| Geography | Solomon Islands |
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Location:
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Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea |
Geographic coordinates:
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8 00 S, 159 00 E |
Map references:
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Oceania |
Area:
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total: 28,896 sq km
land: 27,986 sq km
water: 910 sq km |
Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Maryland |
Land boundaries:
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0 km |
Coastline:
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5,313 km |
Maritime claims:
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measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm |
Climate:
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tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather |
Terrain:
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mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls |
Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Popomanaseu 2,310 m |
Natural resources:
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fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel |
Land use:
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arable land: 0.62%
permanent crops: 2.04%
other: 97.34% (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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NA |
Total renewable water resources:
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44.7 cu km (1987) |
Total renewable water resources - per capita:
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78,162 cubic meters per capita |
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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void |
Natural hazards:
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typhoons, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis
volcanism: Tinakula (elev. 851 m) has frequent eruption activity, while an eruption of Savo (elev. 485 m) could affect the capital Honiara on nearby Guadalcanal |
Environment - current issues:
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deforestation; soil erosion; many of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying |
Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note:
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strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea; on 2 April 2007 an undersea earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale occurred 345 km WNW of the capital Honiara; the resulting tsunami devastated coastal areas of Western and Choiseul provinces with dozens of deaths and thousands dislocated; the provincial capital of Gizo was especially hard hit |
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