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; severe drought
Environment—international agreements: party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography—note: shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast
People
Population: 4,705,126 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39% (male 951,532; female 902,841)
15-64 years: 58% (male 1,411,053; female 1,298,937)
65 years and over: 3% (male 64,101; female 76,662) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.26% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 32.04 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)