| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Solomon Islands
former: British Solomon Islands |
| Capital: |
Honiara |
| Location: |
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
8 00 S, 159 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 28,450 sq km
land: 27,540 sq km
water: 910 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly smaller than Maryland |
| Land
Boundaries: |
0 km |
| Coastline: |
5,313 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather |
| Terrain: |
mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
parliamentary democracy |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
9 provinces and 1 capital territory*; Central, Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Rennell and Bellona, Temotu, Western |
| Independence |
7 July 1978 (from UK) |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 7 July (1978) |
| Constitution: |
7 July 1978 |
| Legal
System; |
English common law, which is widely disregarded |
| Suffrage |
21 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Nathaniel WAENA (since 7 July 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Sir Allan KEMAKEZA (since 17 December 2001); Deputy Prime Minister Snyder RINI (since 17 December 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet consists of 20 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of Parliament for up to five years; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament |
| Legislative
Branch: |
unicameral National Parliament (50 seats; members elected from single-member constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 5 December 2001 (next to be held not later than December 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - PAP 40%, SIACC 40%, PPP 20%; seats by party - PAP 16, SIACC 13, PPP 2, SILP 1, independents 18 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Court of Appeal |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Association of Independents [Snyder RINI]; People's Alliance Party or PAP [Allan KEMAKEZA]; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Mannaseh Damukana SOGAVARE]; Solomon Islands Alliance for Change Coalition or SIACC [Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU]; Solomon Islands Labor Party or SILP [Joses TUHANUKU]
note: in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
538,032 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 41.9% (male 114,860/female 110,404)
15-64 years: 54.9% (male 149,400/female 145,970)
65 years and over: 3.2% (male 8,371/female 9,027) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 18.63 years
male: 18.5 years
female: 18.76 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Solomon Islander(s)
adjective: Solomon Islander |
| Ethnic groups: |
Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4% |
| Religions: |
Anglican 45%, Roman Catholic 18%, United (Methodist/Presbyterian) 12%, Baptist 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 7%, other Protestant 5%, indigenous beliefs 4% |
| Languages: |
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population
note: 120 indigenous languages |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
6,600 (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
1,000 (2002) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: country code - 677; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1 (2004) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
|
| Internet country
code: |
.sb |
| Internet hosts: |
398 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
2,200 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
|
| Highways: |
total: 1,360 km
paved: 34 km
unpaved: 1,326 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor, Yandina |
| Merchant marine: |
|
| Airports: |
33 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 31
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
