View source for Solomon Islands

{{Short description|Country in Oceania}}
{{About|the island country in Melanesia|the archipelago which also contains [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville|Bougainville]]|Solomon Islands (archipelago)}}
{{Distinguish|Salomon Islands|Solomon Archipelago}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}

{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Solomon Islands
| native_name            = {{native name|pis|Solomon Aelan}}
| common_name            = Solomon Islands
| image_flag             = Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg
| image_coat             = Coat of arms of the Solomon Islands.svg
| coa_size               = 75
| image_map              = Solomon Islands on the globe (Oceania centered).svg
| image_map2             = 
| national_motto         = "To Lead is to Serve"
| national_anthem        = "[[God Save Our Solomon Islands]]"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.gov.sb/files/hansard/8th_session/1st_meeting/tuesday9may2006.pdf|title=National Parliament of Solomon Islands Daily Hansard: First Meeting – Eighth Session Tuesday 9th May 2006|year=2006|website=www.parliament.gov.sb|page=12|access-date=3 January 2019|archive-date=30 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030214914/http://www.parliament.gov.sb/files/hansard/8th_session/1st_meeting/tuesday9may2006.pdf}}</ref>
| capital                = [[Honiara]]
| languages_type         = Official language
| languages              = [[English language|English]]
| languages2_type        = [[Lingua franca]]
| languages2             = [[Pijin language|Pijin]]
| ethnic_groups          = {{unbulleted list| 95.3% [[Melanesians|Melanesian]] | 3.1% [[Polynesians|Polynesian]] | 1.2% [[Micronesian people|Micronesian]] | 0.4% [[Demographics of Solomon Islands|others]]}}
| ethnic_groups_year     = 2016
| religion               = {{plainlist|
{{Tree list}}
* 97.4% [[Christianity]]
** 78.6% [[Protestantism]]
** 19.5% [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]
** 1.9% other [[List of Christian denominations|Christian]]
{{Tree list/end}}
* 1.2% [[folk religion]]s
* 1.4% [[Religion in Solomon Islands|others]] / [[Irreligion|none]]
  }}
| religion_year          = 2016
| religion_ref           = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/solomon-islands#/?affiliations_religion_id=11&affiliations_year=2010&region_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123085650/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/solomon-islands#/?affiliations_religion_id=11&affiliations_year=2010&region_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2016|archive-date=23 January 2014|title = Religions in Solomon Islands &#124; PEW-GRF}}</ref>
| coordinates            = {{Coord|9|25|55|S|159|57|20|E|type:city}}
| largest_city           = capital
| government_type        = Unitary [[parliamentary constitutional monarchy]]
| leader_title1          = [[Monarchy of Solomon Islands|Monarch]]
| leader_name1           = [[Charles III]]
| leader_title2          = [[Governor-General of Solomon Islands|Governor-General]]
| leader_name2           = [[David Tiva Kapu]]
| leader_title3          = [[Prime Minister of Solomon Islands|Prime Minister]]
| leader_name3           = [[Jeremiah Manele]]
| legislature            = [[National Parliament of Solomon Islands|National Parliament]]
| sovereignty_type       = Independence
| established_event1     = from the [[United Kingdom]]
| established_date1      = 7 July 1978
| area_rank              = 139th <!-- Area rank should match [[List of countries and dependencies by area]] -->
| area_km2               = 28,896<ref name="Solomon Islands: Geography">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/#geography |title=Solomon Islands: Geography |publisher=CIA Factbook |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022092556/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/#geography |url-status=live }}</ref>
| area_sq_mi             = 11,157 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
| percent_water          = 3.2%
| population_estimate    = 734,887
| population_estimate_rank = 167th
| population_estimate_year = 2023
| population_census      = 721,956
| population_census_year = 2019
| population_density_km2 = 24.2
| population_density_sq_mi = 46.9 <!-- Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]] -->
| population_density_rank = 200th
| GDP_PPP                = {{increase}} $1.68 billion<ref name=imf2>{{cite web |title=World Economic Outlook database (Solomon Islands) |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=813,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2023&ey=2025&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |work=World Economic Outlook, April 2024 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |date=April 2024 |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426153807/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=813,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2023&ey=2025&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_rank           = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 2024
| GDP_PPP_per_capita     = {{increase}} $2,205.25<ref name=imf2/>
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 
| GDP_nominal            = {{increase}} $1.681 billion<ref name=imf2/>
| GDP_nominal_year       = 2024
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $2,205.25<ref name=imf2/>
| Gini                   = 37.1 <!--number only-->
| Gini_year              = 2013
| Gini_change            = steady<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| Gini_ref               = <ref name="wb-gini">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/gini-index-coefficient-distribution-of-family-income/country-comparison/ |title=Gini Index coefficient |publisher=CIA World Factbook |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717071854/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/gini-index-coefficient-distribution-of-family-income/country-comparison |url-status=live }}</ref>
| HDI_year               = 2023 <!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change             = increase <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI                    = 0.584 <!--number only-->
| HDI_ref                = <ref>{{Cite web|date= 6 May 2025 |title=Human Development Report 2023/2024|url= https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/SLB|access-date=6 May 2025|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] |language=en}}</ref>
| HDI_rank               = 156th
| demonym                = Solomon Islander<br />Solomonese
| currency               = [[Solomon Islands dollar]]
| currency_code          = SBD
| time_zone              = Solomon Islands Time
| utc_offset             = +11
| time_zone_DST          = Not observed
| utc_offset_DST         = 
| drives_on              = left
| calling_code           = [[+677]]
| cctld                  = [[.sb]]
}}

'''Solomon Islands''',<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/solomon-islands/solomon-islands-country-brief |title=Solomon Islands country brief |access-date=22 December 2022 |archive-date=22 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222042431/https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/solomon-islands/solomon-islands-country-brief |url-status=live }}</ref> also known simply as '''the Solomons''',<ref name="auto">John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim</ref> is an [[island country]] consisting of [[list of islands of Solomon Islands|six major islands and over 1,000 smaller islands]] in [[Melanesia]], [[Oceania]], to the north-east of the country of Australia. It is directly adjacent to the [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville]] to the west, [[Australia]] to the south-west, [[New Caledonia]] and [[Vanuatu]] to the south-east, [[Fiji]], [[Tuvalu]], and [[Wallis and Futuna]] to the east, and the [[Federated States of Micronesia]] and [[Nauru]] to the north. It has a total area of 28,896 square kilometres (11,157 sq mi),<ref name="Solomon Islands: Geography">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/#geography |title=Solomon Islands: Geography |publisher=CIA Factbook |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022092556/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/#geography |url-status=live }}</ref> and a population of 734,887 according to the official estimates for mid-2023.<ref>Solomon Islands National Statistical Office – estimate as at 1 July 2023.</ref> Its capital and largest city, [[Honiara]], is located on the largest island, [[Guadalcanal]]. The country takes its name from the wider area of the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands archipelago]], which is a collection of [[Melanesia]]n islands that also includes the [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville]] (currently a part of [[Papua New Guinea]]), but excludes the [[Santa Cruz Islands]].

The islands have been settled since at least some time between 30,000 and 28,800 BC, with later waves of migrants, notably the [[Lapita culture|Lapita]] people, mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population. In 1568, the Spanish navigator [[Álvaro de Mendaña]] was the first European to visit them.<ref name="Princeton University Library">{{cite web |url=http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/mendana-queiros/mendana-queiros.html |title=Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira, 1542?–1595 |publisher=Princeton University Library |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-date=17 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417093613/http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/mendana-queiros/mendana-queiros.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Though not named by Mendaña, it is believed that the islands were called "the Solomons" by those who later received word of his voyage and mapped his discovery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://library.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/mendana-queiros/mendana-queiros.html|title=Alvaro de Mendan~a de Neira and Pedro Fernandes de Queirós|website=library.princeton.edu|access-date=9 August 2022|archive-date=9 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809162303/https://library.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/mendana-queiros/mendana-queiros.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Mendaña returned decades later, in 1595, and another Spanish expedition, led by Portuguese navigator [[Pedro Fernandes de Queirós]], visited the Solomons in 1606.

In June 1893, Captain [[Herbert William Sumner Gibson|Herbert Gibson]] of {{HMS|Curacoa|1878|6}} declared the southern Solomon Islands a [[British protectorate]].<ref name="BRL6">{{cite book |last1=Lawrence |first1=David Russell |title=The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific |date=October 2014 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-925022-03-2 |chapter=Chapter 6 The British Solomon Islands Protectorate: Colonialism without capital |chapter-url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch063.pdf |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925030350/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch063.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>''Commonwealth and Colonial Law'' by [[Kenneth Roberts-Wray]], London, Stevens, 1966. P. 897</ref> During [[World War II]], the [[Solomon Islands campaign]] (1942–1945) saw fierce fighting between the United States, [[British Empire in World War II|British Imperial forces]], and the [[Empire of Japan]], including the [[Battle of Guadalcanal]].

The official name of the then-British administration was changed from the "[[British Solomon Islands|British Solomon Islands Protectorate]]" to "The Solomon Islands" in 1975, and self-government was achieved the following year. Independence was obtained, and the name changed to just "Solomon Islands" (without the [[definite article]]), in 1978. At independence, Solomon Islands became a [[constitutional monarchy]]. The [[Monarchy of Solomon Islands|King of Solomon Islands]] is [[Charles III]], who is represented in the country by a [[Governor-General of Solomon Islands|governor-general]] appointed on the advice of the [[Prime Minister of Solomon Islands|prime minister]].

==Name==
In 1568, the Spanish navigator [[Álvaro de Mendaña]] was the first European to visit the Solomon Islands archipelago but did not name the archipelago at that time, only certain individual islands. Though not named by Mendaña, the islands were subsequently referred to as ''Islas Salomón'' (Solomon Islands) by others following reports of his voyage optimistically conflated with stories of the wealthy [[Bible|biblical]] [[Solomon|King Solomon]], believing them to be the Bible-mentioned city of [[Ophir]].<ref name="Princeton University Library"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1978/apr/27/solomon-islands-bill-hl |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=27 April 1978 |title=Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS, speaking in the House of Lords, HL Deb 27 April 1978 vol 390 cc2003-19 |access-date=19 November 2014 |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616231333/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1978/apr/27/solomon-islands-bill-hl |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>HOGBIN, H. In, ''Experiments in Civilization: The Effects of European Culture on a Native Community of the Solomon Islands'', New York: Schocken Books, 1970</ref> During most of the colonial period, the territory's official name was the "British Solomon Islands Protectorate" until independence in 1978, when it was changed to "Solomon Islands" as defined in the Constitution of Solomon Islands and as a [[Commonwealth realm]] under this name.<ref>'International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law: Instalment 37' edited by K. Zweigert, S-65</ref><ref>The British Solomon Islands Protectorate (Name of Territory) Order 1975</ref>

The definite article, "the", has not been part of the country's official name since independence but remains for all references to the area before independence and is sometimes used, both within and outside the country. Colloquially, the islands are referred to simply as "the Solomons".<ref name="auto"/>

==History==
{{Main|History of Solomon Islands}}

===Prehistory===
[[File:El viajero ilustrado, 1878 602320 (3810561161).jpg|thumb|Solomon Islanders]]

The Solomons were first settled by people coming from the [[Bismarck Islands]] and [[New Guinea]] during the [[Pleistocene]] era {{Circa}} 30,000–28,000 BC, based on archaeological evidence found at [[Kilu Cave]] on [[Buka Island]] in the [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville]], [[Papua New Guinea]].<ref name="Review">{{cite web |last1=Walter |first1=Richard |last2=Sheppard |first2=Peter |title=A review of Solomon Island archaeology |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275213610 |website=Research Gate |date=February 2009| access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref><ref>Sheppard, Peter J. "Lapita Colonization Across the Near/Remote Boundary" ''Current Anthropology'', Vol 53, No. 6 (Dec 2011), p. 800</ref> At this point sea levels were lower and Buka and Bougainville were physically joined to the southern Solomons in one landmass ("Greater Bougainville"), though it is unclear precisely how far south these early settlers spread as no other archaeological sites from this period have been found.<ref name="Review"/> As sea levels rose as the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]] ended {{Circa}} 4000–3500 BC, the Greater Bougainville landmass split into the numerous islands that exist today.<ref name="Review"/><ref name="Exploration">{{cite web |title=Exploration |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000247b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027171200/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000247b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Evidence of later human settlements dating to {{Circa}} 4500–2500 BC have been found at Poha Cave and Vatuluma Posovi Cave on [[Guadalcanal]].<ref name="Review"/> The ethnic identity of these early peoples is unclear, though it is thought that the speakers of the [[Central Solomon languages]] (a self-contained language family unrelated to other languages spoken in the Solomons) likely represent the descendants of these earlier settlers.

From {{Circa}} 1200–800 BC, [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] [[Lapita culture|Lapita]] people began arriving from the Bismarcks with their characteristic [[ceramic]]s.<ref name="Review"/><ref>[[Patrick Vinton Kirch|Kirch, Patrick Vinton]] (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=qQ0ApgIOPtEC&pg=PP1 ''On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands'']. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-23461-8}}</ref> Evidence for their presence has been found across the Solomon archipelago, as well at the [[Santa Cruz Islands]] in the south-east, with different islands being settled at different times.<ref name="Review"/> Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Lapita people "leap-frogged" the already inhabited main Solomon Islands and settled first on the Santa Cruz group, with later back-migrations bringing their culture to the main group.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walter |first1=Richard |last2=Sheppard |first2=Peter |title=A Revised Model of Solomon Islands Culture History |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |year=2001 |pages=27–295 |citeseerx=10.1.1.580.3329 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Ricaut | first1=François-Xavier | last2=Thomas | first2=Timothy | last3=Mormina | first3=Maru | last4=Cox | first4=Murray P. | last5=Bellatti | first5=Maggie | last6=Foley | first6=Robert A. | last7=Mirazon-Lahr | first7=Marta |title=Ancient Solomon Islands mtDNA: assessing Holocene settlement and the impact of European contact | journal=Journal of Archaeological Science | year=2010 | volume=37 | issue=6 | pages=1161–1170 | doi=10.1016/j.jas.2009.12.014 | bibcode=2010JArSc..37.1161R }}</ref>  These peoples mixed with the native Solomon Islanders and over time their languages became dominant, with most of the 60–70 languages spoken there belonging to the [[Oceanic languages|Oceanic]] branch of the [[Austronesian language family]].<ref>''Ples Blong Iumi: Solomon Islands the Past Four Thousand Years'', Hugh Laracy (ed.), University of the South Pacific, 1989, {{ISBN|982-02-0027-X}}</ref> Then, as now, communities tended to exist in small villages practising subsistence agriculture, though extensive inter-island trade networks existed.<ref name="Review"/> Numerous ancient burial sites and other evidence of permanent settlements have been found from the period AD 1000–1500 throughout the islands, one of the most prominent examples being the Roviana cultural complex centred on the islands off the southern coast of [[New Georgia]], where a large number of megalithic shrines and other structures were constructed in the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_109_2000/Volume_109,_No._1/The_archaeology_of_head-hunting_in_Roviana_Lagoon,_New_Georgia,_by_Peter_J._Sheppard,_Richard_Walter_and_Takuya_Nagaoka,_p_9-38/p1|author1=Peter J. Shepherd|author2=Richard Walter|author3=Takuya Nagaoka|title=The Archaeology of Head-Hunting in Roviana Lagoon, New Georgia|publisher=The Journal of the Polynesian Society|access-date=1 September 2020|archive-date=21 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421031704/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_109_2000/Volume_109%2C_No._1/The_archaeology_of_head-hunting_in_Roviana_Lagoon%2C_New_Georgia%2C_by_Peter_J._Sheppard%2C_Richard_Walter_and_Takuya_Nagaoka%2C_p_9-38/p1}}</ref> The people of Solomon Islands were notorious for [[headhunting]] and [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] before the arrival of the Europeans.<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YM18gG16Z7YC&pg=PA103 From primitive to postcolonial in Melanesia and anthropology]''". Bruce M. Knauft (1999). [[University of Michigan Press]]. p. 103. {{ISBN|0-472-06687-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790434,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112210314/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790434,00.html |archive-date=12 January 2008 |title=King of the Cannibal Isles |magazine=Time |date=11 May 1942}}</ref>

===Arrival of Europeans (1568–1886)===
[[File:Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra.png|thumb|left|upright|[[Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira]] (1542–1595), the first European to sight the Solomons]]

The first European to visit the islands was the Spanish navigator [[Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira]], sailing from [[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]] in 1568.<ref name="Princeton">{{cite web|url=http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/mendana-queiros/mendana-queiros.html|title=Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira, 1542?–1595|publisher=Princeton University Library|access-date=8 February 2013|archive-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417093613/http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/mendana-queiros/mendana-queiros.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Landing on [[Santa Isabel Island|Santa Isabel]] on 7 February, Mendaña explored several of the other islands including [[Makira]], Guadalcanal and [[Malaita]].<ref name="Princeton"/><ref>Sharp, Andrew ''The discovery of the Pacific Islands'' Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p.45.</ref><ref name="DRL">{{cite book |last1=Lawrence |first1=David Russell |title=The Naturalist and His 'beautiful Islands': Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific |date=2014 |chapter=3. Commerce, trade and labour|pages=35–62 |publisher=ANU Press |jstor=j.ctt13wwvg4.8 |isbn=978-1-925022-03-2 }}</ref> Relations with the native Solomon Islanders were initially cordial, although they often soured as time went by.<ref name="Princeton"/> As a result, Mendaña returned to Peru in August 1568.<ref name="Princeton"/> He returned to the Solomons with a larger crew on a second voyage in 1595, aiming to colonise the islands.<ref name="Princeton"/> They landed on [[Nendö]] in the Santa Cruz Islands and established a small settlement at Gracioso Bay.<ref name="Princeton"/> However, the settlement failed due to poor relations with the native peoples and epidemics of disease amongst the Spanish which caused numerous deaths, with Mendaña himself dying in October.<ref name="Princeton"/><ref name="DRL"/> The new commander [[Pedro Fernandes de Queirós]] thus decided to abandon the settlement and they sailed north to the Spanish territory of the [[Philippines]].<ref name="Princeton"/> Queirós later returned to the area in 1606, where he sighted [[Tikopia]] and [[Taumako]], though this voyage was primarily to Vanuatu in the search of [[Terra Australis]].<ref name="DRL"/><ref>Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. ''La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605–1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617–1627)'' Cambridge, 1966, p.39, 62.</ref>

Save for [[Abel Tasman]]'s sighting of the remote [[Ontong Java Atoll]] in 1648, no European sailed to the Solomons again until 1767, when the British explorer [[Philip Carteret]] sailed by the Santa Cruz Islands, Malaita, and, continuing further north, Bougainville and the Bismarck Islands.<ref name="Exploration"/><ref name="DRL"/> French explorers also reached the Solomons, with [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]] naming [[Choiseul Island|Choiseul]] in 1768 and [[Jean-François de Surville]] exploring the islands in 1769.<ref name="Exploration"/> In 1788 [[John Shortland (Royal Navy officer)|John Shortland]], captaining a supply ship for Britain's new [[Australia]]n colony at [[Botany Bay]], sighted the [[Treasury Islands|Treasury]] and [[Shortland Islands]].<ref name="Exploration"/><ref name="DRL"/> That same year the French explorer [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse|Jean-François de La Pérouse]] was wrecked on [[Vanikoro]]; a rescue expedition led by [[Bruni d'Entrecasteaux]] sailed to Vanikoro but found no trace of La Pérouse.<ref name="Exploration"/><ref>{{cite web|title=The fate of La Perouse|url=http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/society_art/french/perouse/index.html|work=Discover Collections|publisher=State Library of NSW|access-date=7 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517004231/http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/society_art/french/perouse/index.html|archive-date=17 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="NLA">{{cite web|url=http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2002/sep02/article5.html|title=In search of Lapérouse|last=Duyker|first=Edward|date=September 2002|work=NLA news Volume XII Number 12|publisher=National Library of Australia|access-date=1 September 2020|archive-date=19 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519235338/http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2002/sep02/article5.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The fate of La Pérouse was not confirmed until 1826, when the English merchant [[Peter Dillon]] visited Tikopia and discovered items belonging to La Pérouse in the possession of the local people, confirmed by the subsequent voyage of [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]] in 1828.<ref name="DRL"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.laperouse-france.fr/spip.php?rubrique67 |title=After Vanikoro-In Search of the Lapérouse Expedition (Lapérouse Museum) |location=[[Albi, France]] |publisher=laperouse-france.fr |access-date=24 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005173352/http://www.laperouse-france.fr/spip.php?rubrique67 |archive-date=5 October 2011 }}</ref>

Some of the earliest regular foreign visitors to the islands were [[whaling]] vessels from Britain, the United States and Australia.<ref name="DRL"/><ref>Robert Langdon (ed.) ''Where the whalers went: an index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century'' (1984), Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, pp.229–232 {{ISBN|0-86784-471-X}}.</ref> They came for food, wood and water from late in the 18th century, establishing a trading relationship with the Solomon Islanders and later taking aboard islanders to serve as crewmen on their ships.<ref>Judith A. Bennett, ''Wealth of the Solomons: a history of a Pacific archipelago, 1800–1978'', (1987), Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, pp.24–31 & Appendix 3.{{ISBN|0-8248-1078-3}}</ref> Relations between the islanders and visiting seamen were not always good and sometimes there was bloodshed.<ref name="DRL"/><ref>Bennett, 27–30; Mark Howard, "Three Sydney whaling captains of the 1830s", ''The Great Circle'', 40 (2) December 2018, 83–84.</ref> A knock-on effect of the greater European contact was the spread of diseases to which local peoples had no immunity, as well as a shift in the balance of power between coastal groups, who had access to European weapons and technology, and inland groups who did not.<ref name="DRL"/> In the second half of the 1800s more traders arrived seeking turtleshells, [[sea cucumbers]], [[copra]] and [[sandalwood]], occasionally establishing semi-permanent trading stations.<ref name="DRL"/> However, initial attempts at more long-term settlement, such as [[Benjamin Boyd]]'s colony on Guadalcanal in 1851, were unsuccessful.<ref name="DRL"/><ref>{{cite AuDB|id2=boyd-benjamin-ben-1815|title=Boyd, Benjamin (1801–1851)|last=Walsh|first=G P||year=1966|pages=140–142|access-date=7 April 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Solomon Islands canoe crop.jpg|thumb|right|Solomon Island warriors, armed with spears, on board an ornamented war canoe (1895)]]
Beginning in the 1840s, and accelerating in the 1860s, islanders began to be recruited (or often kidnapped) as labourers for the colonies in Australia, Fiji and Samoa in a process known as "[[blackbirding]]".<ref name="DRL"/><ref name="UN">{{cite web |title=Issue on the Solomon Islands |url=https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/sites/www.un.org.dppa.decolonization/files/decon_num_12.pdf |publisher=UN Department of Political Affairs |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022121754/https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/sites/www.un.org.dppa.decolonization/files/decon_num_12.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Conditions for workers were often poor and exploitative, and local islanders often [[List of massacres in the Solomon Islands|violently]] attacked any Europeans who appeared on their island.<ref name="DRL"/> The blackbird trade was chronicled by prominent Western writers, such as [[Joe Melvin]] and [[Jack London]].<ref name=adb>{{cite book|last1=Corris|first1=Peter|title=Melvin, Joseph Dalgarno (1852–1909)|chapter=Joseph Dalgarno Melvin (1852–1909)|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/melvin-joseph-dalgarno-7556/text13185|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=9 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109134729/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/melvin-joseph-dalgarno-7556/text13185|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CruiseSnark">{{cite book |last=London |first=Jack |title=The Cruise of the Snark |year=1911 |publisher=The Macmillan company |url=https://archive.org/details/cruisesnark00londgoog|access-date=16 January 2008}}</ref> Christian missionaries also began visiting the Solomons from the 1840s, beginning with an attempt by French Catholics under Jean-Baptiste Epalle to establish a mission on Santa Isabel, which was abandoned after Epalle was killed by islanders in 1845.<ref name="Exploration"/><ref name="UN"/> Anglican missionaries began arriving from the 1850s, followed by other denominations, over time gaining a large number of converts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000247b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |title=Religion |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027171200/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000247b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Colonial period (1886–1978)===
{{Main|British Solomon Islands|British Western Pacific Territories|German New Guinea}}

====Establishment of colonial rule====
In 1884, [[German Empire|Germany]] annexed northeast New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago and, in 1886, extended its rule over the [[North Solomon Islands]], covering Bougainville, Buka, Choiseul, Santa Isabel, the Shortlands and Ontong Java atoll.<ref>{{cite web |title=German New Guinea |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000117b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027182613/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000117b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1886 Germany and Britain confirmed this arrangement, with the British gaining a "sphere of influence" over the southern Solomons.<ref name="Sack">{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Sack|editor-first1=Anthony|editor-last1=Regan|editor-first2=Helga-Maria|editor-last2=Griffin|chapter=German Colonial Rule in the Northern Solomons|year=2005|title=Bougainville Before the Conflict|pages=77–107|publisher=Stranger Journalism|jstor=j.ctt1bgzbgg.14|isbn=978-1-921934-23-0|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bgzbgg.14 |archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416202057/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bgzbgg.14|url-status=live}}</ref> Germany paid little attention to the islands, with German authorities based in New Guinea not even visiting the area until 1888.<ref name="Sack"/> The German presence, along with pressure from the missionaries to rein in the excesses of the coercive labour recruitment practices, known as [[blackbirding]], prompted the British to declare a protectorate over the southern Solomons in March 1893, initially encompassing New Georgia, Malaita, Guadalcanal, Makira, Mono Island and the central Nggela Islands.<ref name="BRL6"/><ref name="Proclamation">{{cite web |title=British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Proclamation of |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000042b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019074119/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000042b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 1896, colonial official [[Charles Morris Woodford]] was appointed as the British Acting Deputy Commissioner, and he was confirmed in his position in the following year. The Colonial Office appointed Woodford as the Resident Commissioner in the Solomon Islands on 17 February 1897. He was directed to control the coercive labour recruitment practices, known as [[blackbirding]], operating in the Solomon Island waters and to stop the illegal trade in firearms.<ref name="BRL6"/><ref name="Proclamation"/> Woodford set up an administrative headquarters on the small island of [[Tulagi]], having proclaimed it the protectorate capital in 1896.<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=https://solomons.gov.sb/about-solomon-islands/|title=About Solomon Islands: History|publisher=Solomon Islands Government|location=Solomon Islands|access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref> and in 1898 and 1899 the [[Rennell and Bellona Province|Rennell and Bellona Islands]], [[Sikaiana]], the Santa Cruz Islands and outlying islands such as Anuta, Fataka, Temotu and Tikopia were added to the protectorate.<ref name="Proclamation"/><ref name="BRL7a">{{cite book |last1= Lawrence |first1= David Russell |title= The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific |date= October 2014 |publisher= ANU Press |isbn= 978-1-925022-03-2 |pages= 198–206 |chapter= Chapter 7 Expansion of the Protectorate 1898–1900 |chapter-url= http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch073.pdf |access-date= 3 September 2020 |archive-date= 27 October 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201027204451/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch073.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> In 1900, under the terms of the [[Tripartite Convention|Tripartite Convention of 1899]], Germany ceded the Northern Solomon to Britain, minus Buka and Bougainville, the latter becoming part of [[German New Guinea]] despite geographically belonging to the Solomons archipelago.<ref name="UN"/> This was when the Shortlands, Choiseul, Santa Isabel and Ontong Java became part of the Solomons.<ref name=history/>

Woodford's underfunded administration struggled to maintain law and order on the remote colony.<ref name="BRL6"/> From the late 1890s until the early 1900s, there were numerous instances of European merchants and colonists being killed by islanders; the British response was to deploy [[Royal Navy]] warships to launch [[punitive expedition]]s against the villages which were responsible for the murders.<ref name="BRL6"/> [[Arthur William Mahaffy|Arthur Mahaffy]] was appointed at the Deputy Commissioner in January 1898.<ref name="AWM">{{cite web|last= |first= |title= Mahaffy, Arthur (1869–1919)|publisher= Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893–1978|page= |year= 2003|url= https://aim25.com/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=17794&inst_id=126&nv1=search&nv2=|access-date= 24 March 2024|archive-date= 25 June 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210625124020/https://aim25.com/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=17794&inst_id=126&nv1=search&nv2=|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="BRL7a"/> He was based in [[Gizo, Solomon Islands|Gizo]], his duties included suppressing [[Headhunting#Melanesia|headhunting]] in [[New Georgia]] and neighbouring islands.<ref name="BRL7a"/>

The British colonial government attempted to encourage the establishment of [[plantation]]s by colonists; however, by 1902, there were only about 80 European colonists residing on the islands.<ref name="BRL9-1">{{cite book |last1= Lawrence |first1= David Russell |title= The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific |date= October 2014 |publisher= ANU Press |isbn= 978-1-925022-03-2 |pages= 245–249 |chapter= Chapter 9 The plantation economy |chapter-url= http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch092.pdf |access-date= 3 September 2020 |archive-date= 30 March 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190330035755/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch092.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> Attempts at economic development met with mixed results, though [[Levers Pacific Plantations]] Ltd., a subsidiary of [[Lever Brothers]], managed to establish a profitable copra plantation industry which employed many islanders.<ref name="BRL9-1"/> Small scale mining and logging industries were also developed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Forestry |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000113b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027171408/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000113b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mining |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000205b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027171606/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000205b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the colony remained something of a backwater, with education, medical and other social services being under the administration of the missionaries.<ref name="UN"/> Violence also continued, most notably with the [[Malaita massacre|murder]] of colonial administrator [[William R. Bell]] by [[Basiana]] of the [[Kwaio people]] on Malaita in 1927, as Bell attempted to enforce an unpopular head tax. Several Kwaio were killed in a retaliatory raid, and Basiana and his accomplices executed.<ref name="WRB">{{cite web |url=http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000385b.htm |title=Bell, William Robert (1876–1927) |access-date=24 March 2014 |publisher=Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893–1978 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402153137/http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000385b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

====World War II====
{{main|Solomon Islands campaign|Japanese occupation of the Solomon Islands}}

With the outbreak of the Second World War most planters and traders were evacuated to Australia and most cultivation ceased. Some of the most intense fighting of the war occurred in the Solomons.<ref name="ANU">{{cite web |title=Solomon Islanders in World War II |url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4039/html/ch01.xhtml?referer=4039&page=6 |publisher=Australian National University |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027212412/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4039/html/ch01.xhtml?referer=4039&page=6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1942 until the end of 1943, the Solomon Islands were the scene of several major land, sea, and air battles between the Allies and the [[Empire of Japan]]'s armed forces.<ref name="NL">{{cite web |title=The Solomon Islands Campaign: Guadalcanal |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/solomon-islands-campaign-guadalcanal |website=National World War II Museum |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926084512/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/solomon-islands-campaign-guadalcanal |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in 1941, war was declared between Japan and the Allied Powers, and the Japanese, seeking to protect their southern flank, invaded South-East Asia and New Guinea. In May 1942, the Japanese launched [[Operation Mo]], [[Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942)|occupying Tulagi]] and most of the western Solomon Islands, including Guadalcanal where they began work on an airstrip.<ref name="ANU"/> The British administration had already relocated to [[Auki]], Malaita, and most of the European population had been evacuated to Australia.<ref name="ANU"/> The Allies [[Guadalcanal campaign|counter-invaded Guadalcanal]] in August 1942, followed by the [[New Georgia campaign]] in 1943, both of which were turning points in the [[Pacific War]], stopping and then countering the Japanese advance.<ref name="NL"/> The conflict resulted in thousands of Allied, Japanese and civilian deaths, and extensive destruction across the islands.  The Solomon Islands Campaign cost the Allies approximately 7,100 men, 29 ships, and 615 aircraft. The Japanese lost 31,000 men, 38 ships, and 683 aircraft.<ref name="NL"/>

[[Coastwatchers]] from the Solomon Islands played a major role in providing intelligence and rescuing other Allied servicemen.<ref name="ANU"/> U.S. Admiral [[William Halsey]], the commander of Allied forces during the Battle for Guadalcanal, recognised the coastwatchers' contributions by stating "The coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific."<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extContent/wapa/guides/first/sec6.htm "Operation Watchtower: Assault on the Solomons"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509171601/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extContent/wapa/guides/first/sec6.htm |date=9 May 2019 }} ''War in the Pacific: The First Year''. U.S. [[National Park Service]], 2004.</ref> In addition, around 3,200 men served in the [[Solomon Islands Labour Corps]] and some 6,000 enlisted in the [[British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force]], with their exposure to the Americans leading to several social and political transformations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/wapa/encounters/encounters5.htm|title=Pacific Memories: Island Encounters of World War II|access-date=12 June 2007}}{{dead link|date=June 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> For example, the Americans had extensively developed [[Honiara]], with the capital shifting there from Tulagi in 1952, and the [[Pijin language]] was heavily influenced by the communication between Americans and the Islands inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pidgin.ca/www/History/History.htm |title=Solomon Islands Pijin – History |access-date=12 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513062414/http://www.pidgin.ca/www/History/History.htm |archive-date=13 May 2007 }}</ref>

{{main|Solomon Islands campaign|Guadalcanal campaign}}

The most significant of the Allied Forces' operations against the [[Japanese Imperial]] Forces was launched on 7 August 1942, with simultaneous naval bombardments and amphibious landings on the [[Florida Islands]] at [[Tulagi]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mylescfoxdd829.net/TulagiBattle.htm|title=The Tulagi Battle|publisher=Mylescfoxdd829.net|date=7 August 1942|access-date=7 July 2011|archive-date=28 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328134646/http://mylescfoxdd829.net/TulagiBattle.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and Red Beach on [[Guadalcanal]].
	
The [[Battle of Guadalcanal]] became an important and bloody campaign fought in the Pacific War as the Allies began to repulse the Japanese expansion. Of strategic importance during the war were the [[coastwatchers]] operating in remote locations, often on Japanese held islands, providing early warning and intelligence of Japanese naval, army and aircraft movements during the campaign.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2002/aug/guadalcanal/index.html The Battle for Guadalcanal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021140657/http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2002/aug/guadalcanal/index.html|date=21 October 2013}}. NPR: National Public Radio.</ref>

Islanders [[Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana]] were the first to find the shipwrecked [[John F. Kennedy]] and his crew of the [[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109|PT-109]]. They suggested writing a rescue message on a coconut, and delivered the coconut by paddling a dugout canoe. The coconut was later kept on Kennedy's desk when he became [[President of the United States]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-jfk-kept-coconut-shell-white-house-desk-180964263/|title=Why JFK Kept a Coconut Shell in the Oval Office|magazine=Smithsonian Magazine|date=2 August 2017|access-date=3 June 2018|archive-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122135723/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-jfk-kept-coconut-shell-white-house-desk-180964263/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/RlXdfYlMAUasL4z6S3vyCg.aspx|title=Coconut Bearing Rescue Message, MO 63.4852|website=JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM|access-date=3 June 2018|archive-date=9 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509045849/https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/RlXdfYlMAUasL4z6S3vyCg.aspx}}</ref>
<gallery widths="180" class="center">
File:USS Enterprise (CV-6) under attack and burning during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942 (NH 97778).jpg|The aircraft carrier {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6}} under aerial attack during the [[Battle of the Eastern Solomons]]
File:Marines rest in the field on Guadalcanal.jpg|[[US Marines]] rest during the 1942 [[Guadalcanal campaign]]
File:American forces landing at Rendova Island.JPEG|American forces [[Landings on Rendova|landing at Rendova Island]]
File:Cactus Air Force aircraft at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, circa in 1942 (74250534).gif|The [[Cactus Air Force]] at [[Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)|Henderson Field]], Guadalcanal in October 1942
File:Vousa.gif|The coastwatcher [[Jacob C. Vouza]] on Guadalcanal
File:GuadCoastwatcher.gif|Members of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force in 1943
</gallery>

====Post-war period and the lead-up to independence====
In 1943–44 the Malaita-based chief Aliki Nono'ohimae had founded the [[Maasina Ruru|Maasina Rule]] movement (aka the Native Council Movement, literally "Brotherhood Rule"), and was later joined by another chief, Hoasihau.<ref name="Maasina">{{cite web |title=Maasina Rule |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000181b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804222316/http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000181b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Their aims were to improve the economic well-being of native Solomon Islanders, gain greater autonomy and to act as a liaison between Islanders and the colonial administration.<ref name="UN"/><ref name="ANU-C4">{{cite web |title=Solomon Islanders in World War II – 4. Impacts of the War |url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4039/html/ch04.xhtml?referer=4039&page=9 |publisher=Australian National University |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027215336/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4039/html/ch04.xhtml?referer=4039&page=9 |url-status=live }}</ref> The movement was especially popular with ex-Labour Corp members and after the war its numbers swelled, with the movement spreading to other islands.<ref name="ANU-C4"/> Alarmed at the growth of the movement, the British launched "Operation De-Louse" in 1947–8 and arrested most of the Maasina leaders.<ref name="ANU-C4"/><ref name="Maasina"/> Malaitans then organised a campaign of civil disobedience, prompting mass arrests.<ref name="Maasina"/> In 1950 a new Resident Commissioner, Henry Gregory-Smith, arrived and released the leaders of the movement, though the disobedience campaign continued.<ref name="Maasina"/> In 1952 new High Commissioner (later Governor) [[Robert Christopher Stafford Stanley|Robert Stanley]] met with leaders of the movement and agreed to the creation of an island council.<ref name="Maasina"/><ref>{{cite web | publisher=The Commonwealth | title=Solomon Islands: History | url=https://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/solomon-islands/history | access-date=30 December 2021 | archive-date=23 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200123132336/https://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/solomon-islands/history }}</ref> In late 1952 Stanley formally moved the capital of the territory to Honiara.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stanley, Robert Christopher Stafford|url=http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000695b.htm|website=Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893–1978|publisher=© Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia, 1893–1978, 2013|access-date=31 August 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924103657/http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000695b.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 1950s the possibility of transferring sovereignty of the islands to Australia was discussed by the British and Australian governments; however, the Australians were reluctant to accept the financial burden of administering the territory and the idea was shelved.<ref name=thompson>{{cite journal|title=Conflict or co-operation? Britain and Australia in the South Pacific, 1950–60|first=Roger|last=Thompson|year=1995|journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History|volume=23|issue=2|pages=301–316|doi=10.1080/03086539508582954}}</ref><ref name=goldsworthy>{{cite journal|title=British Territories and Australian Mini-Imperialism in the 1950s|first=David|last=Goldsworthy|year=1995|journal=Australian Journal of Politics and History|volume=41|issue=3|pages=356–372|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8497.1995.tb01266.x}}</ref>

With decolonisation sweeping the colonial world, and Britain no longer willing (or able) to bear the financial burdens of the Empire, the colonial authorities sought to prepare the Solomons for self-governance. Appointed Executive and [[Legislative Council of the Solomon Islands|Legislative Councils]] were established in 1960, with a degree of elected Solomon Islander representation introduced in 1964 and then extended in 1967.<ref name="UN"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Self rule starting in Solomon Islands|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VZxYAAAAIBAJ&pg=4718%2C4136204|website=Virgin Islands Daily News|access-date=31 August 2015|date=29 November 1960|archive-date=2 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202055333/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VZxYAAAAIBAJ&pg=4718%2C4136204|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-326212346/view?partId=nla.obj-326215032#page/n8/mode/1up Busy end-of-year for Islands legislature] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023082742/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-326212346/view?partId=nla.obj-326215032#page/n8/mode/1up |date=23 October 2020 }} ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1967, p7</ref> A new constitution was drawn up in 1970 which merged the two Councils into one [[Governing Council of the Solomon Islands|Governing Council]], though the British Governor still retained extensive powers.<ref name="UN"/><ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-331579987/view?partId=nla.obj-331695594#page/n22/mode/1up Islanders feel their way in the new Solomons council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023090301/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-331579987/view?partId=nla.obj-331695594#page/n22/mode/1up |date=23 October 2020 }} ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1970, p19</ref> Discontent with this prompted the creation of a new constitution in 1974 which reduced much of the Governor's remaining powers and created the post of Chief Minister, first held by [[Solomon Mamaloni]].<ref name="UN"/><ref name="Ind.">{{cite web |title=Independence |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000144b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616043309/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000144b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Full self-government for the territory was achieved in 1976, a year after the independence of neighbouring Papua New Guinea from Australia.<ref name="UN"/> Meanwhile, discontent grew in the Western islands, with many fearing marginalisation in a future Honiara- or Malaita-dominated state, prompting the formation of the Western Breakaway Movement.<ref name="Ind."/> A conference held in London in 1977 agreed that the Solomons would gain full independence the following year.<ref name="Ind."/> Under the terms of the [[Solomon Islands Act 1978]] the country was annexed to [[dominion|Her Majesty's dominions]] and granted independence on 7 July 1978. The first prime minister was Sir [[Peter Kenilorea]] of the [[Solomon Islands United Party]] (SIUP), with [[Elizabeth II]] becoming [[Monarchy of Solomon Islands|Queen of Solomon Islands]], represented locally by a [[Governor-General of Solomon Islands|Governor General]].

<gallery widths="180" class="center">
File:Solomonislands1968copra35c-sg177.jpg|Postage stamp with portrait of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], 1968
File:I was present for the Solomon Islands Independence Ceremony on 7 July 1978.jpg|The Solomon Islands Independence Ceremony on 7 July 1978
File:The Five Dollar Proof Coin.jpg|The Five Dollar Proof Coin
File:The Five Dollar Proof Coin of the Solomon Islands 24 October 1977.jpg|The Five Dollar Proof Coin of the Solomon Islands 24 October 1977
</gallery>

===Independence era (1978–present)===
====Early post-independence years====
Peter Kenilorea went on to win the [[1980 Solomon Islands general election]], serving as PM until 1981, when he was replaced by [[Solomon Mamaloni]] of the [[People's Alliance Party (Solomon Islands)|People's Alliance Party]] (PAP) after a no confidence vote.<ref name="Kenilorea">{{cite web |title=Kenilorea, Peter Kau'ona Keninaraiso'ona (1943 – ) |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000525b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027182737/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000525b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Mamaloni created the Central Bank and national airline, and pushed for greater autonomy for individual islands of the country.<ref name="Mamaloni">{{cite web |title=Mamaloni, Solomon Suna'one (1943 – ) |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000574b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=13 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013204425/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000574b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Kenilorea returned to power after winning the [[1984 Solomon Islands general election|1984 election]], though his second term lasted only two years before he was replaced by [[Ezekiel Alebua]] following allegations of misuse of French aid money.<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-339603828/view?partId=nla.obj-339623050#page/n6/mode/1up Eight ministers out in Solomons poll] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023092248/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-339603828/view?partId=nla.obj-339623050#page/n6/mode/1up |date=23 October 2020 }} ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1984, p7</ref><ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-334941320/view?partId=nla.obj-335065516#page/n6/mode/1up Kenilorea is Solomons P.M.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023092617/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-334941320/view?partId=nla.obj-335065516#page/n6/mode/1up |date=23 October 2020 }} ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1985, p7</ref> In 1986 the Solomons helped found the [[Melanesian Spearhead Group]], aimed at fostering cooperation and trade in the region.<ref name="MSGSec">{{cite web| title= Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat| url= http://msgsec.info/index.php/about-us| access-date= 19 July 2015| archive-date= 4 July 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150704023943/http://www.msgsec.info/index.php/about-us| url-status= live}}</ref> After winning the [[1989 election]] Mamaloni and the PAP returned to power, with Mamaloni dominating Solomon Islands politics from the early to mid 1990s (save for the one year Premiership of [[Francis Billy Hilly]]). Mamaloni made efforts to make the Solomons a republic; however, these were unsuccessful.<ref name="Mamaloni"/> He also had to deal with the effects of the [[Bougainville Civil War|conflict]] in neighbouring Bougainville which broke out in 1988, causing many refugees to flee to the Solomons.<ref name="Situ">{{cite web |last1=May |first1=RJ |title=The Situation on Bougainville: Implications for Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Region |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/sitecore/content/Home/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9697/97cib9#:~:text=Since%201989%20%2D%20and%20especially%20since,of%20medical%20and%20other%20supplies |publisher=Parliament of Australia |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001012311/https://www.aph.gov.au/sitecore/content/Home/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9697/97cib9#:~:text=Since%201989%20%2D%20and%20especially%20since,of%20medical%20and%20other%20supplies }}</ref> Tensions arose with Papua New Guinea as PNG forces frequently entered Solomons territory in the pursuit of rebels.<ref name="Situ"/> The situation calmed down and relations improved following the end of the conflict in 1998. Meanwhile, the country's financial situation continued to deteriorate, with much of the budget coming from the logging industry, often conducted at an unsustainable rate, not helped by Mamaloni's creation of a 'discretionary fund' for use by politicians, which fostered fraud and corruption.<ref name="Mamaloni"/> Discontent with his rule led to a split in the PAP, and Mamaloni lost the [[1993 Solomon Islands general election|1993 election]] to Billy Hilly, though Hilly was later sacked by the Governor-General after a number of defections caused him to lose his majority, allowing Mamaloni to return to power in 1994, where he remained until 1997.<ref name="Mamaloni"/> Excessive logging, government corruption and unsustainable levels of public spending continued to grow, and public discontent caused Mamaloni to lose the [[1997 Solomon Islands general election|1997 election]].<ref name="Mamaloni"/><ref name="TTK"/> The new prime minister, [[Bartholomew Ulufa'alu]] of the [[Solomon Islands Liberal Party]], attempted to enact economic reforms; however, his premiership soon became engulfed in a serious ethnic conflict known as "The Tensions".<ref>{{cite web |title=Ulufa'alu, Bartholomew (1939–2007) |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000727b.htm |publisher=Solomon Encyclopedia |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=14 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014094210/https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000727b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Ethnic violence (1998–2003)====

Commonly referred to as ''the tensions'' or ''the ethnic tension'', the initial civil unrest was mainly characterised by fighting between the [[Isatabu Freedom Movement]] (IFM, also known as the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army and the Isatabu Freedom Fighters) and the [[Malaita Eagle Force]] (as well as the Marau Eagle Force).<ref name="RAMSI">{{cite web |title=The Tensions |url=https://www.ramsi.org/the-tensions/ |website=RAMSI |access-date=5 September 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210817/https://www.ramsi.org/the-tensions/ |url-status=live }}</ref> For many years people from the island of Malaita had been migrating to Honiara and Guadalcanal, attracted primarily by the greater economic opportunities available there.<ref name="SMH">{{cite news |last1=O'Malley |first1=Nick |title=As RAMSI ends, Solomon Islanders look to the future |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/as-ramsi-ends-solomon-islanders-look-to-the-future-20170622-gww2g1.html |access-date=6 September 2020 |publisher=Sydney Morning Herald |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803190650/https://www.smh.com.au/world/as-ramsi-ends-solomon-islanders-look-to-the-future-20170622-gww2g1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The large influx caused tensions with native Guadalcanal islanders (known as Guales), and in late 1998 the IFM was formed and began a campaign of intimidation and violence towards Malaitan settlers.<ref name="RAMSI"/><ref name="TTK">{{cite web |last1=Kabutaulaka |first1=Tarcisius Tara |title=A Weak State and the Solomon Islands Peace Process |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/101163/2002_04_A_Weak_State.pdf |publisher=University of Hawaii |access-date=5 September 2020 |archive-date=25 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025125854/https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/101163/2002_04_A_Weak_State.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Thousands of Malaitans subsequently fled back to Malaita or to Honiara, and in mid-1999 the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) was established to protect Malaitans on Guadalcanal.<ref name="TTK"/><ref name="RAMSI"/> In late 1999, after several failed attempts at brokering a peace deal, Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu declared a four-month state of emergency, and also requested assistance from Australia and New Zealand, but his appeal was rejected.<ref name="RAMSI"/><ref name="TTK"/> Meanwhile, law and order on Guadalcanal collapsed, with an ethnically divided police unable to assert authority and many of their weapons depots being raided by the militias; by this point the MEF controlled Honiara with the IFM controlling the rest of Guadalacanal.<ref name="SMH"/><ref name="TTK"/>

In April 2003, seven Christians of the [[Melanesian Brotherhood]] – Brother Robin Lindsay and his companions – were killed on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal by the rebel leader [[Harold Keke]]. Six had gone in search of their Brother Nathaniel, who it turns out had already been tortured and killed. During the tensions Nathaniel had befriended the militant group but Harold Keke accused him of being a government spy and he was beaten to death; it was reported that he died singing hymns.<ref>{{Cite web | title=I Wait For The Lord, My Soul Waits For Him, And In His Word is My Hope: A resource book of the Martyrs of Papua New Guinea and Melanesia | author=Margaret Bride (Anglican Board of Mission – Australia) | url=https://www.abmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/4526_Martyrs_Booklet_pp32.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819103755/https://www.abmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/4526_Martyrs_Booklet_pp32.pdf | archive-date=19 August 2022 }}</ref> They are commemorated by the Anglican church on 24 April.

