Country name
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Solomon Islands
former: British Solomon Islands

Data code BP

Government type parliamentary democracy

National capital Honiara

Administrative divisions 7 provinces and 1 town*; Central, Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira,Malaita, Temotu, Western
note: there may be two new provinces of Choiseul (Lauru) and Rennell/Bellonaand the administrative unit of Honiara may have been abolished

Independence 7 July 1978 (from UK)

National holiday Independence Day, 7 July (1978)

Constitution 7 July 1978

Legal system common law

Suffrage 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II of the UK (since 6 February 1952), represented byGovernor General Moses PITAKAKA (since 10 June 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Solomon MAMALONI (since 7 November 1994); Deputy PrimeMinister Francis SAEMALA (since NA February 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the primeminister from among the members of Parliament
elections : none; the queen is a hereditary monarch; governor general appointedby the queen on the advice of Parliament for up to five years; following legislativeelections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalitionis usually elected prime minister by Parliament; deputy prime minister appointedby the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among themembers of Parliament

Legislative branch unicameral National Parliament (47 seats; members elected from singlemember constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 26 May 1993 (next to be held 6 August 1997)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GNUR 21, PAP 7, NAPSI5, SILP 4, UP 4, independents 6

Judicial branch High Court

Political parties and leaders National Unity and Reconciliation Group (GNUR), Solomon MAMALONI; People'sAlliance Party (PAP); National Action Party (NAPSI), leader NA; Solomon IslandsLabor Party (SILP), leader NA; United Party (UP), leader NA; Nationalist Frontfor Progress (NFP), Andrew NORI; Labor Party (LP), Joses TUHANUKU; ChristianFellowship, leader NA

International organization participation ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF,UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Stephen Rex HOROI (represents the country as both the PermanentRepresentative to the UN and the ambassador to the US)
chancery: Permanent Mission of the Solomon Islands to the UN, 820 Second Avenue,Suite 800, New York, NY 10017
telephone : [1] (212) 599-6193
FAX: [1] (212) 661-8925

Diplomatic representation from the US the US does not have an embassy in Solomon Islands (embassy closed July1993); the ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to the Solomon Islands

Flag description divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-sidecorner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointedstars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green

NOTE: The information regarding Solomon Islands on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Solomon Islands Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Solomon Islands Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.