Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 0%
forest and woodland: 71%
other: 28%
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Environment:
current issues: rain forest subject to deforestation as a result of
growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution from mining
projects
natural hazards: active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Rim
of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe
earthquakes; mud slides
international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Tropical Timber 94
Geographic note: shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one
of world's largest swamps along southwest coast
People ———
Population: 4,394,537 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (male 906,709; female 860,534)
15-64 years: 57% (male 1,303,084; female 1,195,245)
65 years and over: 3% (male 59,513; female 69,452) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.29% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 32.93 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 10.01 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)