Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
Chairman of the General National Congress: Mohamed Magarief
Population
584,578
5,613,380
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
77.830 years
Capital City
Tripoli (Tarabulus)
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Tripoli (population: 1,150,990)
Human Development Index
0.591
0.84
GDP per capita
$14,100 US
Literacy Rate
%
82.6%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
2.6
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
7.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
30.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
parliamentary democracy
Jamahiriya (a state of the masses) in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in practice, an authoritarian state
Independence date
24 December 1951 (from UN trusteeship)
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Sunni Muslim 97%, other 3%
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities
