Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands also known simply as the Solomons is a country consisting of 21 major islands guad Canal Mal makira Santa Isabel schwazer new Georgia col bangara renal Vel llla vanunu nendo maram rendova shortland sanor beny ronga pavuvu nelap pile and Nela tedar which are bigger in area than 100 square km and over 900 smaller Islands in Mel IIA part of Oceania to the northeast of Australia it is directly adjacent to Papua New guine to the West Australia to the Southwest new calonia and Vanuatu to the southeast Fiji Wallace and Futuna and tuvalu to the East and NAU and the Federated States of Micronesia to the north it has a total area of 28,896 sare kilm 11,157 sare miles and a population of 7348 7 according to the official estimates for Mid 2023 its capital and largest city honiara is located on the largest island guad Canal the country takes its name from The Wider area of the Solomon Islands archipelago which is a collection of melanesian islands that also includes the autonomous region of banville currently a part of Papua New Guinea but excludes the Santa Cruz Islands the islands have been settled since at least sometime between 30,000 and 28,800 BC with later waves of migrants notably the leita people mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population in 1568 the Spanish Navigator Alo de was the first European to visit them though not named by men It is believed that the islands were called the Solomons by those who later received word of his voyage and mapped his Discovery menir returned decades later in 1595 and another Spanish Expedition led by Portuguese Navigator Pedro Fernandez deos visited the Solomons in 1606 in June 1893 Captain Herbert Gibson of HMS kakoa declared the southern Solomon Islands a British protectorate during World War II the Solomon Islands campaign 1942 to 1945 saw Fierce fighting between the United States British Imperial forces and the Empire of Japan including the Battle of guad canal the official name of the then British Administration was changed from the British Solomon Islands protectorate to the Solomon Islands in 1975 and self-government was achieved the following year Independence was obtained and the name changed to just Solomon Islands without the definite article in 1978 at Independence Solomon Islands became a constitutional monarchy the king of Solomon Islands is Charles III who is represented in the country by a governor general appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister name in 1568 the Spanish Navigator Alvaro deand was the first European to visit the Solomon Islands archipelago but did not name the archipelago at that time only certain individual Islands though not named by m the islands were subsequently referred to as Ela Solomon Solomon Islands by others following reports of his voyage optimistically conflated with stories of the wealthy biblical King Solomon believing them to be the Bible mentioned city of ofir during most of the Colonial period the territory's official name was the British Solomon Islands protectorate until Independence in 1978 when it was changed to Solomon Islands as defined in the constitution of Solomon Islands and as a commonwealth realm under this name the definite article the' has not been part of the country's official name since Independence but remains for all references to the area pre-independence and is sometimes used both within and outside the country colloquially the island are referred to Simply as the Solomons history prehistory the Solomons were first settled by people coming from the bismar islands and New Guinea during the pine era cir 30,000 to 28,000 BC based on archaeological evidence found at kilu Cave on bua island in the autonomous region of banville Papua New Guinea at this point sea levels were lower and bua and banville were physically joined to the southern Solomons in one landmass greater banville though it is unclear prec precisely how far south these early settlers spread as no other archaeological sites from this period have been found as sea levels Rose as the Ice Age ended Circa 4,000 - 3,500 BC the greater banville landmass split into the numerous islands that exist today evidence of later human settlements dating to Circa 4,500 minus 2,500 BC have been found at POA cave and vachala poovi cave on guadal Canal the ethnic identity of these early peoples is unclear clear though it is thought that the speakers of the central Solomon languages a self-contained language family unrelated to other languages spoken in the Solomons likely represent the descendants of these earlier settlers from Circa 1200 to 800 BC austronesian Lapita people began arriving from the bismar with their characteristic Ceramics evidence for their presence has been found across the Solomon archipelago as well at the Santa Cruz islands in the Southeast with different Islands being settled at different times linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Lapita people leapfrogged the already inhabited main Solomon Islands and settled first on the Santa Cruz group with later back migrations bringing their culture to the main group these peoples mixed with the native Solomon Islanders and over time their languages became dominant with most of the 60 to 70 languages spoken there belonging to the oceanic branch of the austronesian language family then as now communities tended to exist in small villages practicing subsistence agriculture though extensive inner Island trade networks existed numerous ancient burial sites and other evidence of permanent settlements have been found from the period ad 1,00 to 1500 throughout the islands one of the most prominent examples being the roviana cultural complex centered on the islands off the southern coast of new Georgia where a large number of megalithic shrines and other structures were constructed in the 13th century the people of Solomon Islands were not notorious for head hunting and cannibalism before the arrival of the Europeans arrival of Europeans 1568 to 1886 the first European to visit the islands was the Spanish Navigator alv Dean daera sailing from Peru in 1568 landing on Santa Isabel on the 7th of February menia explored several of the other Islands including makira Wadd canal and Mal relations with the native Solomon Islanders were initially cordial although they offered soured as time went by as a result menir returned to Peru in August 1568 he returned to the Solomons with a larger crew on a second voyage in 1595 aiming to colonize the islands they landed on nendo in the Santa Cruz islands and established a small settlement at gracioso Bay however the settlement failed due to poor relations with the native peoples and epidemics of disease amongst the Spanish which caused numerous deaths with menia himself dying in October the new Commander Pedro Fernandez deos thus decided to abandon the settlement and they sailed North to the Spanish territory of the Philippines Kos later returned to the area in 1606 where he cited tikopia and too though this Voyage was primarily to Vanuatu in the search of Tera austris say for AEL tasman's sighting of the remote onong Java atal in 1648 no Europeans sailed to the Solomons again until 1767 when the British Explorer Philip Carter sailed by the Santa Cruz islandss Mal and continuing further north banville and the bismar islands French explorers also reached the Solomons with lisis antoan deanville naming scherl in 1768 and Jean Francois deerville exploring the islands in 1769 in 1788 John shortland captaining a supply ship for Britain's new Australian Colony at botney Bay cited the treasury in shortland islands that same year the French explorer Jean Fran sad de la paros was wrecked on vanacoro a rescue Expedition led by bruny dantra Costo sailed to vanacoro but found no trace of Laos the fate of laros was not confirmed until 1826 when the English Merchant Peter Dylan visited tikopia and discovered items belonging to LA paros in the possession of the local people confirmed by the subsequent Voyage of Jules deont deril in 1828 some of the earliest regular foreign visitors to the islands were wailing vessels from Britain the United States and Australia it came for food wood and water from late in the 18th century establishing a trading relationship with the Solomon Islanders and later taking aboard Islanders to serve as crewman on their ships relations between the Islanders and visiting seamen were not always good and sometimes there was Bloodshed a KnockOn effect of the greater European contact was the spread of diseases to which local peoples had no immunity as well as a shift in the balance of power between Coastal groups who had access to European weapons and technology and Inland groups who did not in the second half of the 1800s more Traders arrived seeking turtle shells sea cucumbers COA and Sandalwood occasionally establishing semi-permanent trading stations however initial attempts at more long-term settlement such as Benjamin Boyd's Colony on guad Canal in 1851 were unsuccessful beginning in the 1840s and accelerating in the 1860s Islanders began to be recruited or were often kidnapped as laborers for the colonies in Australia Fiji and Samoa in a process known as blackbirding conditions for workers were often poor and exploitative and local Islanders often violently attacked any Europeans who appeared on their Island the blackb bird trade was chronicled by prominent Western writers such as Joe Melvin and Jack London Christian missionaries also began visiting the Solomons from the 1840s beginning with an attempt by French Catholics under Jean Baptist eale to to establish a mission on Santa Isabel which was abandoned after epale was killed by Islanders in 1845 Anglican missionaries began arriving from the 1850s followed by other denominations over time gaining a large number of converts Colonial period 1886 to 1978 equals establishment of colonial rule equals in 1884 Germany annexed Northeast New Guinea and the bismar archipelago and in 1886 extended its rule over the North Solomon Islands covering bugville bukah schwazer Santa Isabel the shortlands and onong Java atal in 1886 Germany and Britain confirmed this arrangement with the British gaining a sphere of influence over the southern Solomons Germany paid little attention to the islands with German authorities based in New Guinea not even visiting the area until 1888 the German presence along with pressure from the missionaries to reign in the excesses of the coercive labor recruitment practices known as blackbirding prompted the British to declare a protectorate over the southern Solomons in March 1893 initially encompassing new Georgia Mal guad Canal makira mono Island and the central nagella Islands in April 1896 Colonial official Charles Morris Woodford was appointed as the British acting Deputy Commissioner and he was confirmed in his position in the following year the colonial office appointed Woodford as the resident commissioner in the Solomon Island ISS on the 17th of February 1897 he was directed to control the co of Labor recruitment practices known as blackbirding operating in the Solomon Island Waters and to stop the illegal trade in Firearms Woodford set up an administrative headquarters on the small island of tagi and in 1898 and 1899 the ryal and balona Islands sikana the Santa Cruz islands and outlying Islands such as anuta fataka temotu and Opia were added to the protectorate in 1900 under the terms of the tripartite convention of 1899 Germany seeded the northern Solomon to Britain minus bua and banville the latter becoming part of German New Guinea despite geographically belonging to the Solomon's archipelago woodford's underfunded Administration struggled to maintain Law and Order on the remote colony from the late 1890s until the early 1900s there were numerous instances of European merchants and colonists being killed by Islanders the British response was to deploy Royal Navy warships to launch punitive Expeditions Against The Villages which were responsible for the murders Arthur mahui was appointed at the Deputy Commissioner in January 1898 he was based in gizo his duties included suppressing head hunting in new Georgia and neighboring Islands the British colonial government attempted to encourage the establishment of plantations by colonists however by 1902 there were only about 80 European colonists residing on the islands attempts at Economic Development met with mixed results though lever's Pacific plantations limited a subsidiary of lever Brothers managed to establish a profitable copper Plantation industry which employed many Islanders small-scale Mining and logging industries were also developed however the colony remains something of a Backwater with education medical and other social services being under the administration of the missionaries violence also continued most notably with the murder of colonial administrator William R Bell by bana of the quo people on Mala in 1927 as Bell attempted to enforce an unpopular head tax several quo were killed in a retaliatory raid and bana and his accomplices executed equals World War II equals from 1942 until the end of 1943 the Solomon Islands were the scene of several major land sea and air battles between the allies and the Japanese Empire's Armed Forces following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 war was declared between Japan and the Allied powers and the Japanese seeking to protect their southern flank invaded southeast Asia and New Guinea in May 1942 the Japanese launched operation Mo occupying tagi and most of the western Solomon Islands including gule Canal where they began work on an airst strip the British administration had already relocated to Aki Mal and most of the European population had been evacuated to Australia the Allies counter invaded guad canal in August 1942 followed by the new Georgia campaign in 1943 both of which were turning points in the Pacific War stopping and then countering the Japanese Advance the conflict resulted in hundreds of thousands of Allied Japanese and civilian deaths as well in immense destruction across the islands the Solomon Islands campaign cost the Allies approximately 7,000 100 men 29 ships and 615 aircraft the Japanese lost 31,000 men 38 ships and 683 aircraft Coast watchers from the Solomon Islands played a major role in providing intelligence and rescuing other Allied servicemen us Admiral William Hy the commander of Allied Forces during the battle for guadal Canal recognized the coast Watchers contributions by stating the coast Watchers saved guad canal and guad Canal saved the South Pacific in addition around 3,200 men served in the Solomon Islands labor Corps and some 6,000 enlisted in the British Solomon Islands protectorate Defense Force with their exposure to the Americans leading to several social and political Transformations for example the Americans had extensively developed honiara with the capital shifting there from tagi in 1952 and the pigeon language was heavily influenced by the communication between Americans and the Island's inhabitants equals postwar period and the lead up to Independence equals in 1943 44 the Mal base Chief aliki Nano Aime had founded the Masina rule movement aka the native Council movement literally Brotherhood Rule and was later joined by another Chief hos how their aims were to improve the economic well-being of native Solomon Islanders gain greater autonomy and to act as a liaison between Islanders and the colonial Administration the movement was especially popular with ex-labor Corp members and after the war its numbers swelled with the movement spreading to other Islands alarmed at the growth of the movement the British launched operation Dela in 1947 to8 and arrested most of the Masina leaders malians then organized a campaign of Civil Disobedience prompting Mass arrests in 1950 a new Resident commissioner Henry Gregory Smith arrived and released the leaders of the movement though the Disobedience campaign continued in 19 1952 new High Commissioner later Governor Robert Stanley met with leaders of the movement and agreed to the creation of an island Council in late 1952 Stanley formally moved the capital of the territory to honiara in the early 1950s the possibility of transferring sovereignty of the islands to Australia was discussed by the British and Australian governments however the Australians were reluctant to accept the financial burden of administering the territory and the idea was sheld with decolonization sweeping the colonial world and Britain no longer willing or able to Bear the financial burdens of the Empire the colonial authorities sought to prepare the Solomons for self-governance appointed executive and legislative councils were established in 1960 with a degree of elected Solomon Islander representation introduced in 1964 and then extended in 1967 a new constitution was drawn up in 1970 which merged the councils into one governing Council though the British Governor still retained extensive Powers discontent with this prompted the creation of a new constitution in 1974 which reduced much of the governor's remaining powers and created the post of Chief Minister first held by Solomon Malone full self-government for the territory was achieved in 1976 a year after the independence of neighboring Papua New Guinea from Australia meanwhile discontent grew in the western Islands with many fearing marginalization in future a honiara or mal dominated State prompting the formation of the western Breakaway movement a Conference held in London in 1977 agreed that the Solomons would gain full Independence the following year under the terms of the Solomon Islands act 1978 the country was annexed To Her Majesty's dominions and granted Independence on the 7th of July 1978 the first Prime Minister was Sir Peter Kenn La Oria of the Solomon Islands United party siup with Elizabeth II becoming queen of Solomon Islands represented locally by a Governor General Independence era 1978 present equals early post-independence years equals Peter koria went on to win the 1980 Solomon Islands general election serving as PM until 1981 when he was replaced by Solomon Malone of the People's Alliance party Pap after a no confidence vote Malone created the central bank and National Airline and pushed for greater autonomy for individual islands of the country koria returned to power after winning the 1984 election though his second term lasted only 2 years before he was replaced by Ezekiel alua following allegations of misuse of French aid money in 1986 the Solomon's help found the melanesian spearhead group aimed at fostering cooperation and trade in the region after winning the 1989 election Malone and the pap returned to power with Malone dominating Solomon Islands politics from the early to mid 1990s save for the one-year Premiership of Francis Billy hilly Malone made efforts to make the Solomons a republic however these were unsuccessful he also had to deal with the effects of the conflict in neighboring banville which broke out in 1988 causing many refugees to flee to the Solomons tensions arose with Papua New guini as PNG for forces frequently entered Solomon's territory in the pursuit of rebels the situation calmed down and relations improved following the end of the conflict in 1998 meanwhile the country's financial situation continued to deteriorate with much of the budget coming from the logging industry often conducted at an unsustainable rate not helped by Malone's creation of a discretionary fund for use by politicians which fostered fraud and Corruption discontent with his rule led to a split in the pap and M Mone lost the 1993 election to Billy hilly though hilly was later sacked by the governor general after a number of defections caused him to lose his majority allowing mamone to return to power in 1994 where he remained until 1997 excessive logging government corruption and unsustainable levels of public spending continued to grow and public discontent caused Malone to lose the 1997 election the new prime minister Bartholomew uluu of the Solomon Islands Liberal Party attempted to enact economic reforms however his Premiership soon became engulfed in a serious ethnic conflict known as the tensions equals ethnic violence 1998 to 2003 equals commonly referred to as the tensions or the ethnic tension the initial civil unrest was mainly characterized by fighting between the ISAT taboo Freedom Movement ifm also known as the guad canal revolutionary Army and the ISAT taboo Freedom fight Fighters and the Mal Eagle Force as well as the Maru Eagle Force for many years people from the island of Mal had been migrating to honiara and guadal Canal attracted primarily by the greater economic opportunities available there the large influx caused tensions with Native guad Canal Islanders known as gualas and in late 1998 the ifm was formed and began a campaign of intimidation and violence towards maliton settlers thousands of malians subsequently fled back to Mal or to honiara and in mid 1999 the Mal Eagle Force MEF was established to protect malians on guad Canal in late 1999 after several failed attempts at brokering a peace deal prime minister Bartholomew uluu declared a 4-month state of emergency and also requested assistance from Australia and New Zealand but his appeal was rejected meanwhile Law and Order on guad Canal collapsed with an ethnically divided police unable ble to assert Authority and many of their weapons Depot being raided by the militias by this point the MEF controlled honiara with the ifm controlling the rest of guadala canal in April 2003 Seven Christian Brothers brother Robin Lindsay and his companions were killed on the weather coast of guad canal by the rebel leader Harold Kiki six had gone in search of their brother Nathaniel who it turns out had already been tortured and killed during the tensions Nathaniel had befriended the militant group but Harold Kiki accused him of being a government spy and he was beaten to death while singing hymns they are commemorated by the church on the 24th of April on the 5th of June 2000 uluu was kidnapped by the MEF who felt that although he was a maliton he was not doing enough to protect their interests uluu subsequently resigned in exchange for his release Manassa so who had earlier been Finance Minister in ULU Fu's government but had subsequently joined the opposition was was elected as prime minister by 23 to 21 over the Reverend Leslie BTO however so's election was immediately shrouded in controversy because six MPS thought to be supporters of bassetto were unable to attend Parliament for the crucial vote on the 15th October 2000 the Townsville peace agreement was signed by the MEF elements