Solomon Islands:

Region: Oceania – Melanesia

Capital: Honiara

Official Language/s: English

Population: 477000

Currency: Dollar

Government: Constitutional Monarchy

Geography redone: The distance from the furthest east point to the furthest west point is around 1500 kilometers. The Santa Cruz Islands are situated to the North of Vanuatu and are particularly isolated at more then 200 kilometers from the other Solomon Islands. Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon Islands but politically it is part of New Guinea.

Economy: The Solomon Islands have a per capita yearly income of $600 which ranks them as a lesser developed nation. More then 75% of the population work in subsistence farming or fishing and the majority of manufactured goods and petroleum products have to be imported. Until 1998 the main export of the Solomon Islands was timber, but this declined due to price falling steeply as well as the forests being dangerously over-exploited. The other main exports of the Solomon Islands are Copra and palm oil. The islands are very rich in natural resources such as lead, zinc, nickel and gold.

Demographics: The majority of the Solomon islands are ethnically Melanesian making up  94.5% of the population with 3% being Polynesian and a further 1.2% being Micronesian. There were 74 four languages spoken on the Solomon Islands, four have now become extinct. Melanesian languages are mostly spoken on the central islands, while Polynesian languages are often spoken on the outlying islands. English is the official language, though only 1-2% of the population actually use it.

Religion: The majority of The Solomon Islands, like other pacific nations, are Christians with 97% identifying to Christianity. The main denominations from largest to smallest are Anglican, Roman Catholic, South Seas Evangelical, Seventh-day Adventist, United Church and Christian Fellowship Church. The remaining 2.9% practice either Indigenous religious beliefs or other faiths such as Bahá’í or Islam.

Human Development: The Solomon Island’s high rates of population growth rates of and migration to urban areas continue to place pressure on infrastructure such as water, sanitation, housing, education and health services. This has resulted in low rates of literacy at around 76.6 per cent. The country is also strained by one of the highest malaria rates in the world with only 66% of the population having access to sanitation.