On 5 June 2000, Ulufa'alu was kidnapped by the MEF who felt that, although he was a Malaitan, he was not doing enough to protect their interests.<ref name="TTK"/> Ulufa'alu subsequently resigned in exchange for his release.<ref name="RAMSI"/> [[Manasseh Sogavare]], who had earlier been Finance Minister in Ulufa'alu's government but had subsequently joined the opposition, was elected as prime minister by 23–21 over the Rev. [[Leslie Boseto]]. However, Sogavare's election was immediately shrouded in controversy because six MPs (thought to be supporters of Boseto) were unable to attend parliament for the crucial vote.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=C |title=appy Isles in Crisis: the historical causes for a failing state in Solomon Islands, 1998 2004 |date=2004 |publisher=Asia Pacific Press |location=Canberra |page=174}}</ref> On 15 October 2000, the [[Townsville Peace Agreement]] was signed by the MEF, elements of the IFM, and the Solomon Islands Government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commerce.gov.sb/Gov/Peace_Agreement.htm |title=THE TOWNSVILLE PEACE AGREEMENT |date=15 October 2000 |website=Commerce.gov.sb |access-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110210034717/http://www.commerce.gov.sb/Gov/Peace_Agreement.htm |archive-date=10 February 2011 }}</ref><ref name="RAMSI"/> This was closely followed by the Marau Peace agreement in February 2001, signed by the Marau Eagle Force, the IFM, the Guadalcanal Provincial Government, and the Solomon Islands Government.<ref name="RAMSI"/> However, a key Guale militant leader, [[Harold Keke]], refused to sign the agreement, causing a split with the Guale groups.<ref name="SMH"/> Subsequently, Guale signatories to the agreement led by Andrew Te'e joined with the Malaitan-dominated police to form the 'Joint Operations Force'.<ref name="SMH"/> During the next two years the conflict moved to the remote Weathercoast region of southern Guadalcanal as the Joint Operations unsuccessfully attempted to capture Keke and his group.<ref name="RAMSI"/>

[[File:New beginning for Solomon Islands (10709848893).jpg|thumb|right|Solomon Islanders at a peace protest in 2003]]
By early 2001, the economy had collapsed and the government was bankrupt.<ref name="TTK"/> New [[2001 Solomon Islands general election|elections]] in December 2001 brought [[Allan Kemakeza]] into the Prime Minister's chair, with the support of his People's Alliance Party and the Association of Independent Members. Law and order deteriorated as the nature of the conflict shifted: there was continuing violence on the Weathercoast, whilst militants in Honiara increasingly turned their attention to crime, extortion and banditry.<ref name="SMH"/> The Department of Finance would often be surrounded by armed men when funding was due to arrive. In December 2002, Finance Minister [[Laurie Chan]] resigned after being forced at gunpoint to sign a cheque made out to some of the militants.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fickling |first=David |date=2003-07-16 |title=Cops? We are the cops |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/16/ukcrime.davidfickling |access-date=2024-11-21 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Eriksen |first=Alanah |date=2012-03-08 |title=Mission of success for Kiwi contingent |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mission-of-success-for-kiwi-contingent/VLUFVY4SGCN2H2IRYNUHPKBKV4/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref> Conflict also broke out in Western Province between locals and Malaitan settlers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fujii |first=Shinichi |date=2014 |title=How Did Solomon Islanders Live with Conflict? A Case Study of Daily Life in Northeastern Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsos/30/0/30_21/_pdf/-char/ja |journal=People and Culture in Oceania |volume=30 |issue= |pages=21–40}}</ref> The atmosphere of lawlessness, widespread extortion, and ineffective police prompted a formal request by the Solomon Islands Government for outside help; the request was unanimously supported in Parliament.<ref name="SMH"/>

In July 2003, Australian and Pacific Islands police and troops arrived in Solomon Islands under the auspices of the Australian-led [[Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands]] (RAMSI).<ref name="RAMSI"/> A sizeable international security contingent of 2,200 police and troops, led by Australia and New Zealand, and with representatives from about 15 other Pacific nations, began arriving the next month under Operation Helpem Fren.<ref name="SMH"/> The situation improved dramatically, with violence ending and Harold Keke surrendering to the force.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news| title = Solomons warlord surrenders| work = [[BBC News]]| date = 13 August 2003| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3146413.stm | access-date = 7 July 2007 }}</ref> Some 200 people had been killed in the conflict.<ref name="SMH"/> Since this time, some commentators have considered the country a [[failed state]], with the nation having failed to build an inclusive national identity capable of overriding local island and ethnic loyalties.<ref name="TTK"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault.php?urlpinaid=9609|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031110092412/http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault.php?urlpinaid=9609|archive-date=10 November 2003|title=Pacific Islands: PINA and Pacific|date=10 November 2003}}</ref> However, other academics argue that, rather than being a 'failed state', it is an unformed state: a state that never consolidated even after decades of independence.<ref>Pillars and Shadows: Statebuilding as Peacebuilding in Solomon Islands, J. Braithwaite, S. Dinnen, M.Allen, V. Braithwaite & H. Charlesworth, Canberra, ANU E Press: 2010.</ref> Furthermore, some scholars, such as Kabutaulaka (2001) and Dinnen (2002) argue that the 'ethnic conflict' label is an oversimplification.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rspas.anu.edu.au/papers/melanesia/working_papers/tarcisiusworkingpaper.htm |title=Cap – Anu |publisher=Rspas.anu.edu.au |date=14 December 2012 |access-date=3 May 2014 |archive-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230120810/http://rspas.anu.edu.au/papers/melanesia/working_papers/tarcisiusworkingpaper.htm }}</ref>

====Post-conflict era====

Kemakeza remained in office until April 2006, when he lost the [[2006 Solomon Islands general election]] and [[Snyder Rini]] became PM. However, allegations that Rini had used bribes from Chinese businessmen to buy the votes of members of Parliament led to mass rioting in the capital [[Honiara]], concentrated on the city's Chinatown area. Resentment against the minority [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] business community led to much of [[Chinatown]] in the city being destroyed.<ref name="BBC" /> China sent chartered aircraft to evacuate Chinese out of the riots.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Paul |last2=Radoslovich |first2=Kathy |last3=Karlsson |first3=Rebecca |date=June 2014 |title=Pre-Deployment Handbook: Solomon Islands |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA605160.pdf |journal=Australian Government's Department of Defence |at=2006 Ethnic Tensions}}</ref> Evacuation of Australian and British citizens was on a much smaller scale.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breen |first=Bob |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139196390/type/book |title=The Good Neighbour: Australian Peace Support Operations in the Pacific Islands 1980–2006 |date=2016-07-15 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-19639-0 |edition=1 |pages=317–449 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139196390}}</ref> Additional Australian, New Zealand, and Fijian police and troops were dispatched to try to quell the unrest. Rini eventually resigned before facing a motion of no-confidence in Parliament, and Parliament elected [[Manasseh Sogavare]] as prime minister.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10379008">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10379008 |title=Rini resigns as Solomons PM |date=26 April 2006 |agency=[[Reuters]], [[Newstalk ZB]] |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=12 November 2011 |archive-date=28 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528000923/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4945090.stm |title=Embattled Solomons PM steps down |date=26 April 2006 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=12 November 2011 |archive-date=19 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219133413/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4945090.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sogavare struggled to assert his authority and was also hostile to the Australian presence in the country; after one failed attempt, he was removed in a no confidence vote in 2007 and replaced by [[Derek Sikua]] of the Solomon Islands Liberal Party.<ref>Tom Allard, [http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/solomon-islands-prime-minister-ousted/2007/12/13/1197135655553.html "Solomon Islands Prime Minister ousted"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024013023/http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/solomon-islands-prime-minister-ousted/2007/12/13/1197135655553.html |date=24 October 2012 }}, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 14 December 2007.</ref> In 2008, a [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Solomon Islands)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] was established to examine and help heal the wounds of the 'tension' years.<ref name=st>{{cite news|title=PM Sikua Announces TRC Team|url=http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=3919|work=Solomon Times|date=27 April 2009|access-date=29 April 2009|archive-date=4 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504155701/http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=3919|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=rnz>{{cite news|title=Solomons Commission claims broad support|url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=46291|work=[[Radio New Zealand International]]|date=30 April 2009|access-date=30 April 2009|archive-date=5 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505012401/http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=46291|url-status=live}}</ref> Sikua lost the [[2010 Solomon Islands general election]] to [[Danny Philip]], though after a vote of no-confidence in him following allegations of corruption, Philip was ousted and replaced by [[Gordon Darcy Lilo]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11080298 "Solomons Islands get new PM weeks after election"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115113825/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11080298 |date=15 January 2016 }}, BBC, 25 August 2010</ref><ref name=solomonstar3>{{cite news|first=Eddie |last=Osifelo |title=Former PM now a backbencher |url=http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/12901-former-pm-now-a-backbencher |work=[[Solomon Star]] |date=24 November 2011 |access-date=4 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410124437/http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/12901-former-pm-now-a-backbencher |archive-date=10 April 2012  }}</ref> Sogavare returned to power after the [[2014 Solomon Islands general election|2014 election]], and oversaw the withdrawal of RAMSI forces from the country in 2017.<ref name="SMH"/> Sogavare was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2017, which saw [[Rick Houenipwela]] come to power; however, Sogavare returned to the prime ministership after winning the [[2019 Solomon Islands general election|2019 election]], sparking rioting in Honiara.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/24/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/ex-pm-wins-solomons-run-off-sparking-riots/|title=Ex-PM wins Solomons run-off sparking riots|website=Japan Times|access-date=25 July 2019|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424173029/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/24/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/ex-pm-wins-solomons-run-off-sparking-riots/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/pacific-news-minute-protests-riots-follow-election-new-prime-minister-solomon-islands#stream/0|title=Pacific News Minute:Protests, Riots Follow Election Of New Prime Minister In Solomon Islands|website=Hawaiʻi Public Radio|date=25 April 2019|access-date=25 July 2019|archive-date=26 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426151730/https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/pacific-news-minute-protests-riots-follow-election-new-prime-minister-solomon-islands#stream/0|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, Sogavare announced that the Solomons would be switching recognition from Taiwan to China.<ref name="rnz.co.nz">{{Cite web|url = https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/399722/sacked-solomons-minister-says-pm-lied-china-switch-pre-determined|title = Sacked Solomons minister says PM lied, China switch 'pre-determined'|website = [[Radio New Zealand]]|date = 27 September 2019|access-date = 6 September 2020|archive-date = 27 September 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190927022129/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/399722/sacked-solomons-minister-says-pm-lied-china-switch-pre-determined|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/china-extends-influence-in-pacific-as-solomon-islands-break-with-taiwan|title=China extends influence in Pacific as Solomon Islands break with Taiwan|last1=Lyons|first1=Kate|access-date=17 September 2019|agency=[[The Guardian]] |archive-date=17 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917000810/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/china-extends-influence-in-pacific-as-solomon-islands-break-with-taiwan|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 25 November 2019, Solomon Islands launched a national [[Ocean governance|ocean policy]] to achieve the sustainable development and use of the ocean for the benefit of the people of the island nation.

In [[2021 Solomon Islands unrest|November 2021, there was mass rioting and unrest]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Honiara|first=Georgina Kekea in|date=24 November 2021|title=Parliament building and police station burned down during protests in Solomon Islands|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/parliament-building-and-police-station-burned-down-during-protests-in-solomon-islands|access-date=25 November 2021|website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> The Solomon Islands Government requested assistance from Australia under the 2017 Bilateral Security Treaty and Australia provided a deployment of [[Australian Federal Police]] and [[Australian Defence Force|Defence Forces]].<ref name=Andrews>{{cite press release |last=Andrews |first=Karen |date=25 November 2021 |title=Joint media release – Solomon Islands |url=https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/KarenAndrews/Pages/joint-media-release-solomon-islands.aspx |location=Canberra |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=26 November 2021 |archive-date=21 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221150433/https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/KarenAndrews/Pages/joint-media-release-solomon-islands.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2022, Solomon Islands signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] (MOU) on policing cooperation with China and was also reported to be in the process of concluding a security agreement with China. The agreement with China could allow an ongoing Chinese military and naval presence in the Solomons. A spokesperson for Australia's [[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]] said that, while "Pacific Island nations have the right to make sovereign decisions", Australia "would be concerned by any actions that destabilise the security of our region".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-set-to-sign-first-security-deal-in-the-pacific-on-australia-s-doorstep-20220324-p5a7qe.html|first=Eryk|last=Bagshaw|title=China set to sign first security deal in the Pacific on Australia's doorstep|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=24 March 2022|access-date=24 March 2022|archive-date=24 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324083652/https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-set-to-sign-first-security-deal-in-the-pacific-on-australia-s-doorstep-20220324-p5a7qe.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/24/china-finalising-security-deal-with-solomon-islands-to-base-warships-in-the-pacific|agency=Reuters|title=China finalising security deal with Solomon Islands to base warships in the Pacific|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=24 March 2022|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref> There are similar concerns in New Zealand and the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/australia-nz-warn-solomons-over-destabilising-the-pacific-with-china-deal-20220325-p5a7xn.html|last1=Bagshaw|first1=Eryk|last2=Tomazin|first2=Farrah|title=Australia, NZ warn Solomons over 'destabilising' the Pacific with China deal|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=25 March 2022|access-date=25 March 2022|archive-date=25 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325050500/https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/australia-nz-warn-solomons-over-destabilising-the-pacific-with-china-deal-20220325-p5a7xn.html|url-status=live}}</ref> China donated a shipment of replica firearms to the Solomon Islands police for training.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/25/secret-shipment-of-replica-guns-to-solomon-islands-police-by-china-triggers-concern|last=Kekea|first=Georgina|title=Secret shipment of replica guns to Solomon Islands police by China triggers concern|date=25 March 2022|access-date=25 March 2022}}</ref> Solomon Islands and China signed a security co-operation agreement in April to promote social stability and long-term peace and security in Solomon Islands.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maiden |first1=Samantha |title=China signs security pact with Solomon Islands |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/china-signs-security-pact-with-solomon-islands/news-story/05e838a83f4050465142a5b5a9b053db |access-date=19 April 2022 |work=news.com.au |date=19 April 2022}}</ref> The BBC reported that, according to a leaked draft of the agreement verified by the Australian government, Beijing could deploy forces to Solomon Islands "to assist in maintaining social order". Prime Minister [[Manasseh Sogavare]] said the pact would not "undermine peace and harmony" in the region and was aimed at protecting the Solomon's internal security situation. China confirmed that the social-order clause had been maintained in the final agreement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Solomon Islands: China deal in Pacific stokes Australian fears |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61158146 |access-date=30 April 2022 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=20 April 2022 |archive-date=6 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506110749/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61158146 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In February 2023, [[2023 Solomon Islands protests|further protests broke out]] after the Premier of [[Malaita Province]] [[Daniel Suidani]] was removed from office after a vote of no confidence from the provincial legislature.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=2023-02-07 |title=Solomon Islands ousts official critical of close relations with China |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/solomon-islands-ousts-official-critical-close-relations-with-china-abc-2023-02-07/ |access-date=2023-02-07 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207133645/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/solomon-islands-ousts-official-critical-close-relations-with-china-abc-2023-02-07/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Piringi |first=Charley |date=2023-02-07 |title=Protests in Solomon Islands as key China critic politician is ousted in no confidence vote |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/07/protests-in-solomon-islands-as-key-china-critic-politician-is-ousted-in-no-confidence-vote |access-date=2023-02-07 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004173537/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/07/protests-in-solomon-islands-as-key-china-critic-politician-is-ousted-in-no-confidence-vote |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2024, [[Jeremiah Manele]] was elected as Solomon Islands new prime minister to succeed Manasseh Sogavare.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=Solomon Islands elects ex-top diplomat as new prime minister |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/2/solomon-islands-elects-jeremiah-manele-as-new-prime-minister |work=Al Jazeera |language=en |access-date=9 May 2024 |archive-date=9 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509130251/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/2/solomon-islands-elects-jeremiah-manele-as-new-prime-minister |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Politics==
{{main|Politics of Solomon Islands}}
[[File:Long shot of the Solomon Islands Parliament House. (10708895683).jpg|thumb|[[Solomon Islands Parliament Building|Solomon Islands' National Parliament building]] was a gift from the United States.]]
[[File:Honiara Ministry of the Interior.jpg|thumb|Ministry of the Interior]]

Solomon Islands is a [[constitutional monarchy]] and has a [[parliamentary system]] of government. As [[Monarchy of Solomon Islands|King of Solomon Islands]], [[Charles III]] is [[head of state]]; he is represented by the [[Governor-General of Solomon Islands|Governor-General]] who is chosen by the Parliament for a five-year term. There is a [[unicameral]] parliament of 50 members, elected for four-year terms. However, Parliament may be dissolved by the majority vote of its members before the completion of its term.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://solomons.gov.sb/government/|title=About the Solomon Islands Government|publisher=Solomon Islands Government|location=Solomon Islands|access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref>

Parliamentary representation is based on single-member constituencies. Suffrage is universal for citizens over age 21.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/|title=CIA – The World Factbook – Solomon Islands|access-date=19 November 2014|archive-date=22 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022092556/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[head of government]] is the [[Prime Minister of Solomon Islands|prime minister]], who is elected by Parliament and chooses the [[Cabinet of Solomon Islands|cabinet]]. Each ministry is headed by a cabinet member, who is assisted by a [[permanent secretary]], a career public servant who directs the staff of the ministry.

Land ownership is reserved for Solomon Islanders. The law provides that resident expatriates, such as the Chinese and [[Kiribati]], may obtain [[Solomon Islands passport|citizenship]] through [[naturalisation]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Solomon Islands Citizenship Application Information |url=https://solomonislandsembassy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Solomon-Islands-Citizenship-Application.pdf |journal=Ministry of Home Affairs}}</ref> Land generally is still held on a family or village basis and may be [[inheritance|handed down from mother or father]] according to local custom. The islanders are reluctant to provide land for nontraditional economic undertakings, and this has resulted in continual disputes over land ownership.

No military forces are maintained by the Solomon Islands (since 1978), although a [[Royal Solomon Islands Police Force|police force]] of nearly 500 includes a border protection unit. The police are also responsible for fire service, disaster relief, and [[Royal Solomon Islands Police Force#Maritime Department|maritime surveillance]]. The police force is headed by a [[Police commissioner|commissioner]], appointed by the [[Governor-General of Solomon Islands|governor-general]] and responsible to the [[Prime Minister of Solomon Islands|prime minister]]. On 27 December 2006, the Solomon Islands government took steps to prevent the country's [[Australian police ranks|Australian police chief]] from returning to the Pacific nation. On 12 January 2007, [[Australia]] replaced its top diplomat expelled from Solomon Islands for political interference in a conciliatory move aimed at easing a four-month dispute between the two countries.

