French Guiana (2005) | Solomon Islands (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France) | 7 provinces and 1 town*; Central, Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Temotu, Western; note - there may be two new provinces of Choiseul (Lauru) and Rennell/Bellona and the administrative unit of Honiara may have been abolished |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 29.3% (male 29,262/female 27,947)
15-64 years: 64.7% (male 67,895/female 58,534) 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 6,038/female 5,830) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years:
43.79% (male 107,229; female 103,162) 15-64 years: 53.15% (male 129,315; female 126,021) 65 years and over: 3.06% (male 7,190; female 7,525) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry | cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; timber; fish |
Airports | 11 (2004 est.) | 31 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total:
2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
total:
29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 18 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 91,000 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km water: 1,850 sq km |
total:
28,450 sq km land: 27,540 sq km water: 910 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Indiana | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its communication satellites from Kourou. | The UK established a protectorate over the Solomon Islands in the 1890s. Some of the bitterest fighting of World War II occurred on these islands. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later. Current issues include government deficits, deforestation, and malaria control. |
Birth rate | 20.7 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 34.05 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996) |
revenues:
$147 million expenditures: $168 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
Capital | Cayenne | Honiara |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation | tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather |
Coastline | 378 km | 5,313 km |
Constitution | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) | 7 July 1978 |
Country name | conventional long form: Department of Guiana
conventional short form: French Guiana local long form: none local short form: Guyane |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Solomon Islands former: British Solomon Islands |
Currency | - | Solomon Islands dollar (SBD) |
Death rate | 4.85 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 4.27 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.2 billion (1988) | $152.4 million (1998) |
Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | the US does not have an embassy in Solomon Islands (embassy closed July 1993); the ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to the Solomon Islands |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Jeremiah MANELE chancery: 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400L, New York, NY 10017 telephone: [1] (212) 599-6192, 6193 FAX: [1] (212) 661-8925 |
Disputes - international | Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) in French Guiana | none |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | $47 million (1999 est.), mainly from Japan, Australia, China, and NZ |
Economy - overview | The economy is tied closely to the much larger French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90% of the country. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly among younger workers. | The bulk of the population depends on agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. However, severe ethnic violence, the closing of key business enterprises, and an empty government treasury have led to a continuing economic downslide. Deliveries of crucial fuel supplies (including those for electrical generation) by tankers have become sporadic due to the government's inability to pay and attacks against ships. Telecommunications are threatened by the lack of technical and maintenance staff many of whom have left the country. |
Electricity - consumption | 427.9 million kWh (2002) | 27.9 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 460.1 million kWh (2002) | 30 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | deforestation; soil erosion; much of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | black or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10% | Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4% |
Exchange rates | Euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) | Solomon Islands dollars per US dollar - 5.0968 (November 2000), 5.0864 (2000), 4.8381 (1999), 4.8156 (1998), 3.7169 (1997), 3.5664 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Ange MANCINI (since 31 July 2002)
head of government: President of the General Council Joseph HO-TEN-YOU (since 26 March 2001); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils |
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Father John LAPLI (since NA 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Mannaseh Damukana SOGAVARE (since 1 July 2000); Assistant Prime Minister Nathaniel WAENA (since 1 July 2000); Deputy Prime Minister Allan KEMAKEZA (since 1 July 2000); note - Prime Minister Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU was forced to resign his position in June 2000 following the armed takeover of the capital by elements supporting the opposition parties; Mannaseh Damukana SOGAVARE, who had been opposition leader, was then elected prime minister at a sitting of National Parliament on 30 June 2000 cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of Parliament for up to five years; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament |
Exports | NA | $165 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) |
Exports - commodities | shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing | timber, fish, palm oil, cocoa, copra |
Exports - partners | France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2001) | Japan 35.5%, other Asian countries 47.3% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of France is used | divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $900 million (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% (2001 est.) |
agriculture:
