Population: 3,822,875 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)

Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 68 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 56 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Papua New Guinean(s); adjective--Papua New Guinean

Ethnic divisions: predominantly Melanesian and Papuan; some Negrito, Micronesian, and Polynesian

Religion: over half of population nominally Christian (490,000 Roman Catholic, 320,000 Lutheran, other Protestant sects); remainder indigenous beliefs

Language: 715 indigenous languages; English spoken by 1-2%, pidgin English widespread, Motu spoken in Papua region

Literacy: 32%

Labor force: 1,660,000; 732,806 in salaried employment; 54% agriculture, 25% government, 9% industry and commerce, 8% services (1980)

Organized labor: more than 50 trade unions, some with fewer than 20 members

NOTE: The information regarding Papua New Guinea on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Papua New Guinea People 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Papua New Guinea People 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.