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Total: 178,703 sq miles
Land: 174,850 sq miles
Water: 3,853 sq miles
Tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)
Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 ft
Highest point: Mount Wilhelm 14,793 ft
5,795,887
Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian
Roman Catholic 22%, Lutheran 16%, Presbyterian/Methodist/London Missionary Society 8%, Anglican 5%, Evangelical Alliance 4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1%, other Protestant 10%, indigenous beliefs 34%
Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2%, Motu spoken in Papua region note: 820 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world's total)
Conventional long form: Independent State of Papua New Guinea
Conventional short form: Papua New Guinea
Local short form: Papuaniuginim
Abbreviation: PNG
Constitutional parliamentary democracy
Port Moresby
16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship)
$2,700 (2006 est.)
Papua New Guinea kina (PGK)
GMT +10
+675
240V 50HzHz