Island country, South Pacific Ocean.
(Another island group named Solomon Islands, which includes Bougainville , is part of Papua New Guinea.) The country includes the islands of Guadalcanal , Malaita , San Cristobal , Choiseul, Santa Isabel, Florida, and Rennell; the Russell, Shortland, Santa Cruz, and New Georgia island groups; and small islands and reefs. Area: 10,985 sq mi (28,450 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 439,000. Capital: Honiara . The population is largely Melanesian. Languages: English (official); Pijin (an English-based pidgin), and more than 60 indigenous Melanesian languages. Religion: Christianity (mostly Protestantism). Currency: Solomon Islands dollar. The Solomons group consists of seven large volcanic islands arranged in two parallel chains that converge in the southeast. They consist mostly of heavily wooded, mountainous terrain drained by short, swift-flowing rivers. The climate is tropical. The economy is based on agriculture, fishing, and lumbering. Tourism is increasing as cruise ships and visitors to World War II battlefields stop at the islands. The country is a constitutional monarchy with one legislative house; its chief of state is the British monarch represented by the governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The Solomon Islands were probably settled 0441; 2000 BC by Austronesian people. Visited by the Spanish in 1568, they were subsequently explored and charted by the Dutch, French, and British. They were under British protection (18931900) and became the British Solomon Islands. The Japanese invasion of 1942 ignited three years of the most bitter fighting in the Pacific, particularly on Guadalcanal. The protectorate became self-governing in 1975 and fully independent in 1978. In 1999 the Solomons became embroiled in ethnic fighting. The arrival of New Zealand and Australian armed forces established order, and a peace accord between the factions was signed in October 2000.