of the ifm and the Solomon Islands government this was closely followed by the meu peace agreement in February 2001 signed by the Maru Eagle Force the ifm the guad canal provincial government and the Solomon Islands government however a key gual militant leader Harold Kiki refused to sign the agreement causing a split with the gual groups subsequently gual signatories to the agreement led by Andrew te joined with the maliton dominated police to form the joint operations force during the next 2 years the conflict moved to the remote weather coast region of Southern guad Canal as the joint oper operations unsuccessfully attempted to capture Kiki and his group by early 2001 the economy had collapsed and the government was bankrupt new elections in December 2001 brought Alan kamaka into the prime minister's chair with the support of his People's Alliance party and the Association of Independent members Law and Order deteriorated as the nature of the conflict shifted there was continuing violence on the weather Coast whilst militants in honiara increasingly turned their attention to Crime extortion and banditry the Department of Finance would often be surrounded by armed men when funding was due to arrive in December 2002 Finance Minister Lori Chan resigned after being forced at gunpoint to sign a check made out to some of the militants conflict also broke out in Western Province between locals and maliton settlers Renegade members of the banville Revolutionary Army raah were invited in as a protection Force but ended up causing as much trouble as they prevented the prevailing atmosphere of lawlessness widespread extortion and ineffective police prompted a formal request by the Solomon Islands government for outside help the request was unanimously supported in Parliament in July 2003 Australian and Pacific Islands police and troops arrived in Solomon Islands under the offices of the Australian Le Regional assistance mission to Solomon Islands Ramsay a sizable International Security contingent of 2,200 police and troops led by Australia and New Zealand and with representatives from about 15 other Pacific Nations began arriving the next month under operation helam fr the situation improved dramatically with violence ending and Harold Kiki surrendering to the force some 200 people had been killed in the conflict since this time some commentators have considered the country a failed state with the nation having failed to build an inclusive national identity capable of overriding local Island and ethnic loyalties however other academics argue that rather than being a failed state it is an unformed State a state that never Consolidated even after Decades of Independence furthermore some Scholars such kabut talika 2001 and dinnan 2002 argue that the ethnic conflict label is an oversimplification equals postconflict era equals kamaka remained in office until April 2006 when he lost the 2006 Solomon Island's general election and Snider reeny became PM however allegations that reeni had used bribes from Chinese businessmen to buy the votes of members of parliament led to mass rioting in the capital honiara concentrated on the city's Chinatown area a deep underlying resentment against the minority Chinese business Community led to much of Chinatown in the city being destroyed tensions were also increased by the belief that large sums of money were being exported to China China sent chartered aircraft to evacuate hundreds of Chinese who fled to avoid the riots evacuation of austral Australian and British citizens was on a much smaller scale additional Australian New Zealand and Fijian police and troops were dispatched to try to quell the unrest reeney eventually resigned before facing a motion of no confidence in Parliament and Parliament elected Manassa soav as prime minister soav struggled to assert his authority and was also hostile to the Australian presence in the country after one failed attempt he was removed in a no confidence vote in 2007 and replaced by Derek sukua of the Solomon Islands Liberal Party in 2008 a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to examine and help heal the wounds of the tension years sakua lost the 2010 Solomon Islands general election to Danny Phillip though after a vote of no confidence in him following allegations of corruption Philip was ousted and replaced by Gordon Darcy Lilo soav returned to power after the 2014 election and oversaw the withdrawal of ramsy forces from the country in 2017 soav was ousted in a no confidence vote in 2017 which saw Rick howella come to power however soav returned to the prime ministership after winning the 2019 election sparking rioting in honiara in 2019 soav announced that the Solomons would be switching recognition from Taiwan to China on the 25th November 2019 Solomon Islands launched a national ocean policy to achieve the sustainable development and use of the ocean for the benefit of the people of the island nation in November 2021 there was mass rioting and unrest the Solomon Islands government requested assistance from Australia under the 2017 bilateral security treaty and Australia provided a deployment of Australian federal police and Defense Forces in March 2022 Solomon Islands signed a memorandum of understanding Mo on policing cooperation with China and was also reported to be in the process of concluding a security agreement with China the agreement with China could allow an ongoing Chinese military and Naval presence in the Solomons a spokesperson for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and trade said that while Pacific island nations have the right to make Sovereign decisions Australia would be concerned by any actions that destabilize the security of our region there are similar concerns in New Zealand and the United States China donated a shipment of replica fire arms to the Solomon Islands police for training Solomon Islands and China signed a security cooperation agreement in April to promote social stability and long-term peace and Security in Solomon Islands the BBC reported that according to a leaked draft of the agreement verified by the Australian government Beijing could deploy forces to Solomon Islands to assist in maintaining social order prime minister Manassa soav said The Pact would not undermine peace and Harmony in the region and was aimed at protecting the Solomon's internal security situation China confirmed that the social order Clause had been maintained in the final agreement in February 2023 further protests broke out after the premier of Mal Province Daniel Swani was removed from office after a vote of no confidence from the provincial legislature in May 2024 Jeremiah manell was elected as Solomon Island's new prime minister to succeed Manassa so politics Solomon Islands is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government as king of Solomon Islands Charles iiii is head of state he is represented by the governor general who is chosen by the parliament for a 5-year term there is a unicameral parliament of 50 members elected for 4-year terms however Parliament may be dissolved by majority vote of its members before the completion of its term parliamentary representation is based on Single member constituencies suffrage is universal for citizens over age 21 the head of government is the prime minister who is elected by Parliament and chooses the cabinet each Ministry is headed by a Cabinet member who is assisted by a permanent secretary a career public servant who directs the staff of the ministry Solomon Islands governments are characterized by