to 2,437 m: 11
914 to 1,523 m: 62
under 914 m: 488 (2006)

Heliports:
2 (2006)

Pipelines:
oil 264 km (2006)

Roadways:
total: 19,600 km
paved: 686 km
unpaved: 18,914 km (1999)

Waterways:
10,940 km (2003)

Merchant marine:
total: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 55,532 GRT/72,240 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 18, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum
tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 6 (UK 6) (2006)

Ports and terminals:
Kimbe, Lae, Rabaul

Military Papua New Guinea

Military branches:
Papua New Guinea Defense Force (includes Maritime Operations
Element, Air Operations Element)

Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 1,264,728
females age 18-49: 1,167,188 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 902,432
females age 18-49: 894,759 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$16.9 million (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.4% (FY02)

Transnational Issues Papua New Guinea

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

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 9,991 (Indonesia) (2006)

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Paracel Islands

Background:
The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds
and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina
annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island;
maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has
occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a
South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. The islands
are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

Geography Paracel Islands

Location:
Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South
China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the
northern Philippines

Geographic coor