On 13 December 2007, Prime Minister [[Manasseh Sogavare]] was toppled by a vote of no confidence in Parliament,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sireheti |first1=Joanna |last2=Basi |first2=Joy |date=13 December 2007 |title=Solomon Islands PM Defeated in No-Confidence Motion |url=http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=1090 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718041418/http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=1090 |archive-date=18 July 2012 |access-date=20 November 2024 |website=Solomon Times}}</ref> following the defection of five ministers to the opposition. It was the first time a prime minister had lost office in this way in Solomon Islands. On 20 December, the [[National Parliament of Solomon Islands|parliament]] elected the opposition's candidate (and former Minister for Education) [[Derek Sikua]] as prime minister in a vote of 32 to 15.<ref>Tuhaika, Nina., – [http://www.solomontimes.com:80/news.aspx?nwID=1130 "New Prime Minister for Solomon Islands"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718034639/http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=1130 |date=18 July 2012 }}, – ''Solomon Times'', – 20 December 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2123875.htm "Solomon Islands parliament elects new PM"], – [[ABC Radio Australia]], – 20 December 2007</ref> In April 2019, Manasseh Sogavare was elected as prime minister for the fourth time, causing protests and demonstrations against the decision. The protest resulted in more than 30 protesters being detained.<ref>{{cite news |title=Solomon Islands tense as Manasseh Sogavare returns to top job |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-24/manasseh-sogavare-becomes-soloman-islands-prime-minister-again/11043578 |work=ABC News |date=24 April 2019 |language=en-AU |access-date=4 August 2022 |archive-date=4 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804045252/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-24/manasseh-sogavare-becomes-soloman-islands-prime-minister-again/11043578 |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2024, [[Jeremiah Manele]] was elected as Solomon Islands new prime minister following the [[2024 Solomon Islands general election|2024 National General Election]].<ref name=":1" />

===Judiciary===
{{main|Judiciary of Solomon Islands}}
The Governor-General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor-General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission. The current Chief Justice is Sir Albert Palmer.

Since November 2023, [[John Muria|Sir John Baptist Muria]] has served as the President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands. Sir John Baptist Muria previously served as the former Chief Justice of Solomon Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-24 |title=Sir Palmer raises concern on continuous insufficient fund allocations for Court of Appeal. - Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) |url=https://www.sibconline.com.sb/sir-palmer-raises-concern-on-continuous-insufficient-fund-allocations-for-court-of-appeal/ |access-date=2025-07-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Foreign relations===
{{main|Foreign relations of Solomon Islands}}
[[File:蔡英文總統接見索羅門群島總理蘇嘉瓦瑞伉儷訪華團.jpg|thumb|Solomon Islands Prime Minister [[Manasseh Sogavare]] meets with the President of [[Taiwan]] [[Tsai Ing-wen]], July 2016.]]
Solomon Islands is a member of the [[United Nations]], [[Interpol]], [[Commonwealth of Nations]], [[Pacific Islands Forum]], [[Pacific Community]], [[International Monetary Fund]], and the [[ACP countries|African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries]] ([[Lomé Convention]]).

Until September 2019, it was one of the few countries to recognise the [[Taiwan|Republic of China (Taiwan)]] and maintain formal diplomatic relations with it. The relationship was terminated in September 2019 by Solomon Islands, which switched recognition to the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (PRC).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/china-extends-influence-in-pacific-as-solomon-islands-break-with-taiwan |title=China extends influence in Pacific as Solomon Islands break with Taiwan |last=Lyons |first=Kate |date=16 September 2019 |website=theguardian.com |access-date=17 September 2019}}</ref> Relations with Papua New Guinea, which had become strained because of an influx of refugees from the [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] rebellion and attacks on the northern islands of Solomon Islands by elements pursuing [[Bougainville Civil War|Bougainvillean rebels]], have been repaired. A 1998 peace accord on Bougainville removed the armed threat, and the two nations regularised border operations in a 2004 agreement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 July 2004|title=Basic Agreement between the Government of Solomon Islands and the Government of Papua New Guinea on Border Arrangements {{!}} UNEP Law and Environment Assistance Platform|url=https://leap.unep.org/content/treaty/basic-agreement-between-government-solomon-islands-and-government-papua-new-guinea|access-date=25 November 2021|website=leap.unep.org|archive-date=25 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125114040/https://leap.unep.org/content/treaty/basic-agreement-between-government-solomon-islands-and-government-papua-new-guinea|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 2022, [[China-Solomon Islands relations|ties with China]] have been rapidly increasing, with Solomon Islands signing a security pact that allows the country to call for Chinese security forces to quell unrest.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Bethany|last1=Allen-Ebrahimian|first2=Dave|last2=Lawler|date=29 August 2022 |title=Solomon Islands bars U.S. Coast Guard ship, raising China influence fears |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/solomon-islands-denies-port-coast-guard-ship |access-date=30 August 2022 |website=Axios |language=en |archive-date=29 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829221704/https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/solomon-islands-denies-port-coast-guard-ship |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 August 2022 |title=China-friendly Solomon Islands suspends all foreign naval visits as tensions rise |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3190661/solomon-islands-suspends-all-us-naval-visits-wake-coastguard |access-date=30 August 2022 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en |archive-date=30 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830060526/https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3190661/solomon-islands-suspends-all-us-naval-visits-wake-coastguard |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2017, at the 34th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, [[Vanuatu]] made a joint statement on behalf of Solomon Islands and some other Pacific nations raising human rights violations in the [[Western New Guinea]], which claimed by [[International Parliamentarians for West Papua]] (IPWP) that West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since 1963,<ref>{{cite news |title=Freedom of the press in Indonesian-occupied West Papua |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jul/22/freedom-of-the-press-in-indonesian-occupied-west-papua |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 July 2019 |access-date=30 July 2019 |archive-date=25 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725001246/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jul/22/freedom-of-the-press-in-indonesian-occupied-west-papua |url-status=live }}</ref> and requested that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights produce a report.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Liam |title=Pacific nations call for UN investigations into alleged Indonesian rights abuses in West Papua |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-02/pacific-nations-call-for-un-investigations-into-west-papua/8320194 |work=ABC News |date=2 March 2017 |access-date=30 July 2019 |archive-date=31 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031203404/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-02/pacific-nations-call-for-un-investigations-into-west-papua/8320194 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SBSMar17">{{cite news |title=Pacific nations want UN to investigate Indonesia on West Papua |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/03/02/pacific-nations-want-un-investigate-indonesia-west-papua |work=SBS News |date=7 March 2017 |access-date=30 July 2019 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107034058/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/03/02/pacific-nations-want-un-investigate-indonesia-west-papua |url-status=live }}</ref> Indonesia rejected Vanuatu's allegations, replying that Vanuatu does not represent the people of Papua and it should "stop fantasizing" that it does.<ref name="Indonesia respons over Vanuatu claims">{{cite news |title=Indonesia Calls out Vanuatu over Papua remarks at UNGA |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/09/29/indonesia-calls-out-vanuatu-over-papua-remarks-at-unga.html |work=The Jakarta Post |date=29 September 2020 |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=28 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428081349/https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/09/29/indonesia-calls-out-vanuatu-over-papua-remarks-at-unga.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SBSMar17" /> More than 100,000 Papuans have died during a 50-year [[Papua conflict]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Goodbye Indonesia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/01/201313018313632585.html |work=Al-Jazeera |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=30 July 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730063457/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/01/201313018313632585.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2017, at the [[Seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly|72nd Session of the UN General Assembly]], the Prime Ministers of Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu once again raised human rights abuses in Indonesian-occupied West Papua.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fiery debate over West Papua at UN General Assembly |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201860156/fiery-debate-over-west-papua-at-un-general-assembly |access-date=7 October 2017 |work=Radio New Zealand 2017 |date=27 September 2017 |archive-date=1 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001165326/http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201860156/fiery-debate-over-west-papua-at-un-general-assembly |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Military===
Although the locally recruited [[British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force]] was part of [[Allies of World War II|Allied Forces]] taking part in fighting in the Solomons during the Second World War, the country has not had any regular military forces since independence. The various paramilitary elements of the [[Royal Solomon Islands Police Force]] (RSIPF) were disbanded and disarmed in 2003 following the intervention of the [[Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands]] (RAMSI).<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2023 |title=Solomon Islands: Invest in people and police before military |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/solomon-islands-invest-people-police-military |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Lowy Institute |language=en}}</ref> RAMSI had a small military detachment headed by an Australian commander with responsibilities for assisting the police element of RAMSI in internal and external security. The RSIPF still operates two [[Pacific class patrol boat]]s ([[RSIPV Auki (04)|RSIPV ''Auki'']] and [[RSIPV Lata (03)|RSIPV ''Lata'']]), which constitute the de facto navy of Solomon Islands.

In the long term, it is anticipated that the RSIPF will resume the defence role of the country. The police force is headed by a [[Mostyn Mangau|commissioner]], appointed by the Governor-General and responsible to the Minister of [[Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services|Police, National Security & Correctional Services]].

The police budget of Solomon Islands has been strained due to a four-year civil war. Following [[Cyclone Zoe]]'s strike on the islands of [[Tikopia]] and [[Anuta]] in December 2002, Australia had to provide the Solomon Islands government with [[Solomon Islands dollar|SI$]]200,000 ({{AUD|50,000|link=yes}}) for fuel and supplies for the patrol boat ''Lata'' to sail with relief supplies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-01 |title=RAAF plane to fly over cyclone-hit islands |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/solomon-islands/raaf-plane-fly-over-cyclone-hit-islands |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en}}</ref> (Part of the work of RAMSI includes assisting the Solomon Islands government to stabilise its budget.)

===Administrative divisions===
{{main|Provinces of Solomon Islands}}

For local government, the country is divided into ten administrative areas, of which nine are provinces administered by elected provincial assemblies and the tenth is the capital Honiara, administered by the Honiara Town Council.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! # || Province !! Capital !! Premier !! Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>) !! Population<br />[[census]] 1999 !!  Population<br />[[census]] 2009 !! Population<br />[[census]] 2019
|-
| 1 || {{flagicon image|Flag of Central Province Solomon Islands.png}} [[Central Province (Solomon Islands)|Central Province]] || [[Tulagi]] || [[Kenneth Sagupari]]|| align="right" | 615 ||align="right"| 21,577 ||align="right"| 26,051 ||align="right"| 30,318
|-
| 2 || {{flagicon image|Flag of Choiseul.png}} [[Choiseul Province]] || [[Taro Island]] || [[Harrison Pitakaka]]|| align="right" | 3,837 ||align="right"| 20,008 ||align="right"| 26,372 ||align="right"| 30,775
|-
| 3 || {{flagicon image|Flag of Guadalcanal.png}} [[Guadalcanal Province]]{{efn|group=upper-alpha|excluding the Capital Territory of Honiara}} || [[Honiara]] || [[Willie Atu]] ||align="right"| 5,336 ||align="right"| 60,275 ||align="right"| 107,090 ||align="right"| 154,022
|-
| 4 || {{flagicon image|Flag of Isabel Province Solomon Islands.png}} [[Isabel Province]] || [[Buala]] || [[Lesley Kikolo]]|| align="right" | 4,136 ||align="right"| 20,421 ||align="right"| 26,158 ||align="right"| 31,420
|-
| 5 || {{flagicon image|Flag Makira and Ulawa.png}} [[Makira-Ulawa Province]] || [[Kirakira, Solomon Islands|Kirakira]] || [[Julian Maka'a]]|| align="right" | 3,188 ||align="right"| 31,006 ||align="right"| 40,419 ||align="right"| 51,587
|-
| 6 || {{flagicon image|Flag of Malaiita.png}} [[Malaita Province]] || [[Auki]] || [[Martin Fini]]|| align="right" | 4,225 ||align="right"| 122,620 ||align="right"| 157,405 ||align="right"| 172,740
|-
| 7 || {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Rennell_and_Bellona_Province.svg}} [[Rennell and Bellona Province]] || [[Tigoa]] || [[Japhet Tuhanuku]]|| align="right" | 671 ||align="right"| 2,377 || align="right"| 3,041 ||align="right"| 4,100
|-
| 8 || {{flagicon image|Temotu province flag.svg}} [[Temotu Province]] || [[Lata, Solomon Islands|Lata]] || [[Clay Forau]] ||align="right"| 895 ||align="right"| 18,912 ||align="right"| 21,362 ||align="right"| 25,701
|-
| 9 || {{flagicon image|Flag of Western Province Solomon Islands.png}} [[Western Province (Solomon Islands)|Western Province]] || [[Gizo, Solomon Islands|Gizo]] || [[Billy Veo]]|| align="right" | 5,475 ||align="right"| 62,739 ||align="right"| 76,649 ||align="right"| 94,106
|-
| – || {{flagicon image|Flag of Honiara.svg}} [[Honiara|Capital Territory]] || [[Honiara]] || [[Eddie Siapu]] (Mayor) || align="right" | 22 ||align="right"| 49,107 ||align="right"| 73,910 ||align="right"|129,569
|-
! &nbsp; !! '''Solomon Islands''' !! [[Honiara]] !! – !! align="right" | 30,407 !! align="right" | 409,042 !!  align="right" | 558,457 !! align="right" | 720,956
|}

{{notelist|group=upper-alpha}}

{{clear}}

===Islands by province===
{{Islands of the Solomon Islands}}

===Human rights===
{{See also|Human rights in Solomon Islands}}
There are human rights concerns and issues in regards to education, water/water security, sanitation, gender equality, and [[domestic violence]], as well as others. The Solomon Islands does not have a [[national human rights institution]] that is compliant with the [[Paris Principles (human rights standards)|Paris Principles]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 2011 |title=Solomon Islands: Weak human rights infrastructure, discrimination and violence against women, and restricted access to water and sanitation |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/asa430012010en.pdf |journal=Amnesty International}}</ref> [[LGBT rights in Solomon Islands|Homosexuality]] is illegal in the Solomon Islands; it is punishable by up to 14 years of imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=John |last2=Dickson |first2=Anna |last3=Gadd |first3=Eleanor |last4=Robinson |first4=Tim |date=21 March 2022 |title=LGBT+ rights and issues in Pacific islands |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9502/CBP-9502.pdf |journal=House of Commons Library |at=Solomon Islands, Legislative context |quote=Section 160 Unnatural Offences: Criminalises "buggery", with a penalty of fourteen years imprisonment.}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{main|Geography of Solomon Islands}}

[[File:Solomon Isles.jpg|right|thumb|Aerial view of Solomon Islands]]
[[File:Medium shot of idyllic villages beach near Auki, the capital of Malaita. (10702263414).jpg|thumb|[[Malaita]] island]]

Solomon Islands is an island nation that lies east of Papua New Guinea and consists of [[List of islands of Solomon Islands|six major islands and 992 smaller islands]].<ref name=location>{{cite web|url=https://solomons.gov.sb/about-solomon-islands/|title=About Solomon Islands: Location|publisher=Solomon Islands Government|location=Solomon Islands|access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref> The major part of the nation of Solomon Islands covers many of the mountainous [[volcanic island]]s of the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands archipelago]], which includes [[Choiseul island|Choiseul]], the [[Shortland Islands]], the [[New Georgia Islands]], [[Santa Isabel Island|Santa Isabel]], the [[Russell Islands]], the [[Nggela Islands]], [[Tulagi]], [[Malaita]], [[South Malaita Island|Maramasike]], [[Ulawa Island|Ulawa]], [[Owaraha]] (Santa Ana), [[Makira]] (San Cristobal), and the main island of [[Guadalcanal]]. Solomon Islands also includes smaller, isolated low [[atoll]]s and volcanic islands such as [[Sikaiana]], [[Rennell Island]], [[Bellona Island]], the [[Santa Cruz Islands]] and tiny outliers such as [[Tikopia]], [[Anuta]], and [[Fatutaka]]. Although [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] is the largest island in the Solomon Islands archipelago it is politically an autonomous region of [[Papua New Guinea]] and does not form part of the nation of Solomon Islands.

The country's islands lie between latitudes [[5th parallel south|5°]] and [[13th parallel south|13°S]], and longitudes [[155th meridian east|155°]] and [[169th meridian east|169°E]]. The distance between the westernmost and easternmost islands is {{Convert|1448|km|mi}}.<ref name=location/> The Santa Cruz Islands (of which Tikopia is part) are situated north of [[Vanuatu]] and are especially isolated at more than {{Convert|200|km|mi}} from the other islands.