weak political parties see list of political parties and Solomon Islands and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions they are subject to frequent votes of no confidence leading to frequent changes in government leadership and cabinet appointments land ownership is reserved for Solomon Islanders the law provides that Resident expatriates such as the Chinese and kabas may obtain citizenship through naturalization land generally is still held on a family or Village basis and may be handed down from mother or father according to local custom the Islanders are reluctant to provide land for non-traditional economic undertakings and this has resulted in continual disputes over land ownership no military forces are maintained by Solomon Islands although a police force of nearly 500 includes a Border Protection unit the police also are responsible for fire service disaster relief and Maritime surveillance the police force is headed by a commissioner appointed by the governor general and responsible to the Prime Minister on the 27th of December 2006 the Solomon Islands government took steps to prevent the country's a Australian police chief from returning to the Pacific Nation on the 12th of January 2007 Australia replaced its top Diplomat expelled from Solomon Islands for political interference in a consiliary move aimed at easing a 4-month dispute between the two countries on the 13th of December 2007 prime minister Manassa so was toppled by a vote of no confidence in Parliament following the defection of five ministers to the opposition it was the first time a prime Minister had lost office in this way in Solomon Islands on the 20th of December the parliament elected the opposition's candidate and former Minister for Education Derek sakua as prime minister in a vote of 32 to 15 in April 2019 Manassa soav was elected as prime minister for fourth time causing protests and demonstrations against the decision Judiciary the governor general appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition the governor general appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission the current chief justice is Sir Albert Palmer since March 2014 Justice Edwin Goldsboro has served as the president of the court of appeal for Solomon Islands Justice Goldsboro has previously served a 5-year term as a judge of the high court of Solomon Islands 2006 to 2011 Justice Edwin Goldsboro then served as the Chief Justice of the Turks and cus Islands foreign Rel ation Solomon Islands is a member of the United Nations interpole Commonwealth of Nations Pacific Islands Forum Pacific Community international monetary fund and the African Caribbean and Pacific ACP countries L convention until September 2019 it was one of the few countries to recognize the Republic of China Taiwan and maintain formal diplomatic relations with it the relationship was terminated in September 2019 by Solomon Islands which switched recognition to the People's Republic of China PRC relations with Papua New Guinea which had become strained because of an influx of refugees from the banville rebellion and attacks on the northern islands of Solomon Islands by elements pursuing Bugan Vilan Rebels have been repaired a 1998 peace Accord on bugville removed the armed threat and the two Nations regularized border operations in a 2004 agreement since 2022 ties with China have been rapidly increasing with Solomon Islands signing a security pact that allows the country to call for Chinese Security Forces to quell unrest in March 2017 at the 34th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council vanadu made a joint statement on behalf of Solomon Islands and some other Pacific Nations raising human rights violations in the western New Guinea which claimed by International parliamentarians for West Papua ipwp that West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since 1963 and requested that the UN High Commissioner for human rights produce a report Indonesia rejected vanuatu's allegations replying that vanadu does not represent the people of Papua and it should stop fantasizing that it does more than 100,000 papuans have died during a 50-year Papua conflict in September 2017 at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly the prime ministers of Solomon Islands tuvalu and vanu Adu once again raised human rights abuses in Indonesian occupied West Papua military although the locally recruited British Solomon Islands protectorate Defense Force was part of Allied Forces taking part in fighting in the Solomons during the second world war the country has not had any regular military forces since Independence the various paramilitary elements of the royal Solomon Islands police force rsipf were disbanded and disarmed in 2003 following the intervention of the regional assistance mission to Solomon Islands Ramsey Ramsey had a small military Detachment headed by an Australian Commander with responsibilities for assisting the police element of Ramsey in internal and external security the rsipf still operates two Pacific class Patrol boats ripv Aki and rsip V lat which constitute the de facto Navy of Solomon Islands in the long term it is anticipated that the rsipf will resume the defense role of the country the police force is headed by a commissioner appointed by the governor general and responsible to the minister of police national security and Correctional Services the police budget of Solomon Islands has been strained due to a 4-year Civil War following Cyclone Zoe strike on the islands of tikopia and anuda in December 2002 Australia had to provide the Solomon Islands government with 200,000 Solomon Islands dollars $50,000 Australian dollars for fuel and suppli for the patrol boat L to sail with relief supplies part of the work of Ramsey includes assisting the Solomon Islands government to stabilize its budget administrative divisions for local government the country is divided into 10 administrative areas of which nine are provinces administered by elected provincial assemblies and the 10th is the capital honiara administered by the honiara Town Council Islands by province human rights there are human rights concerns and issues in regards to education Water Sanitation gender equality and domestic violence homosexuality is illegal in Solomon Islands geography Solomon Islands is an island nation that lies east of Papua New Guinea and consists of six major islands and over 900 smaller Islands the major part of the nation of Solomon Islands covers many of the mountainous volcanic islands of the Solomon Islands archipelago which includes schwazer the shortland islands the new Georgia Islands Santa Isabel the Russell Islands the Florida islands tagi Mal maram aawa aaha Santa Ana makira s Cristal and the main island of guadal canal Solomon Islands also include smaller isolated low at hols and volcanic islands such as sikana ryal island balona island the Santa Cruz islands and Tiny outliers such as tikopia anuda and fataka although banville is the largest island in the Solomon Islands archipelago it is politically an an autonomous region of Papa New Guinea and does not form part of the nation of Solomon Islands the country's Islands lie between latitudes 5° and 13° South and longitudes 155° and 169° East the distance between the westernmost and easternmost islands is about 1,500 km 930 Mi the Santa Cruz islands of which tikopia is part are situated north of vanadu and are especially isolated at more than 200 km 120 M from the other Islands climate the islands ocean equatorial climate is extremely humid throughout the