Geography

Located in the center of the cultural region of Melanesia, the Solomon Islands comprise 922 islands (347 inhabited) strung east of New Guinea.  The six major islands are high and volcanic, and most are ringed by coral reefs.

The climate is hot and humid.  Richly endowed with forests and fish, the Solomons have suffered limited environmental degradation in part because customary land-ownership arrangements encourage conservation.

History

Settled as early as 30,000 years ago by Papuans from New Guinea, the Solomons absorbed a larger migration of Austronesians about 4,000 years ago.  These early Melanesians lived in small clan-based villages, supporting themselves by shifting cultivation, fishing and hunting.  Clans kept to themselves except during raids on neighbors, and thus developed very different languages and customs.  Behavior was proscribed by kastom (tradition as relayed by elders).  Ancestors were worshipped and blood feuds, headhunting and cannibalism kept people on their toes.

The Spanish reached this area in the 16th century, sailing from Peru on a wild-goose chase, looking as ever for gold.  So optimistic were they on first spying land that they named the islands after the wealthy biblical king.  But all they found were malaria and friendly headhunters, who initially offered them a quarter of baked boy as a gesture of goodwill.

The British annexed the Solomons in the late 19th century, to counter German influence in the region. The Japanese invasion at the outset of World War II led to some of the war’s most horrific fighting, especially on the island of Guadalcanal.

The British granted independence in 1978, and the country remains a parliamentary democracy.  Recently, ethnic tensions between two rival island groups have brought the country to the brink of civil war.

People

The population is 416,000.  93% are Melanesian, most of them Christian but retaining animist beliefs.  Some 87 languages are spoken, but the lingua franca is Pijin, a fusion of English vocabulary and Melanesian grammar.

As in prehistoric times, the basic social unit is the clan, or wantok (literally, 'one-talk').  Individuals are evaluated by their value to the community as a whole; for instance, giving elaborate feasts enhances one’s prestige more than, say, driving a Ferrari.  In addition, the concept of kastom is still used to indicate widely disparate social orders, traditions that are widely honored.

The UN ranks the Solomon Islands in the 31st percentile in terms of quality of life, based on life expectancy, educational achievement and adjusted real income.  This is not great, but comparable to other Melanesian nations.

Economy

The Solomon Islands is a low-income country, with a GNP per capita of about $760.  81% of the populace lives in rural areas, practicing shifting, subsistence agriculture, fishing, hunting and limited cash cropping.  87% of all land is kastom, i.e., traditionally owned; disputes are common.

One-third of all jobs are in the public sector, and nearly 60% of paid employment is in the capital, Honiara.  Aid represents 14% of GNP, or about $100 per capita.

Tourism is negligible, mainly divers and World War II buffs.  The 13,000 arrivals in 1998 were mostly on business.

Sources:  World Bank (1998 data), Dorling Kindersley World Reference Atlas, UNDP Human Development Report, Lonely Planet