About Papua New Guinea.docVIP

About Papua New Guinea Geography Papua New Guinea is the largest developing country in the South Pacific region. Its 463,000 square kilometres of land area, a sea area of 3.12 million square kilometres and 600 separate islands make up one of the most diverse repositories of geographic, biological, linguistic and cultural wealth on earth. The Papua New Guinea HighlandsPNG has more than 5% of the worlds biodiversity in less than 1% of the worlds total land area. Population According to the 2000 Census, between 1980 and 2000 PNGs population grew by an annual average rate of 2.7% to 5.19 million. The Southern Highlands Province, followed by Western New Britain, recorded the highest population growth of 4.2% and 3.8% respectively. Approximately half of PNGs total population is under 19 years old. Most of the population live in rural communities based on the traditional village structure and dependent on subsistence farming supplemented by cash cropping. Only 15-20% of Papua New Guineans live in the main urban areas of Port Moresby, Lae, Madang, Mt Hagan and Goroka. Economy PNG has a relatively small dual economy, comprising a formal and informal economy. The formal economy is dominated by large-scale resource projects, particularly in mining and petroleum, and provides a large proportion of government revenue. The informal economy supports 85% of the people through semi-subsistence agriculture. The formal sector employs around 15% of the workforce. PNG has an abundance of natural resources including: Large reserves of minerals Extensive forestry and fishery assets Significant potential for agricultural expansion Many beautiful locations with potential for ecological and cultural tourism. Despite the potential of these resources, PNGs economic performance has fallen short of expectations. Economic growth has not kept up with population growth and performance varies considerably from year to year. During 2004, PNGs economy grew because of buoyant commodity prices a