=== Climate ===

The islands' ocean-equatorial climate is extremely humid throughout the year, with a mean temperature of {{convert|26.5|C|F}} and few extremes of temperature or weather. June through August is the cooler period. Though seasons are not pronounced, the northwesterly winds of November through April bring more frequent rainfall and occasional squalls or [[cyclone]]s. The annual rainfall is about {{convert|3050|mm|in}}. According to the [[WorldRiskReport]] 2021, the island state ranks second among the countries with the highest disaster risk worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web | title=The WorldRiskReport 2021 | url=https://weltrisikobericht.de/weltrisikobericht-2021-e/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901080225/https://weltrisikobericht.de/weltrisikobericht-2021-e/ | archive-date=1 September 2022 }}</ref> The country is also one of the most vulnerable to global [[sea level rise]] from [[man-made climate change]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.livescience.com/what-places-disappear-rising-sea-levels | title=What countries and cities will disappear due to rising sea levels? | website=[[Live Science]] | date=27 March 2022 }}</ref>

In 2023, the governments of Solomon Islands and other island states at risk from [[climate change]] ([[Fiji]], [[Niue]], [[Tuvalu]], [[Tonga]] and [[Vanuatu]]) launched the "Port Vila Call for a Just Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific", calling for the phaseout of [[fossil fuel]]s and the 'rapid and [[just transition]]' to [[renewable energy]] and strengthening [[environmental law]] including introducing the crime of [[ecocide]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Six Island Nations Commit to 'Fossil Fuel-Free Pacific,' Demand Global Just Transition |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/fossil-fuel-free-pacific |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=www.commondreams.org |language=en |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616003648/https://www.commondreams.org/news/fossil-fuel-free-pacific |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-22 |title=Port Vila call to phase out fossil fuels |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/486463/port-vila-call-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701175204/https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/486463/port-vila-call-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ligaiula |first=Pita |date=2023-03-17 |title=Port Vila call for a just transition to a fossil fuel free Pacific {{!}} PINA |url=https://pina.com.fj/2023/03/17/port-vila-call-for-a-just-transition-to-a-fossil-fuel-free-pacific/ |access-date=2023-07-01 |language=en-US |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701175216/https://pina.com.fj/2023/03/17/port-vila-call-for-a-just-transition-to-a-fossil-fuel-free-pacific/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Weather box|width = auto
|location = [[Honiara]] (Köppen Af)
|single line = Yes
|metric first = Yes
|collapsed = Yes
|Jan record high C = 33.9
|Feb record high C = 34.1
|Mar record high C = 33.9
|Apr record high C = 33.4
|May record high C = 33.6
|Jun record high C = 32.8
|Jul record high C = 33.3
|Aug record high C = 33.5
|Sep record high C = 33.4
|Oct record high C = 33.3
|Nov record high C = 33.4
|Dec record high C = 34.8
|year record high C = 34.8
|Jan high C = 30.7
|Feb high C = 30.5
|Mar high C = 30.2
|Apr high C = 30.5
|May high C = 30.7
|Jun high C = 30.4
|Jul high C = 30.1
|Aug high C = 30.4
|Sep high C = 30.6
|Oct high C = 30.7
|Nov high C = 30.7
|Dec high C = 30.5
|year high C = 30.5
|Jan mean C = 26.7
|Feb mean C = 26.6
|Mar mean C = 26.6
|Apr mean C = 26.5
|May mean C = 26.6
|Jun mean C = 26.4
|Jul mean C = 26.1
|Aug mean C = 26.2
|Sep mean C = 26.5
|Oct mean C = 26.5
|Nov mean C = 26.7
|Dec mean C = 26.8
|year mean C = 26.5
|Jan low C = 23.0
|Feb low C = 23.0
|Mar low C = 23.0
|Apr low C = 22.9
|May low C = 22.8
|Jun low C = 22.5
|Jul low C = 22.2
|Aug low C = 22.1
|Sep low C = 22.3
|Oct low C = 22.5
|Nov low C = 22.7
|Dec low C = 23.0
|year low C = 22.7
|Jan record low C = 20.2
|Feb record low C = 20.7
|Mar record low C = 20.7
|Apr record low C = 20.1
|May record low C = 20.5
|Jun record low C = 19.4
|Jul record low C = 18.7
|Aug record low C = 18.8
|Sep record low C = 18.3
|Oct record low C = 17.6
|Nov record low C = 17.8
|Dec record low C = 20.5
|year record low C = 17.6
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 277
|Feb precipitation mm = 287
|Mar precipitation mm = 362
|Apr precipitation mm = 214
|May precipitation mm = 141
|Jun precipitation mm = 97
|Jul precipitation mm = 100
|Aug precipitation mm = 92
|Sep precipitation mm = 95
|Oct precipitation mm = 154
|Nov precipitation mm = 141
|Dec precipitation mm = 217
|year precipitation mm = 2177
|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 19
|Feb precipitation days = 19
|Mar precipitation days = 23
|Apr precipitation days = 18
|May precipitation days = 15
|Jun precipitation days = 13
|Jul precipitation days = 15
|Aug precipitation days = 13
|Sep precipitation days = 13
|Oct precipitation days = 16
|Nov precipitation days = 15
|Dec precipitation days = 18
|year precipitation days = 197
|Jan humidity = 80
|Feb humidity = 81
|Mar humidity = 81
|Apr humidity = 80
|May humidity = 80
|Jun humidity = 79
|Jul humidity = 75
|Aug humidity = 73
|Sep humidity = 73
|Oct humidity = 75
|Nov humidity = 76
|Dec humidity = 77
|year humidity = 78
|Jan sun = 186.0
|Feb sun = 155.4
|Mar sun = 198.4
|Apr sun = 192.0
|May sun = 210.8
|Jun sun = 198.0
|Jul sun = 186.0
|Aug sun = 204.6
|Sep sun = 192.0
|Oct sun = 226.3
|Nov sun = 216.0
|Dec sun = 164.3
|year sun =
|Jand sun = 6.0
|Febd sun = 5.5
|Mard sun = 6.4
|Aprd sun = 6.4
|Mayd sun = 6.8
|Jund sun = 6.6
|Juld sun = 6.0
|Augd sun = 6.6
|Sepd sun = 6.4
|Octd sun = 7.3
|Novd sun = 7.2
|Decd sun = 5.3
|yeard sun = 6.4
|source 1 = [[Deutscher Wetterdienst]]<ref name = DWDHoniara>{{cite web
| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_915170_kt.pdf
| title = Klimatafel von Honiara / Insel Guadalcanal / Salomonen
| work = Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world
| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst
| language = de
| access-date = 22 November 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190512102732/https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_915170_kt.pdf
| archive-date = 12 May 2019
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
}}

=== Ecology ===
{{see also|Protected areas of Solomon Islands|Coral reefs of the Solomon Islands}}
[[File:Share Of Forest Area In Total Land Area, Top Countries (2021).svg|thumb|330x330px|Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021). The Solomon Islands have the sixth highest percentage of forest cover in the world.]]
The Solomon Islands [[archipelago]] is part of two distinct [[terrestrial ecoregion]]s. Most of the islands are part of the [[Solomon Islands rain forests]] ecoregion, which also includes the islands of Bougainville and Buka; these forests have come under pressure from forestry activities. The Santa Cruz Islands are part of the [[Vanuatu rain forests]] ecoregion, together with the neighbouring archipelago of Vanuatu.<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}</ref> The country had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 7.19/10, ranking it 48th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|display-authors=1|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }}</ref> More than 230 varieties of orchids and other tropical flowers are found in Solomon Islands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hunt |first=P. F. |date=1969 |title=Orchids of the Solomon Islands |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |publisher=The Royal Society |volume=255 |issue=800 |pages=581–587 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1969.0030 |jstor=2416873 |bibcode=1969RSPTB.255..581H }}</ref>

Soil quality ranges from extremely rich volcanic (there are [[volcano]]es with varying degrees of activity on some of the larger islands) to relatively infertile limestone.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=K. E. |date=1969 |title=Some Soils of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |publisher=The Royal Society |volume=255 |issue=800 |pages=211–257 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1969.0009 |jstor=2416852 |bibcode=1969RSPTB.255..211L }}</ref> The islands contain several active and dormant volcanoes. The Tinakula and [[Kavachi]] volcanoes are the most active.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-15 |title=An Underwater Plume From Kavachi |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152567/an-underwater-plume-from-kavachi |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |language=en}}</ref>

On the southern side of [[Vangunu Island]], the forests around Zaira provided the habitat for at least three [[vulnerable species]] of animals. The 200 human inhabitants of the area have been trying to get the forests declared a protected area so that logging and mining cannot be performed.<ref name=fox>{{cite web | last=Fox | first=Liam | title=Villagers fight to preserve a rare piece of untouched forest in Solomon Islands – ABC News | website=ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) | date=2 December 2020 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-03/solomon-islands-zaira-take-a-stand-against-logging-operations/12943804 | access-date=24 December 2020 | archive-date=24 December 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224094735/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-03/solomon-islands-zaira-take-a-stand-against-logging-operations/12943804 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The baseline survey of marine biodiversity in the Solomon Islands that was carried out in 2004,<ref name="TE2006">{{cite report|editor-first1=Alison|editor-last1=Green|editor-first2=Paul|editor-last2=Lokani|editor-first3=William|editor-last3=Atu|editor-first4=Peter|editor-last4=Ramohia|editor-first5=Peter|editor-last5=Thomas|editor-first6=Jeanine|editor-last6=Almany|url= https://www.conservationgateway.org/Documents/SolomonIslandsMarineAssessmentReport-Full.pdf|title= Solomon Islands Marine Assessment: Technical report of survey conducted May 13 to June 17, 2004. TNC Pacific Island Countries Report No. 1/06|publisher= DC: World Resources Institute|year= 2006|pages= 65–109|access-date= 31 March 2021|archive-date= 2 August 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210802093600/https://www.conservationgateway.org/Documents/SolomonIslandsMarineAssessmentReport-Full.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref> found 474 species of corals in the Solomons as well as nine species which could be new to science. It has the second highest diversity of corals in the world, second only to the [[Raja Ampat Islands]] in eastern Indonesia.<ref>{{Cite web | author=Doubilet, David | year=2007 | title=Ultra Marine: In far eastern Indonesia, the Raja Ampat islands embrace a phenomenal coral wilderness | publisher=National Geographic | url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/indonesia/doubilet-text | archive-date=9 April 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409084522/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/indonesia/doubilet-text}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Jupiter |first1=Stacy |title=Solomon Islands: Coastal and Marine Ecosystems |date=2019 |work=World Seas: an Environmental Evaluation |pages=855–874 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780081008539000439 |access-date=2024-11-20 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-08-100853-9.00043-9 |isbn=978-0-08-100853-9 |last2=McCarter |first2=Joe |last3=Albert |first3=Simon |last4=Hughes |first4=Alec |last5=Grinham |first5=Alistair|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Water and sanitation ===
{{See also|Human rights in Solomon Islands}}
Scarcity of fresh water sources and lack of sanitation has been a constant challenge facing Solomon Islands. Reducing the number of those living without access to fresh water and sanitation by half was one of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) implemented by the United Nations through Goal 7, to ensure environmental sustainability.<ref name="Sectors">{{Cite web|url=http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/sectors-solomon_islands/business/water_and_sanitation/|title=Sectors|website=Commonwealth of Nations|access-date=4 December 2018|archive-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003536/http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/sectors-solomon_islands/business/water_and_sanitation/|url-status=live}}</ref> Though the islands generally have access to fresh water sources, it is typically only available in the state's capital of Honiara,<ref name="Sectors"/> and it is not guaranteed all year long.

A 2025 report claims one third have no access to basic drinking water and two thirds have no access to basic sanitation. [https://islandsbusiness.com/news-break/33-percent-of-solomon-islands-population-have-no-access-to-basic-drinking-water-amongst-lowest-in-world/]

According to a UNICEF report, the capital's poorest communities do not have access to adequate places to relieve their waste, and an estimated 70% Solomon Island schools have no access to safe and clean water for drinking, washing, and relieving of waste.<ref name="Sectors" /> Lack of safe drinking water in school-age children results in high risks of contracting fatal diseases such as [[cholera]] and [[typhoid]].<ref name="reliefweb.int">{{Cite web |date=5 March 2018 |title=Solomon Island Communities Build Potable Water Systems to Improve Livelihoods |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/solomon-islands/solomon-island-communities-build-potable-water-systems-improve-livelihoods |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003714/https://reliefweb.int/report/solomon-islands/solomon-island-communities-build-potable-water-systems-improve-livelihoods |archive-date=5 December 2018 |access-date=4 December 2018 |website=ReliefWeb}}</ref> The number of Solomon Islanders living with piped drinking water has been decreasing since 2011, while those living with non-piped water increased between 2000 and 2010. Those living with non-piped water has been decreasing consistently since 2011.[contradictory?] <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://washdata.org/data#!/slb|title=JMP|website=washdata.org|access-date=18 October 2018|archive-date=10 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010204252/https://washdata.org/data#!/slb|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Solomon Shoreline.jpg|thumb|Typical coast of Solomon Islands]]
In addition, the Solomon Islands Second Rural Development Program, enacted in 2014 and active until 2020, has been working to deliver infrastructure and other vital services to rural areas and villages of Solomon Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Projects: Solomon Islands Rural Development Program II |url=http://www.projects.worldbank.org/P149282?lang=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205060707/http://www.projects.worldbank.org/P149282?lang=en |archive-date=5 December 2018 |access-date=4 December 2018 |website=The World Bank}}</ref> The program has also encouraged farmers and other agricultural sectors.<ref name="reliefweb.int"/> Rural villages such as Bolava, found in the Western Province of Solomon Islands, have implemented rain catchment and water storage systems.<ref name="reliefweb.int"/> The program is funded by various international development actors such as the World Bank, the European Union, and the Australian and Solomon Islands governments.<ref name="reliefweb.int"/>

===Earthquakes===
{{main|2007 Solomon Islands earthquake|2013 Solomon Islands earthquake}}
On 2 April 2007 at 07:39:56 local time ([[UTC+11]]), an earthquake with magnitude 8.1 on the {{m|w|link=y}} scale occurred at hypocentre S8.453 E156.957, {{Convert|349|km|mi}} northwest of the island's capital, [[Honiara]], and south-east of the capital of [[Western Province (Solomon Islands)|Western Province]], [[Gizo, Solomon Islands|Gizo]], at a depth of 10&nbsp;km (6.2&nbsp;miles).<ref>[http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Solomon-Islands-earthquake-and-tsunami "Solomon Islands earthquake and tsunami"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011101050/http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Solomon-Islands-earthquake-and-tsunami |date=11 October 2016 }}, Breaking Legal News – International, 4 March 2007</ref> More than 44 aftershocks with magnitude 5.0 or greater occurred up until 22:00:00 UTC, 4 April 2007. A [[tsunami]] followed killing at least 52 people, destroying more than 900 homes and leaving thousands of people homeless.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6520461.stm "Aid reaches tsunami-hit Solomons"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407183115/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6520461.stm |date=7 April 2007 }}, BBC News, 3 April 2007</ref> Land upthrust extended the shoreline of one island, [[Ranongga]], by up to {{Convert|70|m|ft}}, exposing many coral reefs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.physorg.com/news95163840.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417094627/http://www.physorg.com/news95163840.html|title=Quake lifts Solomons island metres from the sea|archive-date=17 April 2007}}</ref>

On 6 February 2013,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lay |first1=Thorne |last2=Ye |first2=Lingling |last3=Kanamori |first3=Hiroo |last4=Yamazaki |first4=Yoshiki |last5=Cheung |first5=Kwok Fai |last6=Ammon |first6=Charles J. |date=2013 |title=The February 6, 2013 Mw 8.0 Santa Cruz Islands earthquake and tsunami |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040195113004149 |journal=Tectonophysics |language=en |volume=608 |pages=1109–1121 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2013.07.001|url-access=subscription }}</ref> an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 occurred at epicentre S10.80 E165.11 in the Santa Cruz Islands followed by a tsunami up to 1.5 metres. At least nine people were killed and many houses demolished.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fritz |first1=Hermann M. |last2=Papantoniou |first2=Antonios |last3=Biukoto |first3=Litea |last4=Albert |first4=Gilly |last5=Wei |first5=Yong |date=2014-05-01 |title=The Solomon Islands Tsunami of 6 February 2013 in the Santa Cruz Islands: Field Survey and Modeling |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014EGUGA..1615777F/abstract |journal= Egu General Assembly Conference Abstracts|page=15777 |bibcode=2014EGUGA..1615777F |bibcode-access=free}}</ref> The main quake was preceded by a sequence of earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 6.0.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Economy==

{{main|Economy of Solomon Islands}}

[[File:Tetere Oil Palms.jpg|thumb|Plantation of oil palms near Tetere on Guadalcanal]]
[[File:Guadalcanal Field.jpg|thumb|Subsistence agriculture near Honiara]]
[[File:Tamboko Main St.jpg|thumb|One of the most important roads on the North coast of Guadalcanal in Tamboko]]

The Solomon Islands' per-capita GDP of $600 ranks it as a [[least developed country]], and more than 75% of its labour force is engaged in [[subsistence agriculture]] and fishing. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. Only 3.9% of the area of the islands is used for agriculture, and 78.1% are covered by forests, making the Solomon Islands the 7th-ranked country in terms of percent forest coverage  worldwide as of 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAOSTAT |url=https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL |website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

The Solomon Islands Government was insolvent by 2002. Since the [[Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands|RAMSI]] intervention in 2003, the government has recast its budget.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solomon Islands (09/09) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/solomonislands/130068.htm |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=U.S. Department of State |at=Economy}}</ref> Principal aid donors are Australia,<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2018 |title=Aid Investment Plan |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/solomon-islands-aid-investment-plan-2015-19.pdf |journal=Solomon Islands Aid Investment Plan |publisher=Australian government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade}}</ref> New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, and Taiwan.

