Population Distribution
The Solomon Islands consists of a group of South Pacific islands east of Papua New Guinea. It comprises of nine provinces. The largest island-provinces are Guadalcanal, Santa Isabel, Choiseul, Malaita and Makira (also known as San Cristobal). Two clusters of smaller islands, the New Georgia and Santa Cruz groups, also have substantial settlements.
On these principal islands live the vast majority of the nation's more than 500,000 inhabitants. The country encompasses some 990 islands, most not inhabited, extending across about 900 miles.
Ethnicity and Cultural Roots
The indigenous Melanesians, who comprise 93 percent of the Solomons' inhabitants, probably arrived from Southeast Asia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
Anthropologists and archeologists further believe that a group of people who long ago lived on Bismarck Island and adjoining stretches of the Solomon archipelago sailed from there to Polynesia and became progenitors of the Polynesian ethnic group. Some Polynesians returned to the Solomon Islands, though this group today comprises less than 5 percent of the national population.
Micronesians are also represented on the Solomon Islands.
Small communities of European and Asian (mostly Chinese) origin also live on the islands.
The indigenous Melanesians place great emphasis on their attachment to an extended family, typically numbering up to 200 persons, and to their clan.
Language
The main language is South Pacific Pidgin dialect, though English is the official language and about 120 distinct native tongues are also spoken.
Religion
Christianity is the major religion -- a testament to the missionary efforts in the region two centuries prior.
Health and Welfare
According to recent estimates, the life expectancy in Solomon Islands is an average 73.44 years of age (70.9 years for men and 76.1 years for women) . The infant mortality rate is 19.67 deaths per 1,000 live births. The fertility rate is 3.78 children born per woman while the population growth rate is 2.54 percent. About 5.4 percent of GDP is spend on health expenditures. Access to sanitation, water, and health care is considered to be good.
Human Development
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed the Solomon Islands in the medium human development category, at 123rd place.
Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.