Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 1% other: 99% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis
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, Desertification, 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 Papua New Guinea
Population: 5,172,033 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 38.6% (male 1,013,936; female 980,841) 15-64 years: 57.7% (male 1,544,650; female 1,440,628) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 90,661; female 101,317) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.39% (2002 est.)