year with a mean temperature of 26.5 de C 79.7 de F and few extremes of temperature or weather June through August is the cooler period though seasons are not pronounced the northwesterly Winds of November through April bring more frequent rainfall and occasional squalls or Cyclones the annual rainfall is about 3,000 50 mm 120 in according to the world risk report 2021 the Island state ranks second among the countries with the highest disaster risk worldwide in 2023 the governments of Solomon Islands and other Island States at risk from climate change Fiji newa tuvalu Tonga and Vanuatu launched the port Vila call for a just transition to a fossil fuel free Pacific calling for the phase out of fossil fuels and the rapid and just transition to renewable energy and strengthening environmental law including introducing the crime of echoside ecology the Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial eco- regions most of the islands are part of the Solomon Islands rainforest Eco region which also includes the islands of bugville and bukah these forests have come under pressure from forestry activities the Santa Cruz islands are part of the Vanuatu rainforest eor region together with the neighboring archipelago of Vanuatu the country had a 2019 Forest landscape Integrity index means score of 71910 ranking it 48th globally out of 172 countries soil quality ranges from extremely rich volcanic there are volcanoes with varying degrees of activity on some of the larger islands to relatively infertile Limestone more than 230 varieties of orchids and other tropical flowers brighten the landscape minimals are scarce on the islands with the only terrestrial mammals being bats and small rodents birds and reptiles however are abundant the islands contain several active and dormant volcanoes the tinaca and kavachi volcanoes are the most active on the southern side of vanunu Island the forests around the tiny community of Zyra are unique providing habitat for at least three vulnerable species of animals the 200 human inhabitants of the area have been trying to get the forests declared a protected area so that logging and Mining cannot disturb and pollute the pristine Forest and Coastline the Baseline survey of marine biodiversity in the Solomon Islands that was carried out in 2004 found 474 species of corals in the Solomons as well as nine species which could be new to science this is the second highest diversity of corals in the world second only to the Raja aat Islands in eastern Indonesia water and sanitation scarcity of freshwater sources and lack of Sanitation has been a constant challenge facing Solomon Islands reducing the number of those was living without access to freshwat and sanitation by half was one of the 2015 Millennium development goals mdgs implemented by the United Nations through goal 7 to ensure environmental sustainability though the islands generally have access to freshwater sources it is typically only available in the state's capital of honiara and it is not guaranteed all year long according to a UNICEF report the capital's poorest communities do not have access to adequate places to relieve their waste and an estimated 70% Solomon Island schools have no access to safe and clean water for drinking washing and relieving of waste lack of safe drinking water in school-aged children results in high risks of Contracting fatal diseases such as chalera and typhoid the number of Solomon Islanders living with piped drinking water has been decreasing since 2011 while those living with piped water has been decreasing consistently since 2011 in addition the Solomon Island second rural development program enacted in 2014 and active until 2020 has been working to deliver competent infrastructure and other vital services to rural areas and Villages of Solomon Islands which suffer the most from lack of safe drinking water and proper sanitation through improved infrastructure services and resources the program has also encouraged farmers and other agricultural sectors through community-driven efforts to connect them to the market thus promoting economic growth rural Villages such as bolava found in the western province of Solomon Islands have benefited greatly from the program with the implementation of water tanks and rain catchment and water storage systems not only has the improved infrastructure increased the quality of life in Solomon Islands the services are also operated and developed by the community thus creating a sense of communal pride and achievement among those previously living in hazardous conditions the program is funded by various International Development actors such as the World Bank European Union International fund for agricultural development ifad and the Australian and Solomon Islands governments earthquakes on the 2nd of April 2007 at 7 hours 39 minutes and 56 seconds local time UTC +11 an earthquake with magnitude 8.1 on the MW scale occurred at hypo Center s 8.45 3E 15695 7 349 km 217 mies Northwest of the Island's capital honiara and southeast of the capital of Western Province gizo at a depth of 10 km 6.2 Mi more than 44 aftershocks with magnitude 5.0 or greater occurred up until 22 hours0 minutes in z z coordinated universal time Wednesday the 4th of April 2007 as tsunami followed killing at least 52 people destroying more than 900 homes and leaving thousands of people homeless land up thrust extended the shoreline of one Island ronga by up to 70 M 230 ft exposing many once pristine coral reefs on the 6th of February 2013 an earthquake with magnitude of 8.0 occurred at epicenter s 10.80 E1 16511 in the Santa Cruz Islands followed by a tsunami up to 1.5 M at least nine people were killed and many houses demolished the main Quake was preceded by a sequence of earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 6.0 economy Solomon Islands per capita GDP of $600 ranks it as a least developed country and more than 75% of its labor force is engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported only 3.9% of the area of the islands are used for agriculture and 78.1% are covered by forests making the Solomon Islands the 103rd ranked country covered by forests worldwide the Solomon Islands government was insolvent by 2002 since the Ramsey intervention in 2003 the government has recast its budget it has Consolidated and renegotiated its domestic debt and with Australian backing is now seeking to renegotiate its foreign obligations principal Aid donors are Australia New Zealand the European Union Japan and Taiwan currenc the Solomon Islands dollar ISO 4,217 code SBD was introduced in 1977 replacing the Australian dollar at par its symbol is Si dollar but the SI prefix may be omitted if there is no confusion with other currencies also using the dollar sign dollar it is subdivided into 100 cents local shell money is still important for traditional and ceremonial purposes in certain provinces and in some remote parts of the country for trade shelone was a widely used traditional currency in the Pacific Islands in Solomon Islands it is mostly manufactured in Mal and guadal Canal but can be bought elsewhere such as the honiara Central Market The barter system often replaces money of any kind in remote areas exports until 1998 when World prices for tropical Timber fell steeply Timber was Solomon Island's main export product and in recent years Solomon Islands forests were Dangerously overexploited in the wake of the ethnic violence in June 2000 exports of palm oil and gold ceased while exports of Timber fell recently Solomon Islands courts have reapproved