Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
Monarch: Prince Albert II
Population
584,578
30,510
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
89.680 years
Capital City
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Monte-Carlo (population: 16,012)
Human Development Index
0.591
0
GDP per capita
Literacy Rate
%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
25%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Lily Safra ($1.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
parliamentary democracy
constitutional monarchy
Independence date
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)
Roman Catholic 90%, other 10%
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
French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque
Exports
External Debt
Exchange Rate
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Western Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of France, near the border with Italy
Area
28,896 km sq
2 km sq
Coastline
5,313 km
4 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers
