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Introduction
Introduction about this country.
The Solomon Islands (in English: Solomon islands) form a country of Oceania, located in the region of Melanesia. It is made up of about a thousand islands and islets, most of which belong to the Solomon archipelago; to the east of the country are the Santa Cruz Islands. East of the Solomon Islands lies Papua New Guinea, to the north is Nauru, to the east is Tuvalu and to the south, Vanuatu.
Understand
Regions
The Solomon Islands are divided into nine provinces and a capital territory, HoniaraThe provinces are: Central, Choiseul (Lauru), Guadalcanal, Isabel, Makira (Kirakira), Malaita, Rennell and Bellona, Temotu and Occidental.
The main islands are:
| Choiseul | the northernmost area; includes the Treasury Islands and the Shortland Islands, as well as Choiseul himself |
| Florida and the Russell Islands (Yandina) |
| Guadalcanal (Honiara, Aola Bay) | the main island with the capital city and the main airport |
| New Georgia Islands (Noro) | New Georgia itself, plus thousands of small islands and atolls. Port Viru |
| Malaita |
| Rennell and Bellona |
| Makira | this island was formerly known as San Cristobal |
| Santa Cruz Islands, | small remote islands in the southeast, closer to Vanuatu than anywhere else in the Solomon Islands. |
| Saint Elizabeth, | where the first European contact with the Solomon Islands was made |
History
The Solomon Islands are believed to have been inhabited by Melanesian people for thousands of years. Papuan-speaking settlers are believed to have started arriving around 30,000 BC. The Austronesian speakers arrived around 4,000 BC, bringing cultural elements such as the stabilizing canoe. It is between 1,200 and 800 BC that the ancestors of the Polynesians, the Lapita people, arrived from the Bismarck archipelago with their characteristic ceramics.
The first European to visit the islands was the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, who came from Peru in 1568. The inhabitants of the Solomon Islands were known for headhunting and cannibalism before the arrival of Europeans. Missionaries began visiting the Solomons in the mid-1800s. They made little progress at first, because "black birdwatching" (the often brutal recruitment of workers for the sugar plantations in Queensland and Fiji) led to a series of reprisals and massacres. The evils of the labor trade led the United Kingdom to declare a protectorate over southern Solomon in June 1893. View from Fenualoa towards Tinakula In World War II, there was fierce fighting between the Americans and the Japanese in the Solomon Islands campaign 1942–45, including the Battle of Guadalcanal. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later. The Solomon Islands are a constitutional monarchy with the Queen of the Solomon Islands, currently Elizabeth II, as head of state.
In 1998, ethnic violence, government misconduct, and crime undermined stability and society. In June 2003, an Australian-led multinational force, the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), arrived and restored peace, disarmed ethnic militias and improved civil governance. It also led to the development of facilities catering to expatriate workers.
Most of the population depends on agriculture, fishing and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Most manufactured products and petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. However, severe ethnic violence, the closure of key business enterprises, and an empty government treasury have led to serious economic disarray, near collapse indeed. Tank deliveries of crucial fuel supplies (including those for power generation) have become sporadic due to the government's inability to pay and attacks on ships. Telecommunications are threatened by non-payment of bills and by the lack of technical and maintenance personnel, many of whom have left the country.
Cities
The largest and most important city in the country is the capital, Honiara. Then there are Gizo, Yandina and Aola. Other minor towns are Tulagi, Auki, Buala, Kirakira, and Lata.
Geography
The Solomon Islands are a large island nation and the distance between the westernmost and easternmost islands is about 1,500 km (930 miles). The Santa Cruz Islands (of which Tikopia is a part), are located north of Vanuatu and are especially isolated more than 200 km (120 miles) from the other islands. Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon Islands, but politically it is an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea.
The Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial ecoregions. Most of the islands are part of the Solomon Islands tropical forest ecoregion. These forests have come under great pressure from forestry activities. The Santa Cruz Islands are part of the Vanuatu rainforest ecoregion, along with the neighboring archipelago of Vanuatu. More than 230 varieties of orchids and other tropical flowers light up the landscape. The islands contain several active and dormant volcanoes, with Tinakula and Kavachi being the most active. The highest point is Mount Makarakomburu, at 2,447 meters. Many low coral atolls dot the region.
The Solomon Islands they occupy part of the archipelago of the Solomon Islands that they share with the state of Papua New Guinea.
Weather
The climate is tropical. Temperatures range between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius, dropping between three and five at night. The equatorial oceanic climate of the islands is extremely humid throughout the year, with an average temperature of 27 ° C (80 ° F) and few extremes of temperature or climate. June to August is the coolest period. Although the seasons are not pronounced, the northwesterly winds from November to April bring more frequent rainfall and occasional squalls or cyclones. Annual precipitation is approximately 3050 mm (120 in).
