Compare Solomon Islands (2005) - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2002)

Compare Solomon Islands (2005) z South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2002)

	Solomon Islands (2005)	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2002)

Administrative divisions	9 provinces and 1 capital territory; Central, Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Honiara, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Rennell and Bellona, Temotu, Western	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 41.9% (male 114,860/female 110,404) 15-64 years: 54.9% (male 149,400/female 145,970) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 8,371/female 9,027) (2005 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; timber; fish	-
Airports	33 (2004 est.)	none (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 31 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)	-
Area	total: 28,450 sq km land: 27,540 sq km water: 910 sq km	total: 3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Maryland	slightly larger than Rhode Island
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. Ethnic violence, government malfeasance, and endemic crime have undermined stability and civil society. In June 2003, Prime Minister Sir Allen KEMAKEZA sought the assistance of Australia in reestablishing law and order; the following month, an Australian-led multinational force arrived to restore peace and disarm ethnic militias. The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has been very effective in restoring law and order and rebuilding government institutions.	The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908 except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. The islands have large bird and seal populations and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 NM to 200 NM around each island.
Birth rate	30.74 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $49.7 million expenditures: $75.1 million, including capital expenditures of $0 (2003)	-
Capital	Honiara	-
Climate	tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow
Coastline	5,313 km	NA km
Constitution	7 July 1978	adopted 3 October 1985
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Solomon Islands former: British Solomon Islands	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none
Death rate	3.98 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-
Debt - external	$180.4 million (2002)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base
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 (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Collin David BECK chancery: 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400L, New York, NY 10017 telephone: [1] (212) 599-6192, 6193 FAX: [1] (212) 661-8925	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)
Disputes - international	Australian Defense Force leads the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) at the invitation of the Solomon Islands' Government to maintain civil and political order and reinforce regional security	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands occupied briefly by Argentina in 1982; islands continue to be claimed by Argentina
Economic aid - recipient	$28 million annually, mainly from Australia (2003 est.)	-
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. Prior to the arrival of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), severe ethnic violence, the closing of key businesses, and an empty government treasury culminated in economic collapse. RAMSI has enabled a return to law and order, a new period of economic stability, and modest growth as the economy rebuilds.	Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly.
Electricity - consumption	29.76 million kWh (2002)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	-
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2002)	-
Electricity - production	32 million kWh (2002)	NA kWh
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m
Environment - current issues	deforestation; soil erosion; many of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying	NA
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	-
Ethnic groups	Melanesian 94.5%, Polynesian 3%, Micronesian 1.2%, other 1.1%, unspecified 0.2% (1999 census)	-
Exchange rates	Solomon Islands dollars per US dollar - 7.4847 (2004), 7.5059 (2003), 6.7488 (2002), 5.278 (2001), 5.0889 (2000)	-
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Nathaniel WAENA (since 7 July 2004) head of government: Prime Minister Sir Allan KEMAKEZA (since 17 December 2001); Deputy Prime Minister Snyder RINI (since 17 December 2001) cabinet: Cabinet consists of 20 members 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	-
Exports - commodities	timber, fish, copra, palm oil, cocoa	-
Exports - partners	China 27.8%, South Korea 17.1%, Thailand 15.7%, Japan 9.7%, Philippines 4.8% (2004)	-
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	the flag of the UK is used
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 42% industry: 11% services: 47% (2000 est.)	-
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2002 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	5.8% (2003 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	8 00 S, 159 00 E	54 30 S, 37 00 W
Geography - note	strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea	the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 21st century, live on South Georgia
Government - note	June 2003 Prime Minister Sir Allan KEMAKEZA sought the intervention of Australia to aid in restoring order; parliament approved the request for intervention in July 2003; troops from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga arrived 24 July 2003. By the end of 2004 the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) had been scaled back to 302 police officers and 120 military in addition to civilian technical advisors.	-
Highways	total: 1,360 km paved: 34 km unpaved: 1,326 km (1999 est.)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	-
Imports	NA	-
Imports - commodities	food, plant and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals	-
Imports - partners	Australia 24.6%, Singapore 23.1%, New Zealand 7.7%, Fiji 4.8%, Papua New Guinea 4.7% (2004)	-
Independence	7 July 1978 (from UK)	-
Industrial production growth rate	NA	-
Industries	fish (tuna), mining, timber	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 21.29 deaths/1,000 live births male: 24.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	10% (2003 est.)	-
International organization participation	ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO	-
Irrigated land	NA	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Court of Appeal	-
Labor force	26,840 (1999)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 75%, industry 5%, services 20% (2000 est.)	-
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0.64% permanent crops: 2% other: 97.36% (2001)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (1998 est.)
Languages	Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population note: 120 indigenous languages	-
Legal system	English common law, which is widely disregarded	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court
Legislative branch	unicameral National Parliament (50 seats; members elected from single-member constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 5 December 2001 (next to be held not later than December 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - PAP 40%, SIACC 40%, PPP 20%; seats by party - PAP 16, SIACC 13, PPP 2, SILP 1, independents 18	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 72.66 years male: 70.16 years female: 75.28 years (2005 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	Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America
Map references	Oceania	Antarctic Region
Maritime claims	measured from claimed archipelagic baselines territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK
Military branches	no regular military forces; Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP)	-
Military expenditures - dollar figure	NA	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 7 July (1978)	Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)
Nationality	noun: Solomon Islander(s) adjective: Solomon Islander	-
Natural hazards	typhoons, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity	the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism
Natural resources	fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel	fish
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-
Political parties and leaders	Association of Independents [Snyder RINI]; People's Alliance Party or PAP [Allan KEMAKEZA]; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Mannaseh Damukana SOGAVARE]; Solomon Islands Alliance for Change Coalition or SIACC [Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU]; Solomon Islands Labor Party or SILP [Joses TUHANUKU] note: in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	538,032 (July 2005 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA	-
Population growth rate	2.68% (2005 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	Honiara, Malloco Bay, Shortland Harbor, Viru Harbor, Yandina	Grytviken
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1 (2004)	0 (2003)
Religions	Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	-
Suffrage	21 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: country code - 677; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken
Telephones - main lines in use	6,600 (2002)	-
Telephones - mobile cellular	1,000 (2002)	-
Television broadcast stations	-	0 (2003)
Terrain	mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls	most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes
Total fertility rate	4.04 children born/woman (2005 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	NA%	-
Waterways	-	none

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