Solomon Islands

Location

• Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
• 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)

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Honiara	56,298	Capital
Panatina	32,712
Nggosi	26,009
Tandai	24,592
Kola'a	20,783
Vura	18,753
Malango	15,560

Size

• 10,985 square miles
• 28,450 square kilometers
• slightly smaller than Maryland

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. 

Climate

tropical monsoon; few temperature and weather extremes

Terrain

mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls

Languages

Melanesian pidgin (lingua franca in much of the country), English (official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population), 120 indigenous languages

Religions

Protestant 73.4% (Church of Melanesia 31.9%, South Sea Evangelical 17.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 11.7%, United Church 10.1%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.5%), Roman Catholic 19.6%, other Christian 2.9%, other 4%, unspecified 0.1% (2009 est.)

Government

parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm

• Constitution: history: adopted 31 May 1978, effective 7 July 1978amendment 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
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal
• Legal System: mixed system of English common law and customary law
• Executive Branch: chief 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)cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime ministerelection/appointment process: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the National Parliament for up to 5 years (eligible for a second term); following legislative elections, the National Parliament usually elects the leader of the majority party or majority coalition as prime minister; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
• Judicial Branch: 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 60subordinate courts: Magistrates' Courts; Customary Land Appeal Court; local courts
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: National Parliamentlegislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 50 (all directly elected)electoral system: plurality/majorityscope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 4 yearsmost recent election date: 4/17/2024parties 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

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• 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
• Budget: revenues: $436.174 million (2022 est.)expenditures: $482.24 million (2022 est.)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
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel
• Industries: fish (tuna), mining, timber
• Agricultural Products: oil palm fruit, coconuts, sweet potatoes, yams, taro, fruits, pulses, vegetables, cocoa beans, cassava (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 4.3% (2022 est.)arable land: 0.8% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 3.2% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 0.3% (2022 est.)forest: 90.1% (2022 est.)other: 5.6% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: refined petroleum, plastic products, fish, broadcasting equipment, iron structures (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: China 42%, Singapore 13%, Australia 13%, Taiwan 5%, Malaysia 5% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: wood, fish, gold, precious metal ore, palm oil (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: China 56%, Australia 11%, Italy 10%, Spain 5%, Netherlands 4% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports