Land use: arable land : 0.1% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 92.9% other : 6% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Rim of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides
Environment - current issues: rain forest subject to deforestation as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution from mining projects
Environment - international agreements: party to : Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note: shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast
@Papua New Guinea:People
Population: 4,496,221 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years : 40% (male 921,227; female 874,290) 15-64 years: 57% (male 1,338,483; female 1,229,180) 65 years and over: 3% (male 61,082; female 71,959) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.28% (1997 est.)