Solomon Islands 
Facts
Population: 566,842 (July 2007 est.).
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.).
Population growth rate: 2.54% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 29.27 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 3.87 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
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.).
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.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 73.16 years
male: 70.64 years
female: 75.81 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 3.78 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA.
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA.
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA.
Nationality: noun: Solomon Islander(s)
adjective: Solomon Islander.
Ethnic groups: Melanesian 94.5%, Polynesian 3%, Micronesian 1.2%, other 1.1%, unspecified 0.2% (1999 census).
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).
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.
Literacy: definition: NA
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $800 million (2002 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 4.4% (2005 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $600 (2005 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42%
industry: 11%
services: 47% (2000 est.).
Labor force: 249,200 (1999).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 75%
industry: 5%
services: 20% (2000 est.).
Population below poverty line: NA%.
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.6% (2005 est.).
Unemployment rate: NA%.
Budget: revenues: $49.7 million
expenditures: $75.1 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2003).
Agriculture - products: cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; timber; cattle, pigs; fish.
Industries: fish (tuna), mining, timber.
Industrial production growth rate: NA%.
Electricity - production: 55 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - consumption: 51.15 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004).
Exports: $171 million f.o.b. (2004 est.).
Exports - commodities: timber, fish, copra, palm oil, cocoa.
Exports - partners: China 41.6%, South Korea 13.5%, Thailand 7%, Japan 6.4%, Philippines 4.6%, Italy 4.2% (2005).
Imports: $159 million f.o.b. (2004 est.).
Imports - commodities: food, plant and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals.
Imports - partners: Australia 26.2%, Singapore 25.7%, NZ 4.7%, Fiji 4.2%, Papua New Guinea 4.1% (2005).
Debt - external: $166 million (2004).
Economic aid - recipient: $122 million annually, mainly from Australia (2004 est.).
Currency (code): Solomon Islands dollar (SBD).
Exchange rates: Solomon Islands dollars per US dollar - 7.3447 (2006), 7.5299 (2005), 7.4847 (2004), 7.5059 (2003), 6.7488 (2002).
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Solomon Islands in the News
The Australian government justified its intervention, which came within months of the invasion of Iraq, by labeling the Solomon Islands a "failed state" and a potential source of terrorism.
The newly elected prime minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, hit out on May 7 at Australian leaders for interfering in the internal affairs of the nation.
Gunfire shook two South Pacific nations in late May and June, toppling the governments of Fiji and the Solomon Islands, leaving the regional press to uncover the festering racial and ethnic tension behind images of these tropical paradises.
In the Solomon Islands, decades-old ethnic tensions between Guadalcanalese and Malaitans living on Guadal-canal have exploded into attacks by Guadalcanalese militants on the Malaitans.
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