Compare Solomon Islands (2007) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

Compare Solomon Islands (2007) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

	Solomon Islands (2007)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

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: 40.7% (male 117,739/female 113,125) 15-64 years: 55.9% (male 160,310/female 156,773) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 9,036/female 9,859) (2007 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; timber; cattle, pigs; fish	-
Airports	35 (2007)	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 33 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 23 (2007)	-
Area	total: 28,450 sq km land: 27,540 sq km water: 910 sq km	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Maryland	land area is about 0.3 times the size of 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 this archipelago. 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, then 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 generally been effective in restoring law and order and rebuilding government institutions.	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.
Birth rate	29.27 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $49.7 million expenditures: $75.1 million (2003)	-
Capital	name: Honiara geographic coordinates: 9 26 S, 159 57 E time difference: UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	-
Climate	tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	5,313 km	698 km
Constitution	7 July 1978	-
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Solomon Islands local long form: none local short form: Solomon Islands former: British Solomon Islands	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Death rate	3.87 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Debt - external	$166 million (2004)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
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)
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)
Disputes - international	since 2003, Australian Defense Force leads the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) to maintain civil and political order and reinforce regional security	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in the chain
Economic aid - recipient	$198.2 million annually, mainly from Australia (2005 est.)	-
Economy - overview	The bulk of the population depends on agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of its 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's efforts to restore law and order and economic stability have led to modest growth as the economy rebuilds.	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.
Electricity - consumption	55.8 million kWh (2005)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - production	60 million kWh (2005)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 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 - 7.3447 (2006), 7.5299 (2005), 7.4847 (2004), 7.5059 (2003), 6.7488 (2002)	-
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 Manasseh SOGAVARE (since 4 May 2006); note - Prime Minister Snyder RINI, elected on 18 April 2006 and sworn in on 20 April 2006, resigned on 26 April prior to no confidence vote in parliament; SOGAVARE elected on 4 May 2006 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 (eligible for a second term); 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) head of government: Commissioner Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
Exports	NA bbl/day	-
Exports - commodities	timber, fish, copra, palm oil, cocoa	-
Exports - partners	China 48%, South Korea 9.5%, Japan 8.9%, Thailand 4.7%, Italy 4.4%, Philippines 4.2% (2006)	-
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	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 42% industry: 11% services: 47% (2000 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	4.4% (2005 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	8 00 S, 159 00 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E
Geography - note	strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea; on 2 April 2007 an undersea earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale occurred 345 km WNW of the capital Honiara, the resulting tsunami devastated coastal areas of Western and Choiseul provinces with dozens of deaths and thousands dislocated; the provincial capital of Gizo was especially hard hit	archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Government - note	by 2006, the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) - originally made up of troops from Australia, NZ, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga - had been scaled back to 259 police officers and 20 military, in addition to civilian technical advisers; in response to rioting that broke out in mid-April 2006, Australia dispatched an additional 220 troops and 70 police officers to help restore order	-
Heliports	3 (2007)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	-
Imports	NA bbl/day	-
Imports - commodities	food, plant and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals	-
Imports - partners	Australia 25.5%, Singapore 23.5%, Japan 7.8%, NZ 5.1%, Fiji 4.2%, Papua New Guinea 4.1% (2006)	-
Independence	7 July 1978 (from UK)	-
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	-
Industries	fish (tuna), mining, timber	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 19.97 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.8 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	6.6% (2005 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, MIGA, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO	-
Irrigated land	NA	0 sq km
Judicial branch	Court of Appeal	-
Labor force	249,200 (1999)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 75% industry: 5% services: 20% (2000 est.)	-
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0.62% permanent crops: 2.04% other: 97.34% (2005)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Languages	Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages	-
Legal system	English common law, which is widely disregarded	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
Legislative branch	unicameral National Parliament (50 seats; members elected from single-member constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held on 5 April 2006 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - National Party 6.9%, PAP 6.3%, SIPRA 6.3%, Liberal 5%, Democratic 4.9%, SOCRED 4.3%, LAFARI 2.8%, independents 60.3%; seats by party - National Party 4, SIPRA 4, Democratic 3, PAP 3, LAFARI 2, Liberal 2, SOCRED 2, independents 30	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 73.16 years male: 70.64 years female: 75.81 years (2007 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	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Oceania	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	measured from claimed archipelagic baselines territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	no regular military forces; Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	3% (2006)	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 7 July (1978)	-
Nationality	noun: Solomon Islander(s) adjective: Solomon Islander	-
Natural hazards	typhoons, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis	NA
Natural resources	fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Political parties and leaders	Association of Independent Members or AIM [Thomas CHAN]; Christian Alliance Solomon Islands or CASI [Edward RONIA]; LAFARI Party [John GARO]; National Party [Francis HILLY]; People's Alliance Party or PAP [Sir Allan KEMAKEZA]; Social Credit Party or SOCRED [Manasseh Damukana SOGAVARE]; Solomon First Party [David QUAN]; Solomon Islands Democratic Party [Gabriel SURI]; Solomon Islands Labor Party or SILP [Joses TUHANUKU]; Solomon Islands Liberal Party [Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU]; Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement or SIPRA [Job D. TAUSINGA]; United Party [Sir Peter KENILOREA] note: in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM); Malaita Eagle Force (MEF); note - these rival armed ethnic factions crippled the Solomon Islands in a wave of violence from 1999 to 2003	-
Population	566,842 (July 2007 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia
Population below poverty line	NA%	-
Population growth rate	2.54% (2007 est.)	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1 (2004)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
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: 1.041 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.023 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.917 male(s)/female total population: 1.026 male(s)/female (2007 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: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	7,400 (2005)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	6,000 (2005)	-
Television broadcast stations	-	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	3.78 children born/woman (2007 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	NA%	-

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