===Currency===

The [[Solomon Islands dollar]] ([[ISO 4217]] code: ''SBD'') was introduced in 1977, replacing the Australian dollar at par. Its symbol is "SI$", but the "SI" prefix may be omitted if there is no confusion with other currencies also using the [[dollar sign]], "$". It is subdivided into 100 [[Cent (currency)|cents]]. Local [[shell money]] is still important for traditional and ceremonial purposes in certain provinces and, in some remote parts of the country, for trade. Shell money was a widely used traditional currency in the Pacific Islands; in Solomon Islands, it is mostly manufactured in [[Malaita]] and [[Guadalcanal]] but can be bought elsewhere, such as the [[Honiara Central Market]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pilotguides.com/articles/currency-as-cultural-craft-shell-money/|title=Currency as Cultural Craft: Shell Money – The Official Globe Trekker Website|work=The Official Globe Trekker Website|access-date=28 September 2017|archive-date=8 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808074655/http://www.pilotguides.com/articles/currency-as-cultural-craft-shell-money/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[barter]] system often replaces money of any kind in remote areas.{{fact|date=August 2025}}

===Exports===

Until 1998, when world prices for tropical timber fell steeply, timber was Solomon Islands' main export product. In June 2000, exports of palm oil and gold ceased while exports of timber fell.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solomon Islands (12/04) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/solomonislands/47556.htm |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

The Solomon Islands courts have re-approved the export of live [[dolphin]]s for profit, most recently to [[Dubai]], United Arab Emirates. This practice was originally stopped by the government in 2004<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2007-10-16 |title=Solomons dolphin export set to go after failed court bid |url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/solomons-dolphin-export-set-to-go-after-failed-court-bid-20071017-gdrcxi.html |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |language=en}}</ref> after uproar over a shipment of 28 live dolphins to [[Mexico]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 October 2007 |title=WWF concerned by dolphin export from Solomon Islands to Dubai |url=https://www.wwfpacific.org/?115580/WWF-concerned-by-dolphin-export-from-Solomon-Islands-to-Dubai |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=www.wwfpacific.org |language=en}}</ref> The move resulted in criticism from both [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]] as well as several conservation organisations.<ref name=":0" /> As of 2022, rough wood makes up two-thirds of the country's exports, worth over {{Currency|2.5 billion|SBD|passthrough=yes}} ({{Currency|308 million|USD|passthrough=yes}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=BACI |url=https://www.cepii.fr/CEPII/en/bdd_modele/bdd_modele_item.asp?id=37 |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales |at=Download: HS22 (2022)}}</ref>

===Agriculture===

In 2017, 317,682 tons of coconuts were harvested, making the country the 18th ranked producer of coconuts worldwide; 24% of the exports corresponded to copra.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coconuts, production quantity (tons) – for all countries |url=https://www.tilasto.com/en/topic/geography-and-agriculture/crop/coconuts/coconuts-production-quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=18 December 2023 |archive-date=30 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130181621/https://www.tilasto.com/en/topic/geography-and-agriculture/crop/coconuts/coconuts-production-quantity |url-status=live }}</ref> Cocoa beans are mainly grown on the islands Guadalcanal, Makira, and Malaita. In 2017, 4,940 tons of cocoa beans were harvested, making the Solomon Islands the 27th ranked producer of cocoa worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Cocoa beans, production quantity (tons) |url=http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%20islands/cocoa%20beans%2C%20production%20quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=18 December 2023}}</ref> Growth of production and export of copra and cacao, however, is hampered by old age of most coconut and cacao trees. In 2017, 285,721 tons of palm oil were produced, making Solomon Islands the 24th ranked producer of palm oil worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Oil palm fruit, production quantity (tons) |url=https://www.tilasto.com/en/topic/geography-and-agriculture/crop/oil-palm-fruit/oil-palm-fruit-production-quantity/solomon-islands |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=18 December 2023 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709113903/https://www.tilasto.com/en/topic/geography-and-agriculture/crop/oil-palm-fruit/oil-palm-fruit-production-quantity/solomon-islands |url-status=live }}</ref> Other important cash crops and exports include [[copra]], [[Cocoa bean|cacao]], and [[palm oil]].

For the local market but not for export, many families grow [[taro]] (2017: 45,901 tons),<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Taro, production quantity (tons) |url=https://www.tilasto.com/en/country/solomon-islands/geography-and-agriculture/taro-production-quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=18 December 2023 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414053958/https://www.tilasto.com/en/country/solomon-islands/geography-and-agriculture/taro-production-quantity |url-status=live }}</ref> rice (2017: 2,789 tons),<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Rice, paddy, production quantity (tons) |url=https://www.tilasto.com/en/topic/geography-and-agriculture/crop/rice/rice-paddy-production-quantity/solomon-islands |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=18 December 2023 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420063011/https://www.tilasto.com/en/topic/geography-and-agriculture/crop/rice/rice-paddy-production-quantity/solomon-islands |url-status=live }}</ref> [[yam (vegetable)|yams]] (2017: 44,940 tons),<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Yams, production quantity (tons) |url=http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%20islands/yams%2C%20production%20quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=16 November 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414153654/http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%2520islands/yams,%2520production%2520quantity }}</ref> and bananas (2017: 313 tons).<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Bananas, production quantity (tons) |url=http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%20islands/bananas%2C%20production%20quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=16 November 2019 |archive-date=5 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305080326/http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%20islands/bananas,%20production%20quantity }}</ref> Tobacco (2017: 118 tons)<ref>{{cite web |title=Solomon Islands: Tobacco, production quantity (tons) |url=http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%20islands/tobacco%2C%20production%20quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=16 November 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414153655/http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/solomon%2520islands/tobacco,%2520production%2520quantity }}</ref> and spices (2017: 217 tons) were also produced.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spices, others, production quantity (tons) – for all countries |url=http://www.factfish.com/statistic/spices%2C%20others%2C%20production%20quantity |website=www.factfish.com |access-date=16 November 2019 |archive-date=14 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014042704/http://www.factfish.com/statistic/spices,%20others,%20production%20quantity }}</ref>

===Mining===

In 1998, gold mining began at [[Gold Ridge (mine)|Gold Ridge]] on Guadalcanal. Minerals exploration in other areas continued. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as [[lead]], [[zinc]], [[nickel]], and [[gold]]. Negotiations are underway that may lead to the eventual reopening of the Gold Ridge mine that was closed after the riots in 2006. [[Rennell Island bauxite mine]] operated from 2011 to 2021 on Rennell Island, leaving behind serious ecological damage after multiple spills.<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |date=2021-05-30 |title='They failed us': how mining and logging devastated a Pacific island in a decade |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/they-failed-us-how-mining-and-logging-devastated-a-pacific-island-in-a-decade |access-date=2023-03-03 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=3 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303201740/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/they-failed-us-how-mining-and-logging-devastated-a-pacific-island-in-a-decade |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Piringi |first=Charley |date=2021-11-10 |title=Mining operation allegedly owes millions in taxes and royalties in Solomon Islands |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/10/mining-operation-allegedly-owes-millions-in-taxes-and-royalties-in-solomon-islands |access-date=2023-03-03 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Fisheries===

Solomon Islands' fisheries also offer prospects for export and domestic economic expansion. A Japanese joint venture, Solomon Taiyo Ltd., which operated the only fish cannery in the country, closed in mid-2000 as a result of the ethnic disturbances.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sasako |first=Alfred |date=6 September 2018 |title=Western province's Noro port prepares for tuna export expansion |url=https://theislandsun.com.sb/western-provinces-noro-port-prepares-for-tuna-export-expansion/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Theislandsun}}</ref> Though the plant has reopened under local management, the export of [[tuna]] has not resumed.

===Tourism===

<div class="floatright">
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In 2017, Solomon Islands was visited by 26,000 tourists making the country one of the least frequently-visited countries of the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Keine Lust auf Massentourismus? Studie: Die Länder mit den wenigsten Urlaubern der Welt |url=https://www.travelbook.de/ziele/laender/ranking-die-am-wenigsten-besuchten-laender-der-welt |website=travelbook.de|language=de-DE |date=10 September 2018 |access-date=15 November 2019 |archive-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630131342/https://www.travelbook.de/ziele/laender/ranking-die-am-wenigsten-besuchten-laender-der-welt |url-status=live }}</ref> The Solomon Island government hoped to increase the number of tourists up to 30,000 by the end of 2019 and up to 60,000 tourists per year by the end of 2025.<ref>''Paradise'', Volume 4, July–August 2019, p. 128. Port Moresby 2019.</ref> In 2019, the Solomon Islands were visited by 28,900 tourists and in 2020 by 4,400.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worlddata.info/oceania/solomon-islands/tourism.php | title=Development and importance of tourism for the Solomon Islands | access-date=15 January 2023 | archive-date=15 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115213058/https://www.worlddata.info/oceania/solomon-islands/tourism.php | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Energy===

A team of renewable energy developers working for the [[South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission]] (SOPAC) and funded by the [[Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership]] (REEEP) have developed a scheme that allows local communities to access renewable energy, such as solar, water, and wind power, without the need to raise substantial sums of cash. Under the scheme, islanders who are unable to pay for solar lanterns in cash may pay instead in kind with crops.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parthan |first=Binu |date=7 April 2009 |title=Solomon Islands Solar: A New Microfinance Concept Takes Root |url=http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/04/solomon-islands-solar-a-new-microfinance-concept-takes-root |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109195659/http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/04/solomon-islands-solar-a-new-microfinance-concept-takes-root |archive-date=9 January 2014 |website=Renewable Energy World}}</ref>

== Infrastructure ==
=== Flight connections ===
[[Solomon Airlines]] connects [[Honiara International Airport]] to Nadi in [[Fiji]], [[Port Vila]] in [[Vanuatu]], and [[Brisbane]] in [[Australia]] as well as to more than 20 domestic airports in each province of the country. To promote tourism Solomon Airlines introduced a weekly direct flight connection between Brisbane and [[Munda, Solomon Islands|Munda]] in 2019.<ref>Samisoni Pareti: ''Solomons'', issue 80, S. 10. Honiara 2019.</ref> [[Virgin Australia]] connects Honiara to Brisbane twice a week. Most of the domestic airports are accessible to small planes only as they have short, grass runways.

=== Roads ===
The road system in Solomon Islands is insufficient and there are no railways. The most important roads connect Honiara to Lambi (58&nbsp;km; 36 miles) in the western part of Guadalcanal and to Aola (75&nbsp;km; 47 miles) in the eastern part.<ref>''Südsee'', p. 41. Nelles Verlag, München 2011</ref> There are few buses and these do not circulate according to a fixed timetable. In Honiara, there is no bus terminus.

=== Ferries ===
Most of the islands can be reached by ferry from Honiara. There is a daily connection from Honiara to Auki via Tulagi by a high speed catamaran.

==Demographics==
{{main|Demographics of Solomon Islands}}
{|class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px"
! colspan="4" style="text-align:center; background:#cfb;"|Population{{UN_Population|ref}}
|-
! style="background:#cfb;"|Year
! style="background:#cfb;"|Million
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1950 ||style="text-align:right;"|0.09
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|2000 ||style="text-align:right;"|0.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{UN_Population|Year}} ||style="text-align:right;"|{{#expr:{{formatnum:{{UN_Population|Solomon Islands}}|R}}/1e6 round 1}}
|}
The total population at the November 2019 census was 721,455. {{As of|{{UN_Population|Year}}}}, there were {{UN_Population|Solomon Islands}}&nbsp;people in the Solomon Islands.{{UN_Population|ref}} <!-- Decrease in population? -->The population is slightly skewed towards males, with there being around 370,000 males compared to 356,000 for females.<ref>{{Citation |title=Solomon Islands |date=2024-11-14 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Solomon Islands |url=https://data.who.int/countries/090 |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=datadot |language=en}}</ref>

=== Ethnic groups ===
{{bar box
|title=Ethnic groups in the Solomon Islands
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Ethnic groups
|right1=percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|Melanesian|darkgreen|95.3}}
{{bar percent|Polynesian|purple|3.1}}
{{bar percent|Micronesian|red|1.2}}
{{bar percent|Chinese|black|0.1}}
{{bar percent|European|orange|0.1}}
{{bar percent|Other|darkblue|0.1}}
}}
[[File:A close up shot of three junior AFL player holding footballs at the Lord Howe Settlement, Honiara. (10661462334).jpg|thumb|Solomon Islander boys from Honiara. People with brown or [[Blond#Oceania|blond]] hair are quite common among Solomon Islanders without any European admixture, especially among children.]]
The majority of Solomon Islanders are ethnically [[Melanesians|Melanesian]] (95.3%). [[Polynesians|Polynesian]] (3.1%) and [[Micronesian people|Micronesian]] (1.2%) are the two other significant groups.<ref name="Country profile: Solomon Islands">CIA World Factbook. [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/ Country profile: Solomon Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022092556/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/ |date=22 October 2021 }}. Retrieved 21 October 2006.</ref> There are a few thousand [[Europeans]] and a similar number of ethnic [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]].<ref name=BBC>Spiller, Penny: "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4930994.stm Riots highlight Chinese tensions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202134436/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4930994.stm |date=2 December 2012 }}", BBC News, Friday, 21 April 2006, 18:57 GMT</ref>

=== Languages ===
{{Further|Languages of Solomon Islands}}

While English is the official language, only 1–2% of the population are able to communicate fluently in English. However, an English creole, Solomons [[Pijin]], is a ''de facto'' [[lingua franca]] of the country spoken by the majority of the population, along with local indigenous languages. Pijin is closely related to [[Tok Pisin]] spoken in Papua New Guinea.

The number of local languages listed for Solomon Islands is 74, of which 70 are living languages and 4 are extinct, according to ''Ethnologue, Languages of the World''.<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SB Ethnologue report for Solomon Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004043023/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SB |date=4 October 2012 }}. Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 24 September 2010.</ref> [[Western Oceanic languages]] (predominantly of the [[Southeast Solomonic languages|Southeast Solomonic group]]) are spoken on the central islands. [[Polynesian languages]] are spoken on [[Rennell Island|Rennell]] and [[Bellona Island|Bellona]] to the south; [[Tikopia]], [[Anuta]], and [[Fatutaka]] to the far east; [[Sikaiana]] to the north east; and Luaniua ([[Ontong Java Atoll]]) to the north. The immigrant population from [[Kiribati]] (the [[i-Kiribati]]) speak [[Gilbertese language|Gilbertese]].

Most of the indigenous languages are [[Austronesian languages]]. The [[Central Solomon languages]] such as [[Bilua language|Bilua]], [[Lavukaleve language|Lavukaleve]],  [[Savosavo language|Savosavo]], and [[Touo language|Touo]] constitute an independent family within [[Papuan languages]].<ref>{{cite book |surname=Obata |given=Kazuko |title=A Grammar of Bilua: a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands |series=Pacific Linguistics 540 |year=2003 |location=Canberra |publisher=Pacific Linguistics. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The Australian National University |page=1 |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146708/1/PL-540.pdf |doi=10.15144/PL-540 |hdl=1885/146708 |isbn=0-85883-531-2 |access-date=2 April 2023 |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402072232/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146708/1/PL-540.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Religion===
{{See|Religion in Solomon Islands}}[[File:Tanagai Church.jpg|thumb|Catholic Church in Tanagai on Guadalcanal]]
The religion of Solomon Islands is 92% Christian. The main Christian denominations are: [[Anglican Church of Melanesia|Anglican]] 35%, [[Catholic Church in Solomon Islands|Catholic]] 19%, the [[South Seas Evangelical Church]] 17%, the [[United Church in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands|United Church]] 11%, and [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventist]] 10%. Other Christian denominations are the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], the New Apostolic Church (80 churches), and [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].

Another 5% adhere to aboriginal beliefs. The remaining 3% adhere to [[Islam]] or the [[Baháʼí Faith]]. According to the most recent reports, [[Islam in Solomon Islands]] is made up of approximately 350 Muslims,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90154.htm |title=International Religious Freedom Report 2007 |publisher=State.gov |date=14 September 2007 |access-date=18 June 2012 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216011516/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90154.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Update inline|date=April 2025}} including members of the [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Islamic community]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ahmadiyya.org.au/index.asp?docname=sol/maini.htm |title=Ahmadiyya Solomon Islands |publisher=Ahmadiyya.org.au |access-date=7 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322163506/http://ahmadiyya.org.au/index.asp?docname=sol%2Fmaini.htm |archive-date=22 March 2012 }}</ref>

===Health===
{{See|Health in the Solomon Islands}}
In 2018, there were 59,191 confirmed cases of [[Malaria|malaria infections]], of which 59.3% (35,072) were ''[[Plasmodium vivax]]'' and 26.7% (15,771) ''[[Plasmodium falciparum]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wangdi |first1=Kinley |last2=Sarma |first2=Haribondu |last3=Leaburi |first3=John |last4=McBryde |first4=Emma |last5=Clements |first5=Archie C. A. |date=2020 |title=Evaluation of the malaria reporting system supported by the District Health Information System 2 in Solomon Islands |journal=Malaria Journal |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=372 |doi=10.1186/s12936-020-03442-y |doi-access=free |issn=1475-2875 |pmc=7568381 |pmid=33069245}}</ref> A small-scale study had once reported a 20% case of ''[[Chlamydia trachomatis]]'' out of 296 women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marks |first1=M. |last2=Kako |first2=H. |last3=Butcher |first3=R. |last4=Lauri |first4=B. |last5=Puiahi |first5=E. |last6=Pitakaka |first6=R. |last7=Sokana |first7=O. |last8=Kilua |first8=G. |last9=Roth |first9=A. |last10=Solomon |first10=A. W. |last11=Mabey |first11=D. C. |date=2015-04-28 |title=Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in female clinic attendees in Honiara, Solomon Islands |journal=BMJ Open |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |article-number=e007276 |doi=10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007276 |pmc=4420977 |pmid=25922103}}</ref> In 2021, the top cause of deaths, according to the WHO, was [[Coronary artery disease|ischaemic heart disease]], followed by stroke and diabetes mellitus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solomon Islands |url=https://data.who.int/countries/090 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=datadot |language=en}}</ref> Another prevalent case is the ''[[Zika virus]]'' and ''[[Dengue virus]]''. [[Dengue fever]] in the country was first reported in 1982 in Honiara. A subsequent outbreak in 2013 resulted in its first reported deaths. Later, the Solomon Islands recorded its first ''Zika virus'' outbreak in 2015.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Russell |first1=Tanya L. |last2=Horwood |first2=Paul F. |last3=Harrington |first3=Humpress |last4=Apairamo |first4=Allan |last5=Kama |first5=Nathan J. |last6=Bobogare |first6=Albino |last7=MacLaren |first7=David |last8=Burkot |first8=Thomas R. |date=2022-02-10 |title=Seroprevalence of dengue, Zika, chikungunya and Ross River viruses across the Solomon Islands |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |article-number=e0009848 |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0009848 |doi-access=free |pmc=8865700 |pmid=35143495}}</ref>

