rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Situational analysis of drug and alcohol issues and responses in the Pacific
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10. Papua New Guinea
Population
6 057 263 (July 2009 est.)
Age 0–14 years: 36.9%
15–64 years: 59%
65 years and over: 4.1% (2009 est.)
Gender
Literacy
Unemployment 1.9% (2004) (#17)
Employment by sector
Currency
Exchange rate
Total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 57.3%
Male: 63.4%
Female: 50.9% (2000 Census)
Agriculture: 85% (2005 est.)
Industry: Not available
Services: Not available
Papua New Guinean kina (PGK)
Per US dollar: 2.6956 (2008 est.)
Source:
10.1 Introduction
Papua New Guinea (PNG) forms the eastern
half of the island of New Guinea. Located
between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific
Ocean to the east of Indonesia, 569 PNG
gained independence from Australian administration
in 1975.
Demographics
The population, comprising Melanesian,
Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian and Polynesian
ethnic groups, is estimated to be just
below 6 million. 570 While the number of ethnic
groups is not large, the population is
geographically and culturally diverse, with
over 700 disparate cultural groups, and characterised
by complexities not evident on the
same scale in other countries in the region. 571
Alternatively, the United Nations estimated
the population to be 6.3 million in 2007.
569 Profile on Papua New Guinea in CIA, The World Factbook, available at: (accessed July 2009).
570 Ibid.
571 AusAID, Aid program in Papua New Guinea, available at: (accessed July 2009).