the export of live dolphins for profit most recently to Dubai United Arab Emirates this practice was originally stopped by the government in 2004 after International uproar over a shipment of 28 live dolphins to Mexico the move resulted in criticism from both Australia and New Zealand as well as several conservation organizations as of 2019 ruffwood still makes up 2third of export agriculture in 2017 317,000 682 tons of coconuts were harvested making the country the 18th ranked producer of coconuts worldwide and 24% of the exports corresponded to copra cocoa beans are mainly grown on the islands guadal canal maira and Mal in 2017 4,940 tons of cocoa beans were harvested making the Solomon Islands the 27th rank producer of cocoa worldwide growth of production and export of COA and cacao however is hampered by old age of most coconut and cacao trees in 2017 28572 tons of palm oil were produced making Solomon Islands the 24th ranked producer of palm oil worldwide other important cash crops and exports include copra cacao and palm oil for the local market but not for export many families grow Taro 2017 to 45,9 one tons rice 2017 to 2789 tons yams 2017 to 44940 tons and bananas 2017 to 313 tons tobacco 2017 to 118 tons and spices 2017 to 2117 tons the agriculture on the Solomon Islands is hampered by a very severe lack of agricultural machines mining in 1998 gold mining began at Gold Ridge on guad Canal mineral exploration in other areas continued the islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead zinc nickel and gold negotiations are underway that may lead to the eventual reopening of the Gold Ridge mine which was closed after the riots in 2006 reyal Island box site mine operated from 2011 to 2021 on ryal island leaving behind serious ecological damage after multiple spills Fisheries Solomon Islands Fisheries also offer prospects for export and domestic economic expansion a Japanese joint venture Solomon Thao limited which operated the only fish canery in the country closed in mid 2000 as a result of the ethnic disturbances though the plant has reopened under local management the export of tuna has not resumed tourism tourism particularly diving could become an important service industry for Solomon Islands tourism growth however is hampered by lack of infrastructure and transportation limitations in 2017 Solomon Islands was visited by 26,000 tourists making the country one of the least frequently visited countries of the world the Solomon Island government hoped to increase the number of tourists up to 30,000 by the end of 2019 and up to 60,000 tourists per year by the end of 2025 in 2019 the Solomon Islands were visited by 28,900 tourists and in 2020 by 4,400 energy a team of renewable energy developers working for the South Pacific applied geoscience commission sopac and funded by the renewable energy and Energy Efficiency partnership re have developed a scheme that allows local communities to access renewable energy such as solar water and wind power without the need to raise substantial sums of cash under the scheme Islanders who are unable to pay for solar lanterns and cash May pay instead in kind with crops infrastructure flight connections Solomon Airline connects honiara International Airport toadi in Fiji Port Vila in vanadu and Brisbane in Australia as well as to more than 20 domestic airports in each province of the country to promote tourism Solomon Airlines introduced a weekly direct flight connection between Brisbane and Munda in 2019 Virgin Australia connects honiara to Brisbane twice a week most of the domestic airports are accessible to small planes only as they have Short Grass runways roads the road system and Solomon Islands is insufficient and there are no Railways the most important roads connect honiara to lambi 58 km 36 miles in the western part of guadal canal and to AA 75 km 47 mi in the eastern part there are few buses and these do not circulate according to a fixed timetable in honiara there is no bus Terminus the most important bus stop is in front of the Central Market fairies most of the islands can be reached by ferry from honiara there is a daily connection from honiara to Aki via tagi by a high-speed catamaran demographics the total population at the November 2019 census was 72145 as of 2021 there were 77 1851 people in Solomon Islands ethnic groups the majority of Solomon Islanders are ethnically melanesian 95.3% Polynesian 3.1% and micronesian 1 .2% are the two other significant groups there are a few thousand Europeans and a similar number of ethnic Chinese languages while English is the official language only 1 to 2% of the population are able to communicate fluently in English however an English Creole Solomon's pigeon is a de facto lingua franka of the country spoken by the majority of the population along with local indigenous languages pigeon is closely related to talk pisen spoken in Papua New Guinea the number of local languages listed for Solomon Islands is 74 of which 70 are living languages and four are extinct according to ethnologue languages of the world Western Oceanic languages predominantly of the southeast solomonic group are spoken on the central Islands Polynesian languages are spoken on renal and balona to the South tikopia anuda and fatua to the Far East sikana to the Northeast and luua to the north onong Java ATL also known as Lord howal The Immigrant population from kabas the ibas speak gilberties most of the indigenous languages are austronesian languages the central Solomon languages such as baoa Laval saoo and tuo constitute an independent family within papuan languages religion the religion of Solomon Islands is 92% Christian the main Christian denominations are Anglican 35% Catholic 19% the South Seas Evangelical Church 177% the United Church 11% and 7th Day Adventist 10% other Christian denominations are the jehovas witnesses the New Apostolic Church 80 churches and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints another 5% adhere to Aboriginal beliefs the remaining 3% adhere to Islam or the bahai faith according to the most recent reports Islam and Solomon Islands is made up of approximately 350 Muslims including members of the Amad Islamic community health see Health in the Solomon Islands education education in Solomon Islands is not compulsory and only 60% of schoolage children have access to primary education there are kindergartens in various places including the capital but they are not free from 1990 to 1994 the gross Primary School enrollment Rose from 84.5% to 96.6% Primary School attendance rates were unavailable for Solomon is as of 2001 while enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education they do not always reflect children's participation in school the Department of Education and human resource development efforts and plans to expand educational facilities and increase enrollment however these actions have been hindered by a lack of government funding misguided teacher training programs poor coordination of programs and a failure of the government to pay teachers the percentage of the government's budget allocated to education was 9.7% in 1998 down from 13.2% in 1990 male educational attainment tends to be higher than female educational attainment the University of the South Pacific which has campuses in 12 Pacific island nations has a campus at guad Canal the literacy rate of the adult population amounted to 84.1% in 2015 men 88.9% women 79.2 3% the human rights measurement initiative hrmi finds that the Solomon Islands is fulfilling only 