Today, let's visit
Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands is a country in Oceania, home to about 652,858 people. Its capital is Honiara.
It covers 28,450 square kilometres (10,985 square miles). That's slightly smaller than Maryland.
A little history
Settlers from Papua arrived on the Solomon Islands around 30,000 years ago. About 6,000 years ago, Austronesian settlers came to the islands, and the two groups mixed extensively. Despite significant inter-island trade, no attempts were made to unite the islands into a single political entity. In 1568, a Spanish explorer became the first European to spot the islands. After a failed Spanish attempt at creating a permanent European settlement in the late 1500s, the Solomon Islands remained free of European contact until a British explorer arrived in 1767. European explorers and US and British whaling ships regularly visited the islands into the 1800s.
Germany declared a protectorate over the northern Solomon Islands in 1885, and the UK established a protectorate over the southern islands in 1893. In 1899, Germany transferred its islands to the UK in exchange for the UK relinquishing all claims in Samoa. In 1942, Japan invaded the islands, and the Guadalcanal Campaign (August 1942-February 1943) proved a turning point in the Pacific theater of WWII. The fighting destroyed large parts of the Solomon Islands, and a nationalist movement emerged near the end of the war. By 1960, the British allowed some local autonomy. The islands were granted self-government in 1976 and independence two years later under Prime Minister Sir Peter KENILOREA.
In 1999, longstanding tensions between ethnic Guale in Honiara and ethnic Malaitans in Honiara’s suburbs erupted in civil war, leading thousands of Malaitans to take refuge in Honiara and prompting Guale to flee the city. In 2000, newly elected Prime Minister Manasseh SOGAVARE focused on peace agreements and distributing resources equally among groups, but his actions bankrupted the government in 2001 and led to his ouster. In 2003, the Solomon Islands requested international assistance to reestablish law and order; the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, which ended in 2017, improved the security situation. In 2006, however, riots broke out in Honiara, and the city’s Chinatown was burned amid allegations that the prime minister took money from China. SOGAVARE was reelected prime minister for a fourth time in 2019. When a small group of protestors, mostly from the island of Malaita, approached parliament to lodge a petition calling for SOGAVARE’s removal and more development in Malaita in 2021, police fired tear gas into the crowd which sparked rioting and looting in Honiara.
What's it like there?
The weather is tropical monsoon.
- Location
-
- Oceania
- Group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean
- East of Papua New Guinea
- Size
-
Slightly smaller than Maryland
- Climate
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- Tropical monsoon
- Few temperature and weather extremes
- Landscape
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Mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
- Natural resources
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- Fish
- Forests
- Gold
- Bauxite
- Phosphates
- Lead
- Zinc
- Nickel
- Land use
-
Agricultural land 3.9%
Arable land 0.8%
Permanent crops 2.8%
Permanent pasture 0.3%
Forest 89.9%
Other 6.2%
2023 estimate
- Good to know
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- Strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea
- Rennell Island, the southernmost in the Solomon Islands chain, is one of the world’s largest raised coral atolls
- The island’s Lake Tegano, formerly a lagoon on the atoll, is the largest lake in the insular Pacific (15,500 hectares; 38,300 acres)
Who lives there?
About 652,858 people live in the Solomon Islands, and the biggest city is Honiara.
- Largest cities
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Honiara Capital 56,298 Panatina 32,712 Nggosi 26,009 Tandai 24,592 Kola'a 20,783 Vura 18,753 Malango 15,560 - Languages
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- Melanesian pidgin (lingua franca in much of the country)
- English (official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population)
- 120 indigenous languages
- Religions
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Protestant (Church of Melanesia 31.9%, South Sea Evangelical 17.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 11.7%, United Church 10.1%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.5%) 73.4% Roman Catholic 19.6% Other Christian 2.9% Other 4% Unspecified 0.1% 2009 estimate
- Ethnic groups
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Melanesian 95.3% Polynesian 3.1% Micronesian 1.2% Other 0.3% 2009 estimate
- Where people live
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Most of the population lives along the coastal regions
- About one in five live in urban areas
- And of these about two thirds reside in Honiara
- The largest town and chief port
- Cities and towns
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Urban population 26% of total population
2023
Rate of urbanization 3.57% annual rate of change
2020-25 estimate
- What people are called
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Noun Solomon Islander(s)
Adjective Solomon Islander
Who's in charge?
Its government is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy.
- Leaders
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Head of state King Charles III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General David Tiva Kapu (since 7 July 2024)
Head of government Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele (since 2 May 2024)
- Parliament
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Legislature name National Parliament
Legislative structure Unicameral
Number of seats 50 (all directly elected)
Electoral system Plurality/majority
Scope of elections Full renewal
Term in office 4 years
Most recent election date 4/17/2024
Parties elected and seats per party - Ownership Unity and Responsibility (OUR Party) (15)
- Solomon Islands Democratic Party (SIDP) (11)
- Solomon Islands United Party (UP) (6)
- Solomon Islands People First Party (SIPFP) (3)
- Independents (11)
- Other (4)
Percentage of women in chamber 6%
Expected date of next election April 2028
- Courts
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Highest court(s) - Court of Appeal (consists of the court president and ex officio members including the High Court chief justice and puisne judges)
- High Court (consists of the chief justice and puisne judges)
Judge selection and term of office Court of Appeal and High Court president, chief justices, and puisne judges appointed by the governor general on recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, chaired by the chief justice and includes 5 members, mostly judicial officials and legal professionals
All judges serve until retirement at age 60
Subordinate courts - Magistrates' Courts
- Customary Land Appeal Court
- Local courts
- Constitution
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History Adopted 31 May 1978, effective 7 July 1978
Amendment process Proposed by the National Parliament
Passage of constitutional sections, including those on fundamental rights and freedoms, the legal system, Parliament, alteration of the constitution and the ombudsman, requires three-fourths majority vote by Parliament and assent of the governor general
Passage of other amendments requires two-thirds majority vote and assent of the governor general
- Legal system
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Mixed system of English common law and customary law
- Who can vote
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- 21 years of age
- Universal
How does it make a living?
- In short
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- Lower middle-income Pacific island economy
- Natural resource rich but environmentally fragile
- Key agrarian sector
- Growing Chinese economic relationship
- Infrastructure damage due to social unrest
- Metal mining operations
- Industries
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- Fish (tuna)
- Mining
- Timber
- Farming
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- Oil palm fruit
- Coconuts
- Sweet potatoes
- Yams
- Taro
- Fruits
- Pulses
- Vegetables
- Cocoa beans
- Cassava
2023
Note: Top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
- Exports
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- Wood
- Fish
- Gold
- Precious metal ore
- Palm oil
2023
Note: Top five export commodities based on value in dollars
- Sells most to
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China 56% Australia 11% Italy 10% Spain 5% Netherlands 4% 2023
Note: Top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
- Imports
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- Refined petroleum
- Plastic products
- Fish
- Broadcasting equipment
- Iron structures
2023
Note: Top five import commodities based on value in dollars
- Buys most from
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China 42% Singapore 13% Australia 13% Taiwan 5% Malaysia 5% 2023
Note: Top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
- Workforce
-
435,600
2024 estimate
Note: Number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
- Electricity
-
Electrification - total population 76%
2022 estimate
Electrification - urban areas 79%
Electrification - rural areas 75.4%
- Government budget
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Revenues $436.174 million
Expenditures $482.24 million
2022 estimate
Note: Central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
Want to read more? Try the Wikipedia article.
Have a great day!
I'll look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.
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