Polity · 1979 CE – present
Solomon Islands
- Peak recorded area
- 26,861 km²
- 1899 CE
- Rulers on record
- 14
- from 1978 CE
- Data series
- 301
- 1979 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons, is an archipelagic country consisting of six major islands and over 1,000 smaller islands in Melanesia, Oceania, to the north-east of Australia. It is adjacent to Bougainville to the 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.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
4 dated territorial extents on record from CShapes 2.0. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. Cliopatria holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 56 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 70.83years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population143 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 838.6Kpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 1,631persons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 2.33% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 72.34years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 69.47years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 128 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP220 obs · 1800 CE–2019 CE | 2,169int'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP Current Usd103 obs · 1967 CE–2025 CE | 1.7Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Cattle Stocks64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 15.4Khead2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Cereals Area Harvested64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 1,477ha2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Cereals Production64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 2,756.01tonnes2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Chickens Stocks64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 248head2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
Military
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score39 obs · 1978 CE–2016 CE | 0CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption39 obs · 1978 CE–2016 CE | 55Kcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production39 obs · 1978 CE–2016 CE | 0tons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel39 obs · 1978 CE–2016 CE | 0persons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure38 obs · 1978 CE–2016 CE | 0current USD2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Arms Imports Tiv Million4 obs · 1988 CE–2021 CE | 7tiv_million2021 CE · SIPRI Arms Transfers TIV |
Territory & resources
6 of 51 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.8217% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 90.06% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 3.9%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land per capita Ha63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.0287hectares per person2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 109.2Kha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Arable Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 23Kha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.665index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.519index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.409index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.676index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Legislature Total Seats49 obs · 1975 CE–2023 CE | 50seats2023 CE · Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023 |
Development
6 of 31 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.823index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Mobile Subscriptions Per 10051 obs · 1960 CE–2022 CE | 62.07per_1002022 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Dpt Immunization %45 obs · 1980 CE–2024 CE | 87%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Primary Enrollment Gross %45 obs · 1970 CE–2024 CE | 81.84%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Measles Immunization %39 obs · 1986 CE–2024 CE | 78%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Who Skilled Birth Attendance39 obs · 1985 CE–2023 CE | 122.59%2023 CE · WHO Global Health Observatory |
Rulers
14 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Elizabeth IImonarch of the Solomon Islands1978 CE – 2022 CE
- Peter KeniloreaPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands1978 CE – 1981 CE
- Solomon MamaloniPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands1981 CE – 1984 CE
- Ezekiel AlebuaPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands1986 CE – 1989 CE
- Francis Billy HillyPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands1993 CE – 1994 CE
- Bartholomew Ulufa'aluPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands1997 CE – 2000 CE
- Allan KemakezaPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands2001 CE – 2006 CE
- Snyder RiniPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands2006 CE
- Danny PhilipPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands2010 CE – 2011 CE
- Gordon Darcy LiloPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands2011 CE – 2014 CE
- Rick HouPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands2017 CE – 2019 CE
- Charles IIIHead of State2022 CE –
- Manasseh SogavareHead of Government2023 CE – 2024 CE
- Jeremiah ManeleHead of Government2024 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
- Government type
- parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Executive branch
- chief of state: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General David Tiva KAPU (since 7 July 2024); head of government: Prime Minister Jeremiah MANELE (since 2 May 2024); cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister;
- Ethnic groups
- Melanesian 95.3%, Polynesian 3.1%, Micronesian 1.2%, other 0.3% (2009 est.)
- Natural resources
- fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel
- Economy
- lower middle-income Pacific island economy; natural resource rich but environmentally fragile; key agrarian sector; growing Chinese economic relationship; infrastructure damage due to social unrest; metal mining operations
Language & currency
- Currency
- Solomon Islands dollars (SBD)
Memberships
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1978 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CIA World Factbook 2024
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
CShapes 2.02.0
Schvitz, G. et al. (2022). Mapping the International System, 1886-2019: The CShapes 2.0 Dataset. Journal of Conflict Resolution 66(1).
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023DPI 2023
Cruz, C., Keefer, P. & Scartascini, C. (2023). Database of Political Institutions 2023. Inter-American Development Bank.
IDB open data, attribution
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI (2024). Arms Transfers Database (Trend-Indicator Values).
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
WHO Global Health Observatory2024
World Health Organization (2024). Global Health Observatory data repository.
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Solomon Islands is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.