Solomon Islands: Land, People, and Economy

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Solomon Islands (South Pacific)

Encyclopedia—Solomon Islands

Land, People, and Economy

The Solomons are mountainous and heavily wooded. The inhabitants are largely Melanesians, although some Polynesians live in the outlying atolls. About one third of the people belong to the Church of Melanesia, and there are minorities of Roman Catholics and other Christian denominations. English is the official language, but a Melanesian pidgin is the lingua franca; there are about 120 indigenous languages.

Farming, fishing, and forestry are the main occupations. Cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, and fruit are grown. Economic development has been slow, and industry is limited to fish processing, mining, and lumbering. There are large undeveloped mineral resources. By the 1990s, logging levels had become unsustainable and the government instituted regulatory legislation. Timber, fish, copra, palm oil, and cocoa are the main exports, while foodstuffs, machinery, manufactured goods, fuels, and chemicals are imported. The main trading partners are China, Australia, and South Korea.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
Land, People, and Economy
Government
History

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Related content from HighBeam Research on: Solomon Islands: Land, People, and Economy

Whose knowledge? Epistemological collisions in Solomon Islands community development. (The Contemporary Pacific)

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The gathering storm in the South Pacific.(stability brought by coup in Solomon Islands)(Brief Article) (The Economist (US))

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