Home > Factbook > Countries > Solomon Islands
Location | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea |
Geographic coordinates | 8 00 S, 159 00 E |
Map references | Oceania |
Area | total: 28,896 sq km land: 27,986 sq km water: 910 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Land boundaries | total: 0 km |
Coastline | 5,313 km |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm measured from claimed archipelagic baselines |
Climate | tropical monsoon; few temperature and weather extremes |
Terrain | mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls |
Elevation extremes | highest point: Mount Popomanaseu 2,335 m lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m |
Natural resources | fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel |
Land use | agricultural land: 3.9% (2018 est.) arable land: 0.7% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 2.9% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 0.3% (2018 est.) forest: 78.9% (2018 est.) other: 17.2% (2018 est.) |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km NA (2012) |
Total renewable water resources | 44.7 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
Natural hazards | tropical cyclones, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis volcanism: Tinakula (851 m) has frequent eruption activity, while an eruption of Savo (485 m) could affect the capital Honiara on nearby Guadalcanal |
Geography - note | strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021