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Compare Solomon Islands (2001) - Southern Ocean (2006)

Compare Solomon Islands (2001) z Southern Ocean (2006)

 Solomon Islands (2001)Southern Ocean (2006)
 Solomon IslandsSouthern Ocean
Administrative divisions 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:
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 cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; timber; fish -
Airports 31 (2000 est.) -
Airports - with paved runways total:
2

1,524 to 2,437 m:
1

914 to 1,523 m:
1 (2000 est.)
-
Airports - with unpaved runways total:
29

1,524 to 2,437 m:
1

914 to 1,523 m:
10

under 914 m:
18 (2000 est.)
-
Area total:
28,450 sq km

land:
27,540 sq km

water:
910 sq km
total: 20.327 million sq km


note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Maryland slightly more than twice the size of the US
Background 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. A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government.
Birth rate 34.05 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) -
Budget revenues:
$147 million

expenditures:
$168 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
-
Capital Honiara -
Climate tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter
Coastline 5,313 km 17,968 km
Constitution 7 July 1978 -
Country name conventional long form:
none

conventional short form:
Solomon Islands

former:
British Solomon Islands
-
Currency Solomon Islands dollar (SBD) -
Death rate 4.27 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) -
Debt - external $152.4 million (1998) -
Diplomatic representation from the US 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 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 none Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west
Economic aid - recipient $47 million (1999 est.), mainly from Japan, Australia, China, and NZ -
Economy - overview 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. Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000.
Electricity - consumption 27.9 million kWh (1999) -
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (1999) -
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (1999) -
Electricity - production 30 million kWh (1999) -
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel:
100%

hydro:
0%

nuclear:
0%

other:
0% (1999)
-
Elevation extremes lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m

highest point:
Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench


highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues deforestation; soil erosion; much of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish


note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries
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
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)


note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north
Ethnic groups Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4% -
Exchange rates 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:
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 $165 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) -
Exports - commodities timber, fish, palm oil, cocoa, copra -
Exports - partners Japan 35.5%, other Asian countries 47.3% (1999) -
Fiscal year calendar year -
Flag description 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:
50%

industry:
3.5%

services:
46.5% (1995)
-
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2000 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 1% (2000 est.) -
Geographic coordinates 8 00 S, 159 00 E 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude
Geography - note - the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds
Highways 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%
-
Imports $152 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) -
Imports - commodities plant and equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals, fuels, chemicals -
Imports - partners Australia 38.5%, Singapore 15%, Japan 10.6%, NZ 6.2% (1999) -
Independence 7 July 1978 (from UK) -
Industrial production growth rate NA% -
Industries fish (tuna), mining, timber -
Infant mortality rate 24.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) -
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 10% (1999 est.) -
International organization participation 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 NA sq km -
Judicial branch Court of Appeal -
Labor force 26,842 -
Labor force - by occupation agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% -
Land boundaries 0 km -
Land use arable land:
1%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
1%

forests and woodland:
88%

other:
9% (1993 est.)
-
Languages Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2% of population

note:
120 indigenous languages
-
Legal system English common law -
Legislative branch 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:
71.55 years

male:
69.12 years

female:
74.1 years (2001 est.)
-
Literacy definition:
NA

total population:
NA%

male:
NA%

female:
NA%
-
Location Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica
Map references Oceania Antarctic Region
Maritime claims measured from claimed archipelagic baselines

continental shelf:
200 NM

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

territorial sea:
12 NM
-
Merchant marine none (2000 est.) -
Military branches no regular military forces; Solomon Islands National Reconnaissance and Surveillance Force; Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP) -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $NA -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP NA% -
National holiday Independence Day, 7 July (1978) -
Nationality noun:
Solomon Islander(s)

adjective:
Solomon Islander
-
Natural hazards typhoons, but they are rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue
Natural resources fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) -
Political parties and leaders 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 -
Population 480,442 (July 2001 est.) -
Population below poverty line NA% -
Population growth rate 2.98% (2001 est.) -
Ports and harbors Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor, Yandina -
Radio broadcast stations AM 3, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) -
Radios 57,000 (1997) -
Railways 0 km -
Religions 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:
1.04 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 21 years of age; universal -
Telephone system general assessment:
NA

domestic:
NA

international:
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)
-
Telephones - main lines in use 8,000 (1997) -
Telephones - mobile cellular 658 (1997) -
Television broadcast stations 0 (1997) -
Terrain mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers
Total fertility rate 4.65 children born/woman (2001 est.) -
Transportation - note - Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal
Unemployment rate NA% -
Waterways none -
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