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Source: CIA World Factbook
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Capital
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name: Port Moresby
geographic coordinates: 9 30 S, 147 10 E
time difference: UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
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Country Name
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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
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Dependency Status
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*
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Type of Government
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constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm
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Background
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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.
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Branches
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Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF; includes Maritime Operations Element, Air Operations Element) (2009)
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Age Structure
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0-14 years: 36.9% (male 1,136,779/female 1,098,139)
15-64 years: 59.6% (male 1,861,309/female 1,753,063)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 117,157/female 98,068) (2010 est.)
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Languages
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Tok Pisin, English, and Hiri Motu are official languages; some 860 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world"s total)
note: Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2%
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Population
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6,064,515 (July 2010 est.)
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Religions
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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)
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Internet Users
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120,000 (2008)
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Area - Comparative
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slightly larger than California
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Area
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total: 462,840 sq km
land: 452,860 sq km
water: 9,980 sq km
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Terrain
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mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills
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Climate
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tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation
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Natural Hazards
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active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis
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