70.1% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income hrmi breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education while taking into consideration the Solomon Island's income level the nation is achieving 94.9% of what should be possible based on its resources income for primary education but only 45.4% for secondary education culture the culture of Solomon Islands reflects the extent of the differentiation and diversity among the groups living within the Solomon Islands archipelago which lies within melanesia in the Pacific Ocean with the peoples distinguished by Island language topography and geography the cultural area includes the nation state of Solomon Islands and the banville island which is a part of papuan New Guinea Solomon Islands include some culturally Polynesian societies which lie outside the main region of Polynesian influence known as the Polynesian Triangle there are seven Polynesian outliers within the Solomon Islands anuda balona anong Java renal sikana tikopia and viaa tamako Solomon Islands arts and crafts cover a wide range of woven objects carved wood Stone and shell artifacts in Styles specific to different provinces maliton shell money manufactured in the langa langa lagoon is the traditional currency used in Mal and throughout the Solomon Islands the money consists of small polished shell discs which are drilled and placed on strings in the Solomon tectus niloticus is harvested which was traditionally made into items such as Pearl buttons and jewelry gender inequality and domestic violence Solomon Islands has one of the highest rates of family and sexual violence fsv in the world with 64% of women aged 15 to 49 having reported physical and or sexual abuse by a partner as per a World Health Organization wh report issued in 2011 the causes of gender-based violence gbv are multiple but it primarily stems from gender inequality and its manifestations the report stated in Solomon Islands gbv has been largely normalized 73% of men and 73% of Women Believe violence against women is justifiable especially for infidelity and Disobedience as when women do not live up to the gender roles that Society imposes for example women who believed they could occasionally refuse sex were four times more likely to experience gbv from an intimate partner men cited acceptability of violence and gender inequality as two main reasons for gbv and almost all of them reported hitting their female Partners as a form of discipline suggesting that women could improve the situation by learning to obey them another manifestation and Driver of gender inequality in Solomon Islands is the traditional practice of bride price although specific Customs vary between communities paying a bride price is considered similar to a property title giving men ownership over women gender Norms of masculinity tend to encourage men to control their wives often through violence while women felt that bride prices prevented them from leaving men another report issued by The Who in 2013 painted a similarly Grim picture in 2014 Solomon Islands officially launched the family protection act 2014 which was aimed at curbing domestic violence in the country while numerous other interventions are being developed and implemented in the healthc care system as well as the criminal justice system these interventions are still in their infancy and have largely stemmed from Western protocols therefore for these models to be effective time and commitment is needed to change the cultural perception of domestic violence in Solomon Islands literature writers from Solomon Islands include the novelists John Sana and Rexford Oro tooa and the poet Julie mcki media equals newspapers equals there is one Daily Newspaper the Solomon star one daily online news website Solomon Times online www.s Solomon times.com two weekly papers Solomon's voice and Solomon times and two monthly papers Agri Cula news and the citizens press equals radio equals radio is the most influential type of media in Solomon Islands due to language differences illiteracy and the difficulty of receiving television signals in some parts of the country the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation sibc operates public radio services including the national stations radio happy Isles 1037 on the dial and W talk FM 96.3 and the provincial stations radio happy Lagoon and formerly radio temotu there are two commercial FM stations zfm at 99.5 in honiara but receivable over a large majority of Island out from honiara and Power FM at 97.7 in honiara also broadcasting on 107.5 in Ai and one Community FM radio station goldridge FM on 88.7 equals television equals no television service covers the entire Solomon Islands but some coverage is available in six Main centers in four of the nine provinces satellite TV stations can be received in honiara there is a free-to-air HD digital TV analog TV and online service called Telecom television limited operated by Solomon Telecom Company Limited which rebroadcasts a number of regional and international TV services including ABC Australia and BBC World News residents can also subscribe to SATs o a digital pay TV service retransmitting satellite television music traditional melanesian music in Solomon Islands includes both group and solo vocals slit drum and panpipe ensembles bamboo music gained a following in the 1920s in the 1950s Edwin naow Satori composed the song Walk about long Chinatown which has been referred to by the government as The Unofficial national song of the Solomon Islands modern Solomon Islander popular music includes various kinds of rock and reggae as well as Island music sport rug Union the Solomon Islands National Rugby Union team has played International since 1969 it took part in the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups but did not qualify on either occasion association football the Solomon Islands national football team has proved among the most successful in Oceania and is part of the ofc Confederation in FIFA they are currently ranked 141st out of 210 teams in the Fifa World rankings the team became the first team to beat New Zealand in qualifying for a playoff spot against Australia for qualification to the World Cup 2006 they were defeated 7 to0 in Australia and 2 to1 at home footall closely related to association football on the 14th of June 2008 the Solomon Islands national football team the kuruk kururu won the Oceania Football Championship in Fiji to qualify them for the 2008 FIFA football World Cup which which was held in Brazil from the 30th of September to the 19th October 2008 Solomon Islands is the footall defending champions in the Oceania region in 2008 and 2009 the Kuru Kuru won the Oceania Football Championship in Fiji in 2009 they defeated the host nation Fiji 8 to0 to claim the title the kuruk kururu currently hold the world record for the fastest ever goal scored in an official footall match it was set by kurukuru Captain Elliot ragoo who scored against new calonia 3 seconds into the game in July 2009 they also however hold the less enviable record for the worst defeat in the history of the footall World Cup when in 2008 they were beaten by Russia with two goals to 31 Beach soccer the Solomon Islands National Beach soccer team the bilikiki boys are statistically the most successful team in Oceania they have won all three regional championships to date thereby qualifying on each occasion for the Beach soccer World Cup the bilikiki boys are ranked 14th in the world as of 2010 higher than any other team from Oceania Solomon Islands hosted the 2023 Pacific games