Solomon Islands (2001) | Tokelau (2007) | |
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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 | none (territory of New Zealand) |
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.) |
0-14 years: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% |
Agriculture - products | cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; timber; fish | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats; 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: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | about 17 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
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. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 34.05 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues:
$147 million expenditures: $168 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $430,800
expenditures: $2.8 million (1987 est.) |
Capital | Honiara | none; each atoll has its own administrative center
time difference: UTC-11 (6 hours behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 5,313 km | 101 km |
Constitution | 7 July 1978 | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Solomon Islands former: British Solomon Islands |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Currency | Solomon Islands dollar (SBD) | - |
Death rate | 4.27 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $152.4 million (1998) | - |
Dependency status | - | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand; a UN sponsored referendum on self governance in October 2007 did not produce the two-thirds majority vote necessary for changing the political status |
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 | none (territory of New Zealand) |
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 |
none (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | none | Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island (Olohega) in its 2006 draft constitution |
Economic aid - recipient | $47 million (1999 est.), mainly from Japan, Australia, China, and NZ | NA |
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. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 27.9 million kWh (1999) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production | 30 million kWh (1999) | NA kWh |
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: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; much of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying | limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
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 | Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4% | Polynesian |
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) | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.5408 (2006), 1.4203 (2005), 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003), 2.1622 (2002) |
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 |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General of New Zealand Anand SATYANAND (since 23 August 2006); New Zealand is represented by Administrator David PAYTON (since 17 October 2006)
head of government: Kolouei O'BRIEN (2006); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors), functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | $165 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) | $0 f.o.b. (2002) |
Exports - commodities | timber, fish, palm oil, cocoa, copra | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | Japan 35.5%, other Asian countries 47.3% (1999) | New Zealand (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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 | the flag of New Zealand is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $900 million (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
50% industry: 3.5% services: 46.5% (1995) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 8 00 S, 159 00 E | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
Geography - note | - | consists of three atolls (Atafu, Fakaofo, Nukunonu), each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over 3 m above sea level |
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.) | $969,200 c.i.f. (2002) |
Imports - commodities | plant and equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals, fuels, chemicals | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | Australia 38.5%, Singapore 15%, Japan 10.6%, NZ 6.2% (1999) | New Zealand (2006) |
Independence | 7 July 1978 (from UK) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | - |
Industries | fish (tuna), mining, timber | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | 24.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10% (1999 est.) | NA% |
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 | PIF (observer), SPC, UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 26,842 | 440 (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land:
1% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 88% other: 9% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
Languages | Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2% of population
note: 120 indigenous languages |
Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | English common law | New Zealand and local statutes |
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 |
unicameral General Fono (21 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Nukunonu has six seats, Fakaofo has seven seats, Atafu has eight seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono
elections: last held January 2005 (next to be held January 2008) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.55 years male: 69.12 years female: 74.1 years (2001 est.) |
total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
NA |
Location | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Oceania | Oceania |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
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) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun:
Solomon Islander(s) adjective: Solomon Islander |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | typhoons, but they are rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | NA |
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] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 480,442 (July 2001 est.) | 1,449 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.98% (2001 est.) | -0.018% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor, Yandina | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA (one radio station provides service to all islands) (2002) |
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% | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
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.) |
NA |
Suffrage | 21 years of age; universal | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
general assessment: modern satellite-based communications system
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: country code - 690; radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations |
Telephones - main lines in use | 8,000 (1997) | 300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 658 (1997) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (1997) | - |
Terrain | mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 4.65 children born/woman (2001 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | NA% | NA% |
Waterways | none | - |