STATE OF THE CORAL TRIANGLE: Papua New Guinea (2014)

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a total land area of 462,000 square kilometers (km2), making it the largest Pacific island country. Its exclusive economic zone at 3.12 million km2 is the world’s second largest. The country’s sparsely distributed population of only 7 million makes PNG’s population density of approximately 9 people per km2 the lowest in the South Pacific. PNG’s principal marine and coastal ecosystems include 13,840 km2 of coral reefs, 4,200 km2 of mangrove swamp forests, and extensive seagrass beds. The country is home to at least 500 species of stony coral, 1,635 reef-associated fish species, 43 mangrove species, and 7 seagrass species.