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The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997 after claiming some 20,000 lives.
Population: 6,552,730 (2014).
Nationality: noun: Papua New Guinean(s), adjective: Papua New Guinean.
Ethnic groups: Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian.
Languages: Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 836 indigenous languages spoken (about 12% of the world's total); most languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers. Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2%.
Religions: Roman Catholic 27%, Protestant 69.4% (Evangelical Lutheran 19.5%, United Church 11.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10%, Pentecostal 8.6%, Evangelical Alliance 5.2%, Anglican 3.2%, Baptist 2.5%, other Protestant 8.9%), Baha'i 0.3%, indigenous beliefs and other 3.3%.
GDP: $ 16 100 000 000.00 (2013).
Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF; includes Maritime Operations Element, Air Operations Element).
Relies on assistance from Australia to keep out illegal cross-border activities from primarily Indonesia, including goods smuggling, illegal narcotics trafficking, and squatters and secessionists.
Refugees (country of origin): 9,368 (Indonesia) (2013).
Papua New Guinea is major consumer of cannabis.
Capital: Port Moresby
Location: Oceania, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia. Shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast.
Geographic coordinates:
6 00 S, 147 00 E
Area:
total: 462,840 sq km
land: 452,860 sq km
water: 9,980 sq km
Land boundaries:
total: 820 km
border countries: Indonesia 820 km.
Coastline: 5,152 km.
Natural resources: gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries.
