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Papua
New Guinea Main Page
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Papua
New Guinea's
Geography
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Location:
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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
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Geographic
coordinates:
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6 00 S, 147 00
E
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Map
references:
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Area:
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total: 462,840
sq km
country
comparison to the world: 54
land: 452,860
sq km
water: 9,980
sq km
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Area -
comparative:
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slightly larger
than California
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Land
boundaries:
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total: 820
km
border
countries: Indonesia
820 km
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Coastline:
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5,152 km
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Maritime
claims:
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measured from
claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial
sea: 12
nm
continental
shelf: 200
m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive
fishing zone: 200
nm
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Climate:
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Weather
tropical;
northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast
monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal
temperature variation
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Terrain:
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mostly
mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling
foothills
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Elevation
extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific
Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount
Wilhelm 4,509 m
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Natural
resources:
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gold, copper,
silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries
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Land use:
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arable land: 0.49%
permanent
crops: 1.4%
other: 98.11%
(2005)
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Irrigated
land:
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NA
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Total
renewable water resources:
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801 cu km
(1987)
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Freshwater
withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 0.1
cu km/yr (56%/43%/1%)
per capita: 17
cu m/yr (1987)
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Natural
hazards:
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active
volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Ring
of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent
and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides;
tsunamis
volcanism: Papua
New Guinea experiences severe volcanic activity;
Ulawun (elev. 2,334 m, 7,657 ft), one of Papua New
Guinea's potentially most dangerous volcanoes, has
been deemed a "Decade Volcano" by the
International Association of Volcanology and
Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study
due to its explosive history and close proximity
to human populations; Rabaul (elev. 688 m, 2,257
ft) destroyed the city of Rabaul in 1937 and 1994;
Lamington erupted in 1951 killing 3,000 people;
Manam's 2004 eruption forced the island's
abandonment; other historically active volcanoes
include Bam, Bagana, Garbuna, Karkar, Langila,
Lolobau, Long Island, Pago, St. Andrew Strait,
Victory, and Waiowa
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Environment
- current issues:
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rain forest
subject to deforestation as a result of growing
commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution
from mining projects; severe drought
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Environment
- international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not
ratified: none
of the selected agreements
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Geography -
note:
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shares island
of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's
largest swamps along southwest coast
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