50% industry: 3.5% services: 46.5% (1995) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 1% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 4 00 N, 53 00 W | 8 00 S, 159 00 E |
Geography - note | mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South American continent | - |
Highways | total: 817 km (1998) | total:
1,360 km paved: 34 km unpaved: 1,326 km (includes about 800 km of private plantation roads) (1996 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe | - |
Imports | NA | $152 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) |
Imports - commodities | food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals | plant and equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals, fuels, chemicals |
Imports - partners | France 63%, US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2002 est.) | Australia 38.5%, Singapore 15%, Japan 10.6%, NZ 6.2% (1999) |
Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 7 July 1978 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining | fish (tuna), mining, timber |
Infant mortality rate | total: 12.07 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 12.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
24.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.5% (2002 est.) | 10% (1999 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU, WCL, WFTU | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 20 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana) | Court of Appeal |
Labor force | 58,800 (1997) | 26,842 |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 18.2%, industry 21.2%, services, government, and commerce 60.6% (1980) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 1,183 km
border countries: Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.14%
permanent crops: 0.05% other: 99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001) |
arable land:
1% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 88% other: 9% (1993 est.) |
Languages | French | Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2% of population
note: 120 indigenous languages |
Legal system | French legal system | English common law |
Legislative branch | unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - PS 28.28%, various left parties 22.56%, RPR 15.91%, independents 8.6%, Walwari Committee 6%; seats by party - PS 11, various left parties 9, RPR 6, independents 3, Walwari Committee 2 note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1 |
unicameral National Parliament (50 seats; members elected from single member constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 6 August 1997 (next to be held by August 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GNUR 21, PAP 7, NAPSI 5, SILP 4, UP 4, independents 6, other 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 77.09 years
male: 73.77 years female: 80.58 years (2005 est.) |
total population:
71.55 years male: 69.12 years female: 74.1 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83% male: 84% female: 82% (1982 est.) |
definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea |
Map references | South America | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | registered in other countries: 3 | none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Gendarmerie | no regular military forces; Solomon Islands National Reconnaissance and Surveillance Force; Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | NA% |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Independence Day, 7 July (1978) |
Nationality | noun: French Guianese (singular and plural)
adjective: French Guianese |
noun:
Solomon Islander(s) adjective: Solomon Islander |
Natural hazards | high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding | typhoons, but they are rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity |
Natural resources | bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium, tantalum, clay | fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel |
Net migration rate | 5.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Guyanese Democratic Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Paul DEBRIETTE]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (includes RPR) [Muriel ICARE]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the PRG in France) [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON] | there are two main coalitions - Coalition for National Unity, Reconciliation, and Peace or CNURP and Alliance for Change; the CNURP took power on 30 June 2000, it comprises members of the Liberal Party, People's Alliance Party, and the United Party, as well as a number of independents; the Alliance for Change, represents the former government and now is the opposition; in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions; Group for National Unity and Reconciliation or GNUR [leader NA]; Liberal Party [Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU]; National Action Party of Solomon Islands or NAPSI [Francis SAEMALA]; People's Alliance Party or PAP [George LEPPING]; People's Progressive Party [Mannaseh Damukana SOGAVARE]; Solomon Islands Labor Party or SILP [Joses TUHANUKU]; United Party or UP [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 195,506 (July 2005 est.) | 480,442 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.1% (2005 est.) | 2.98% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Degrad des Cannes | Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor, Yandina |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters) (1998) | AM 3, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 57,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic | Anglican 34%, Roman Catholic 19%, Baptist 17%, United (Methodist/Presbyterian) 11%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10%, other Protestant 5%, indigenous beliefs 4% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 51,000 (2001) | 8,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 138,200 (2002) | 658 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997) | 0 (1997) |
Terrain | low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains | mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls |
Total fertility rate | 3.01 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 4.65 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 22% (2001) | NA% |
Waterways | 3,760 km
note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2004) |
none |