KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1978
Population: 550,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 0.7% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 143
Official language: English
Time: GMT plus 11hr
Currency: Solomon Islands dollar (SI$)
Geography
Area: 28,370 sq km
Coastline: 5,310 km
Capital: Honiara
Solomon Islands, an archipelago in the south-west Pacific, consists of a double chain of rocky islands and some small coral islands. The major islands are Guadalcanal, Choiseul, Santa Isabel, New Georgia, Malaita and Makira (or San Cristobal). Vanuatu is the nearest neighbour to the south-east where the archipelago tapers off into a series of smaller islands. Its nearest neighbour to the west is Papua New Guinea. The country comprises the capital territory of Honiara and nine provinces, namely Central (provincial capital Tulagi), Choiseul (Taro Island), Guadalcanal (Honiara), Isabel (Buala), Makira and Ulawa (Kirakira), Malaita (Auki), Rennell and Bellona (Tigoa), Temotu (Lata), Western (Gizo).
Main towns:
Honiara (capital, pop. 63,300 in 2010) on Guadalcanal, Auki (6,800) on Malaita, Munda (4,900) on New Georgia, Gizo (4,500) on Gizo in the New Georgia Islands, Uruuru (3,300) on Malaita, Buala (2,800) on Santa Isabel, Yandina (2,600) on Mbanika in the Russell Islands, Kirakira (2,000) on Makira, Tulagi (1,700) on Nggela Sule, Taro Island (1,200), Lata (630) on Ndeni in the Santa Cruz Islands and Tigoa (580) on Rennell and Bellona.
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 19
Life expectancy: 67 years
Net primary enrolment: 93%
Population:
550,000 (2012); 21 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 2.6 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 31 per 1,000 people (46 in 1970); life expectancy 67 years (54 in 1970). About 95 per cent of the people are Melanesian, three per cent Polynesian and one per cent Micronesian (1999 census). There is a small expatriate population.
Language:
The official language is English; an English-based Creole, Pidgin, is the most widely spoken language. There are more than 80 indigenous languages.
Education:
Public spending on education was seven per cent of GDP in 2010. There are six years of primary education and seven years of secondary, with cycles of three and four years. The school year starts in January. Solomon Islands College of Higher Education offers teacher training; finance, nursing and secretarial studies; and a range of technical subjects related to Solomon Islands’ economy such as marine and fisheries studies, forestry and agriculture. The college also gives some first-year university courses. Solomon Islands is a partner in the regional University of the South Pacific, which has its main campus in Suva, Fiji, and a campus in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
