| Solomon Islands |  |  | | Basic facts | | | The country | |
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| | Capital: Honiara | | Area: 27,556 sq km; 10,639 sq miles | | Population: 470,000 (2000 Estimate) | | Urbanisation: Urban 18 per cent (1998 Estimate); Rural 82 per cent (1998 Estimate) | |
Economy
| Exports: Fish, timber, copra, palm oil, cocoa
| Industry: Copra, fish (tuna), coconut oil, palm oil, cocoa processing
| Agriculture: Cash crops: cacao, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, timber; other products: rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, cattle, pigs
| Currency: 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$), consisting of 100 cents
| Natural resources: Fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel
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The people
| Ethnic: Melanesian 93.0 per cent, Polynesian 4.0 per cent, Micronesian 1.5 per cent, European 0.8 per cent, Chinese 0.3 per cent, Other 0.4 per cent
| Language: Melanesian pidgin; English (official); and more than 80 indigenous languages. English is the official language, although Pidgin English is more widely spoken. More than 80 tribal languages are also used.
| Religion: Christian 95 per cent, Indigenous beliefs 5 per cent. More than 70 per cent of the population is Christian, with Church of Melanesians (Anglicans), Roman Catholics and South Sea Evangelicals predominating.
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The history
| Independence: 7 July 1978 (from the United Kingdom)
| Government: The country is governed according to a 1978 constitution. The chief Government official is a Prime Minister, who is chosen by the nation's democratically elected 38-member parliament. The British monarch is the nominal head of state and is represented by a governor-general.
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