Economy
The majority of the population of the Solomon Islands depends on agriculture, fishing and / or forest extraction for at least part of their life. According to estimates of the year 2000, more than 75% of its workforce is dedicated to agriculture of subsistence and fishing Until 1998, when world prices for tropical timber fell sharply, timber was the largest export product, and in recent years, the Solomon Islands' forests were dangerously overexploited. Other important crops and exports are copra and palm oil. In 1998, Ross Mining of Australia began producing gold at the Guadalcanal gold ridge. Mineral exploration in other areas continues. However, in the wake of ethnic violence in June 2000, palm oil and gold exports ceased, while timber exports fell.
The exploitation of fisheries in the Solomon Islands offers the best prospects for export and domestic economic expansion. However, a Japanese company, Solomon Taiyo Ltd., which operated the fish canning factory in the country, closed in mid-2000 as a result of ethnic unrest. Although the plant has reopened under local management, the export of tuna has not resumed.
Tourism, especially diving, is an important industry for the Solomon Islands. The growth of the industry is hampered by the lack of transportation infrastructure and security. In 2017 the number of foreign tourists rose to 26,000.
The Solomon Islands was particularly affected by the Asian financial crisis, even before the ethnic violence of June 2000. The Asian Development Bank estimates that the decline in the tropical timber market reduced the Solomon Islands' GDP by 15% - 25%. About half of all jobs in the lumber industry were lost. The government has said to reform timber harvesting policies in order to resume logging on a more sustainable basis. Before the arrival of the Regional Assistance Mission for the Solomon Islands - RAMSI - the intense ethnic violence, the closure of important businesses and the emptying of the government coffers culminated in the collapse of the economy. restoring law and order and obtaining economic stabilization led to modest growth while the economy was rebuilt.
Other destinations
The Solomon Islands are surrounded by paradisiacal beaches, bays and reefs that represent the greatest attraction in the country. Many of them are located outside the urban centers or adjacent to small towns.
To get
Entry requirements
Everyone needs a passport, an entry ticket, and sufficient funds to cover their stay in the Solomon Islands. Since October 2016, EU citizens do not require a visa.
Citizens of the following nationalities can obtain visitor visas on arrival: American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Cook Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, French Polynesia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guyana, Iceland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Martinique , Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.
Citizens of other countries except Belarus, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Montenegro, Palestinian Territories, Serbia, South Africa, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Vatican, Zimbabwe can obtain a visa on arrival if they have a confirmation that a visa It has been approved. before departure.
If you have a visitor's permit, you cannot participate in jobs, business, religious vocations, or professional research. If you want to do any of those things, you must obtain a business permit.
By plane
Henderson International Airport is 7 miles east of the capital, Honiara. Scheduled flights depart from Brisbane, Australia, on most days. There are also flights between Port Vila, Nadi, Port Moresby and Sydney.
Boat
Cruise ships occasionally visit Honiara.
It is also possible to travel from southern Bougainville in Papua New Guinea by boat to the western province of the Solomon Islands, as locals routinely travel between the Shortland Islands of Solomons and Bougainville.
Travel
By car
There is traffic on the left. Rural roads are mostly in poor condition. Hitchhiking is common in rural areas for a fee. Rental cars are only available in Guadacanal. Of the 1,300 km of roads in the country, only 16 km were paved in 2016, around 800 km are private roads in plantations. Local public transport, in the form of minibuses, is only available during the day in the capital. Taxis only operate in Honiara and Auki. The price must be agreed before starting the trip.
By plane
A list of small airports can be found on Wikipedia. The main means of transport between the islands are boats or flights of Solomon Airlines ( flight schedules ). The main landing sites besides the capital are Seghe, Munda and Gizo. Luggage is limited to 16 kg.
Boat
Regular passenger traffic exists between Honiara ↔ Auiki (Malaita) and Honiara ↔ Gizo via Marovo once a week. Ferry crowding is the rule, life jackets are not necessarily available (in sufficient quantities).
To buy
Money
| Exchange rates for the Solomon Islands dollar As of January 2020:
Exchange rates fluctuate. Current rates for these and other currencies are available at XE.com |
The country's currency is Solomon Islands dollar , denoted by the symbol " YES $ "(ISO currency code: SBD ). It is divided into 100 cents. Notes are issued in denominations of $ 5, $ 10, $ 20, $ 50, $ 100 and coins in denominations of 10, 20, 50 cents, $ 1, $ 2
ATMs are available in Honiara. Australian dollars are accepted in some hotels and resorts.