Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Solomon Islands. 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). Mother's mean age at first birth is 22.6 years (2015 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-29), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 122 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea |
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Geographic coordinates | 8 00 S, 159 00 E |
Map references | Oceania |
Tarrain | mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls |
Natural Resources | fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel |
Natural Hazards | tropical cyclones, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis volcanism: Tinakula (851 m) has frequent eruption activity, while an eruption of Savo (485 m) could affect the capital Honiara on nearby Guadalcanal |
Irrigated Land | 0 sq km (2022) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 0 km |
Border Countries | |
Coastline | 5,313 km |
Climate | tropical monsoon; few temperature and weather extremes |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 27,986 sq km |
Water Area | 910 sq km |
comparative Area | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Continental shelf | 200 nm |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Mount Popomanaseu 2,335 m |
Lowest point | Pacific Ocean 0 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 3.9% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 0.7% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 2.9% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 0.3% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 78.9% (2018 est.) |
Other | 17.2% (2018 est.) |
Most of the population lives along the coastal regions; about one in five live in urban areas, and of these some two-thirds reside in Honiara, the largest town and chief port
In Solomon Islands, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Melanesian 95.3%, Polynesian 3.1%, Micronesian 1.2%, other 0.3% (2009 est.)
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 1.65% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 22 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 3.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 4.4% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 1.4 beds/1,000 population (2012) |
Total fertility rate | 2.77 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 1.35 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 29.3% (2015) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 64.1% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | |
Education expenditures | 12.8% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Solomon Islander | Solomon Islander(s) |
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.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 30.6% (male 114,246/female 108,020) |
15-64 years | 64.2% (male 238,708/female 227,636) |
65 years and over | 5.3% (2024 est.) (male 18,016/female 20,173) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 74.8 |
Youth dependency ratio | 68.8 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 6 |
Potential support ratio | 16.5 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 25.2 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 25 years |
Female | 25.4 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 26% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 3.57% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 82,000 HONIARA (capital) (2018). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.89 male(s)/female |
Total population | 1.04 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 19.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 22.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 15.2 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 77.2 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 74.6 years |
Female | 80 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 95% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 65.9% of population |
Improved: total | total: 73.1% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 5% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 34.1% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 26.9% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 95.6% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 22.6% of population |
Improved: total | total: 40.6% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 4.4% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 77.4% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 59.4% of population (2020 est.) |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 1.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 1.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 36.5% (2020 est.) |
Male | 53.8% (2020 est.) |
Female | 19.2% (2020 est.) |
Want to know more about Solomon Islands? Check all different factbooks for Solomon Islands below.