===Education===
[[File:Fenualoa Tuo school children.jpg|thumb|Children at the school in Tuo village, [[Fenualoa]]]]
[[File:Tanagai Schule.jpg|thumb|School in Tanagai on Guadalcanal]]
Education in Solomon Islands is not compulsory, and only 60 percent of school-age children have access to primary education.<ref name=ilab>[http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2001/Solomon-islands.htm "Solomon Islands"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830073107/http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/tda2001/solomon-islands.htm |date=30 August 2010}}. ''2001 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor''. [[Bureau of International Labor Affairs]], [[United States Department of Labor]] (2002). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [[public domain]].</ref><ref name="spc.int">{{cite web |url=http://www.spc.int/prism/Country/SB/Stats/Publication/DHS07/factsheet/SOL-DHS_1-Pop.pdf |title=Solomon Islands Population Characteristics |website=Spc.int |access-date=7 July 2011 |archive-date=12 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612032326/http://www.spc.int/prism/Country/SB/Stats/Publication/DHS07/factsheet/SOL-DHS_1-Pop.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> There are kindergartens in various places, including the capital, but they are not free. The [[University of the South Pacific]], which has campuses in 12 Pacific island nations, has a campus in the capital, [[Honiara]], [[Guadalcanal]].<ref>{{cite web |date=8 May 2025 |title=Home – USP Solomon Islands Campus |url=https://www.usp.ac.fj/usp-solomon-islands/}}</ref>

From 1990 to 1994, the gross primary school enrolment rose from 84.5 percent to 96.6 percent.<ref name=ilab/> Primary school attendance rates were unavailable for Solomon Islands as of 2001.<ref name=ilab/> The Department of Education and Human Resource Development had planned to expand educational facilities and increase enrolment rates. However, these actions have been hindered by a lack of government funding and the poor coordination of programs.<ref name=ilab/> The percentage of the government's budget allocated to education was 9.7 percent in 1998, down from 13.2 percent in 1990.<ref name=ilab/> Male educational attainment tends to be higher than female educational attainment.<ref name="spc.int"/> The literacy rate of the adult population amounted to 84.1% in 2015 (men 88.9%, women 79.23%).<ref>{{cite web|title=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html#136|access-date=2 March 2018|language=en|archive-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124171442/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html#136}}</ref>

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries |url=https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/ |access-date=27 March 2022 |website=humanrightsmeasurement.org |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308173546/https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> finds that the Solomon Islands is fulfilling only 70.1% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=Solomon Islands – HRMI Rights Tracker |url=https://rightstracker.org/ |access-date=27 March 2022 |website=rightstracker.org |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519142734/https://rightstracker.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration the Solomon Islands' income level, the nation is achieving 94.9% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education, but only 45.4% for secondary education.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Culture==
{{main|Culture of Solomon Islands}}
[[File:Honiara National Museum.jpg|thumb|Traditional painting and wood carving in the National Museum in Honiara]]
[[File:Tamate Dance Costume.jpg|thumb|upright|A traditional dance costume]]
The [[culture of Solomon Islands|culture of the Solomon Islands]] is diverse among the groups living within the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands archipelago]], which lies within [[Melanesia]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]], with the peoples distinguished by island, language, topography, and geography. The cultural area includes the nation-state of Solomon Islands and [[Bougainville Island]], which is a part of [[Papua New Guinea]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15896396 |title=Solomon Islands country profile |date=31 July 2017 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=28 September 2017 |archive-date=29 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929000331/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15896396 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Solomon Islands includes some [[Polynesian culture|culturally Polynesian]] societies that lie outside the main region of Polynesian influence, known as the [[Polynesian Triangle]]. There are seven [[Polynesian outliers]] within the Solomon Islands: [[Anuta]], [[Bellona Island|Bellona]], [[Ontong Java]], [[Rennell Island|Rennell]], [[Sikaiana]], [[Tikopia]], and [[Vaeakau-Taumako]].

There are majority cultural concepts such as the ''Wantok'' concept of people with a common language who are blood relatives being part of the extended family support and expected to assist one another and the Pijin term ''Kastom'' for both traditional beliefs and traditional land ownership concepts.<ref name=culture>{{cite web|url=https://solomons.gov.sb/about-solomon-islands/|title=About Solomon Islands: Culture|publisher=Solomon Islands Government|location=Solomon Islands|access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref>

Malaitan shell-money, manufactured in the [[Langa Langa Lagoon]], is the traditional currency used in [[Malaita]] and throughout the Solomon Islands. The money consists of small polished shell disks which are drilled and placed on strings.<ref name="Economic">{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/1613811 |title="Making Money": Objects, Productions, and Performances of Shell Money Manufacture in Langalanga, Solomon Island |author=Pei-yi Guo |access-date=15 April 2021 |journal=The Frontiers of Southeast Asia and Pacific Studies |date=1 January 2006 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128024410/https://www.academia.edu/1613811 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the Solomons ''[[Tectus niloticus]]'' is harvested, which was traditionally made into items such as pearl buttons and jewellery.<ref name="RHR2003">{{cite report|last1=Sulu|first1=Reuben|first2=C.|last2=Hay|first3=P.|last3=Ramohia|last4=Lam|first4=M. |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282170987 |title= The status of Solomon Islands coral reefs |publisher= Centre IRD de Nouméa |year= 2003| access-date= 31 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="ANU2000">{{cite journal |author= Kile N. |year= 2000 |url= https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/157579/1/151_soloman%20islands%20marine.pdf |title= Solomon Islands marine resources overview |journal= Pacific Economic Bulletin |volume= 15 |issue= 1 |pages= 1–61 |doi= 10.5479/si.00775630.589.1 |access-date= 15 April 2021 |archive-date= 23 July 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220723041720/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/157579/1/151_soloman%20islands%20marine.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref>

===Gender inequality and domestic violence===
Solomon Islands has one of the highest rates of family and [[sexual violence]] (FSV) in the world, with 64% of women aged 15–49 having reported physical and/or sexual abuse by a partner.<ref name="Ming 2016 16–19">{{cite journal |last1=Ming |first1=Mikaela A. |last2=Stewart |first2=Molly G. |last3=Tiller |first3=Rose E. |last4=Rice |first4=Rebecca G. |last5=Crowley |first5=Louise E. |last6=Williams |first6=Nicola J. |date=2016 |title=Domestic violence in the Solomon Islands |journal=Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=16–19 |doi=10.4103/2249-4863.184617 |issn=2249-4863 |pmc=4943125 |pmid=27453837 |doi-access=free }}</ref> As per a [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) report issued in 2011, "the causes of Gender Based Violence (GBV) are multiple, but it primarily stems from gender inequality and its manifestations."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/sdhconference/resources/draft_background_paper4_solomon_islands.pdf|title=WHO 2011 report on gender based violence report in the Solomon Islands|access-date=5 October 2020|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224164751/https://www.who.int/sdhconference/resources/draft_background_paper4_solomon_islands.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The report stated:
:In Solomon Islands, GBV has been largely normalized: 73% of men and 73% of women believe violence against women is justifiable, especially for infidelity and "disobedience," as when women do "not live up to the gender roles that society imposes." For example, women who believed they could occasionally refuse sex were four times more likely to experience GBV from an intimate partner. Men cited acceptability of violence and gender inequality as two main reasons for GBV, and almost all of them reported hitting their female partners as a "form of discipline," suggesting that women could improve the situation by "[learning] to obey [them]."

Another driver of gender inequality in Solomon Islands is the traditional practice of [[Bride price#Solomon Islands|bride price]]. Although specific customs vary between communities, paying a bride price is considered similar to a property title, giving men ownership over women. Gender norms of masculinity tend to encourage men to "control" their wives, often through violence, while women felt that bride prices prevented them from leaving men. Another report issued by the WHO in 2013 reported that 64% of women aged 15–49 who had ever had an intimate partner had experienced some kind of violence by the partner.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wpro.who.int/topics/gender/solomon_country_case_vaw.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014142612/http://www.wpro.who.int/topics/gender/solomon_country_case_vaw.pdf |archive-date=14 October 2015 |title=WHO Solomon Islands GBV report 2013 }}</ref> In 2014, Solomon Islands officially launched the Family Protection Act 2014, which was aimed at curbing domestic violence in the country.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201796330/solomon-islands-launches-new-domestic-violence-law |title=Solomon Islands launches new domestic violence law |date=8 April 2016 |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |access-date=28 September 2017 |archive-date=26 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026062310/http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201796330/solomon-islands-launches-new-domestic-violence-law |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Literature===
{{Further|Solomon Islands literature}}
Writers from Solomon Islands include the novelists [[John Saunana]] and [[Rexford Orotaloa]] and the poet [[Jully Makini]].

===Media===
====Newspapers====
{{see also|List of newspapers in Solomon Islands}}
There is one daily newspaper, the ''[[Solomon Star]]''; one daily online news website, ''Solomon Times Online''; two weekly papers, ''Solomons Voice'' and ''Solomon Times''; and two monthly papers, ''Agrikalsa Nius'' and the ''Citizen's Press''.

====Radio====
Radio is the most influential type of media in the Solomon Islands due to language differences, illiteracy,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1249307.stm |title=Solomon Islands country profile |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=9 December 2016 |archive-date=17 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217021410/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1249307.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the difficulty of receiving television signals in some parts of the country. The [[Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation]] (SIBC) operates public radio services, including the national stations [[Radio Happy Isles]] 1037 on the dial and [[Wantok FM]] 96.3, and the provincial stations [[Radio Happy Lagoon]] and, formerly, Radio Temotu. There are two commercial FM stations: Z FM at 99.5 in Honiara (but also receivable over a large majority of island out from Honiara) and PAOA FM at 97.7 in Honiara (also broadcasting on 107.5 in Auki), and one community FM radio station, Gold Ridge FM on 88.7.

====Television====
{{see also| List of television stations in the Solomon Islands}}
No television service covers the entire Solomon Islands, but some coverage is available in six main centres in four of the nine provinces. Satellite TV stations can be received. In Honiara, there is a free-to-air HD digital TV, analogue TV, and an online service called Telekom Television Limited, operated by Solomon Telekom Co. Ltd., which rebroadcasts a number of regional and international TV services, including [[ABC Australia (Southeast Asian TV channel)|ABC Australia]] and [[BBC World News]]. Residents can also subscribe to SATSOL, a digital paid TV service that can retransmit satellite television.

==== Others ====
There were approximately 229,500 internet users in the Solomon Islands at the start of 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-16 |title=Digital 2022: The Solomon Islands |url=https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-solomon-islands |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=DataReportal – Global Digital Insights |language=en-GB}}</ref> Before that, the 2019 census reported that 225,945 people of age 12 years and above, the majority of whom came from Honiara, owned a mobile phone.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 October 2023 |title=Majority of Solomon Islanders use mobile phones for Social Media: 2019 Census report |url=https://statistics.gov.sb/majority-of-solomon-islanders-use-mobile-phones-for-social-media-2019-census-report/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Solomon Islands National Statistics Office}}</ref>

===Music===
{{Further|Music of Solomon Islands}}
[[File:Flute de pan MHNT ETH AC NH 31 Savès.jpg|thumb|A [[pan flute]], nineteenth century, [[MHNT]]]]

Traditional [[music of Melanesia|Melanesian music]] in Solomon Islands includes both group and solo vocals, [[slit-drum]] and [[panpipe]] ensembles. [[Bamboo musical instruments|Bamboo music]] gained a following in the 1920s. In the 1950s, [[Edwin Nanau Sitori]] composed the song "[[Walkabout long Chinatown]]", which has been referred to by the government as the unofficial "[[national song]]" of the Solomon Islands.<ref>[http://www.pmc.gov.sb/content/%E2%80%9Cwakabauti-long-chinatown%E2%80%9D-song-composers-storyline "Wakabauti long Chinatown": The song, the composers, the storyline"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218032153/http://www.pmc.gov.sb/content/%E2%80%9Cwakabauti-long-chinatown%E2%80%9D-song-composers-storyline |date=18 February 2011 }}, Office of the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands</ref> Modern Solomon Islander popular music includes various kinds of rock and reggae as well as ''island music''.

===Sport===
{{main|Sport in Solomon Islands}}
The [[Solomon Islands national rugby union team]] has played internationals since 1969. It took part in the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups, but did not qualify on either occasion.

The [[Solomon Islands national football team]] is part of the OFC confederation in FIFA. They are ranked 147th for the men and 86th for the women team out of 210 teams in the FIFA World Rankings in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 October 2024 |title=Solomon Islands Football Federation |url=https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/SOL |website=Inside FIFA}}</ref> The team became the first team to beat New Zealand in qualifying for a play-off spot against Australia for qualification to the [[World Cup 2006]]. They were defeated 7–0 in Australia and 2–1 at home.

Closely related to Association Football. On 14 June 2008, the [[Solomon Islands national futsal team]], the Kurukuru, won the Oceania Futsal Championship in Fiji to qualify them for the [[2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup]], which was held in Brazil from 30 September to 19 October 2008. Solomon Islands is the futsal defending champions in the Oceania region. In 2008 and 2009, the Kurukuru won the Oceania Futsal Championship in Fiji. In 2009, they defeated the host nation [[Fiji]] 8–0 to claim the title. The Kurukuru currently hold the world record for the fastest ever goal scored in an official futsal match. It was set by Kurukuru captain Elliot Ragomo, who scored against [[New Caledonia national futsal team|New Caledonia]] three seconds into the game in July 2009.<ref>[http://solomonstarnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10142&change=100&changeown=102&Itemid=42 "RAGOMO BEATS WORLD RECORD....to score the fastest futsal goal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913100930/http://www.solomonstarnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10142&change=100&changeown=102&Itemid=42 |date=13 September 2016 }}, ''Solomon Star'', 15 July 2009</ref> They were beaten by [[Russia national futsal team|Russia]] with two goals to thirty-one in 2008.<ref>[http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=2758 "Russia Beats Kurukuru 31–2"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718054559/http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=2758 |date=18 July 2012 }}, ''Solomon Times'', 7 October 2008</ref>

The [[Solomon Islands national beach soccer team]], the Bilikiki Boys, have won all three [[FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (OFC)|regional championships]] to date, thereby qualifying on each occasion for the [[FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup]]. The Bilikiki Boys are ranked fourteenth in the world {{As of|2010|lc=y}}, higher than any other team from Oceania.<ref>[http://www.solomonstarnews.com/sports/national/2347-bilikiki-ranked-fourteenth-in-the-world "Bilikiki ranked fourteenth in the world"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716103516/http://www.solomonstarnews.com/sports/national/2347-bilikiki-ranked-fourteenth-in-the-world |date=16 July 2011 }}, ''Solomon Star'', 29 January 2010</ref>

Solomon Islands hosted the [[2023 Pacific Games]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sol2023.com.sb/venues/ |title=Venues |website=www.sol2023.com.sb |date=25 October 2022 |publisher=SOL23 |access-date=14 April 2023 |archive-date=17 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117065219/https://www.sol2023.com.sb/venues/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Oceania}}
* [[Outline of Solomon Islands]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Solomon Islands|voy=Solomon Islands}}
* {{cite web|url=https://solomons.gov.sb/office-of-the-prime-minister-and-cabinet/ |title=Solomon Islands Government:About the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |location=Honiara|publisher=SIG ICT Services|access-date=5 July 2025}} Historic 2012 information: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118084945/http://www.pmc.gov.sb/ |date=18 January 2012 }}
* {{cite web|url=https://solomons.gov.sb|title=Solomon Islands Government: Government Services|location=Honiara|publisher=SIG ICT Services|access-date=5 July 2025}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/ |title=Solomon Islands in ''The World Factbook''|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]}}
* {{cite web|last=Moore |first=Clive |url=http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/ |title=Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893–1978}}
* {{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22feed%22:%221482262495656%22,%22sort%22:%22newest%22,%22mapposition%22:%5B%5B-85,0%5D,%5B85,360%5D%5D,%22viewModes%22:%7B%22help%22:false,%22list%22:true,%22map%22:true,%22settings%22:false%7D,%22autoUpdate%22:false,%22search%22:%7B%22id%22:%221482262495656%22,%22name%22:%22Search%20Results%22,%22isSearch%22:true,%22params%22:%7B%22starttime%22:%221716-12-13%2000:00:00%22,%22endtime%22:%223226-12-20%2023:59:59%22,%22latitude%22:-9.28,%22longitude%22:159.49,%22maxradiuskm%22:725,%22minmagnitude%22:6,%22orderby%22:%22time%22%7D%7D%7D|title= Latest Earthquakes|publisher=United States Geological Survey|location=Washington}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/15|title=Solomon Islands Act 1978 Changes over time for: Solomon Islands Act 1978|date=25 May 1978|access-date=5 July 2025}} "An Act to make provision for, and in connection with, the attainment by Solomon Islands of independence within the Commonwealth."

{{Solomon Islands topics}}

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