Land use: NEGL% arable land; 1% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 71% forest and woodland; 28% other

Environment: one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast; some active volcanos; frequent earthquakes

Note: shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia

- People
Population: 3,822,875 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)

Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 68 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 56 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1990)