Solomon Islands is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, that lies east of Papua New Guinea.

Islands

The major part of the nation of Solomon Islands is the mountainous high islands of the Solomon Islands archipelago, which includes Choiseul, the Shortland Islands, the New Georgia Islands, Santa Isabel, the Russell Islands, the

Florida Islands The Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a sovereign state (since 1978) in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The chain is composed of four larger islands and about ...

, Tulagi,

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

Maramasike South Malaita Island is the island at the southern tip of the larger island of Malaita in the eastern part of the Solomon Islands. It is also known as Small Malaita and Maramasike for Areare speakers and Malamweimwei for more than 80% of the isla ...

Ulawa Ulawa Island is an island in Solomon Islands. It is located near Malaita Island and belongs to Makira Ulawa Province. The island has an area of . A hilly island, its highest point is above sea level. Average temperatures are around 27 ° ...

Owaraha Owaraha or Owa Raha (also known as Santa Ana) is an island in Makira-Ulawa Province, Solomon Islands. Description This relatively small coral island is 5.6 km long and 4.5 km wide. It is located at the eastern end of Makira (San Cristob ...

(Santa Ana), Makira (San Cristobal), and the main island of

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

. (The largest island in the archipelago is Bougainville, but it is politically an autonomous region of the neighbouring country of Papua New Guinea.) Solomon Islands also includes isolated low-lying atolls and high islands such as Sikaiana, Rennell Island, Bellona Island, the Santa Cruz Islands and the remote, tiny outliers, Tikopia,

Anuta Anuta is a small high island in the southeastern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu, one of the smallest permanently inhabited Polynesian islands. It is one of the Polynesian Outlier communities in Melanesia. Geography The island ...

, and Fatutaka. The distance between the most western and most eastern islands is about . Especially the Santa Cruz Islands, north of Vanuatu, are isolated at more than from the other islands. The total land size is . It has the 22nd largest Exclusive Economic Zone of .

Geology and ecology

Volcanoes with varying degrees of activity are situated on some of the larger islands, while many of the smaller islands are simply tiny atolls covered in sand and palm trees. The baseline survey of marine biodiversity in the Solomon Islands that was carried out in 2004, found 474 species of corals in the Solomons as well as nine species which could be new to science. This is the second highest diversity of corals in the World, second only to the Raja Ampat Islands in eastern Indonesia.Doubilet, David (2007). Ultra Marine: In far eastern Indonesia, the Raja Ampat islands embrace a phenomenal coral wilderness. National Geographic, September 2007. Originally retrieved from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/indonesia/doubilet-text. Archived on 2008-04-09 at https://web.archive.org/web/20080409084522/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/indonesia/doubilet-text.

Climate

The climate is tropical, though temperatures are rarely extreme due to cooling winds blowing off the surrounding seas. Daytime temperatures are normally 25 to 32 °C (77 to 90 °F). From April to October (the dry season), the southeast trade winds blow, gusting at times up to 30 knots (55 km/h) or more. November to March is the wet season—the northwest monsoon—typically warmer and wetter. Cyclones arise in the Coral Sea and the area of the Solomon Islands, but they usually veer toward Vanuatu and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

or down the coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Climate data

Statistics

Geographic coordinates: Area:
''total:'' 28,896 km² (10,985 mi²)
''land:'' 27,986 km² (10,633 mi²)
''water:'' 910 km² (351 mi²) Coastline: 5,313 km Maritime claims:
Measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
''continental shelf:''
''exclusive economic zone:'' (200 nmi)
''territorial sea:'' Terrain: Mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls Elevation extremes:
''lowest point:'' Pacific Ocean 0 m
''highest point:''

Mount Popomanaseu Mount Popomanaseu is a volcanic mountain and the highest mountain in the Solomon Islands. It is located on Guadalcanal east of Mount Makarakomburu Mount Makarakomburu is the second highest point in the Solomon Islands, located approximately 20 ...

2,332 m (7,651 ft) (not

Mount Makarakomburu Mount Makarakomburu is the second highest point in the Solomon Islands, located approximately 20 miles south of Honiara, the capital, on the island of Guadalcanal, which is the largest island in the country. Elevation SRTM, more accurate IFS ...

) Natural resources: fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel Land use:
''arable land:'' 0.62%
''permanent crops:'' 2.04%
''other:'' 97.34% (2005) Irrigated land: NA Natural hazards: Typhoons, but they are rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity Environment – current issues: Deforestation;

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...

; much of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying Environment – international agreements:
''party to:'' Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...

Desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea,

Marine Dumping The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, commonly called the "London Convention" or "LC '72" and also abbreviated as Marine Dumping, is an agreement to control pollution of the sea by dum ...

, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling

Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of Solomon Islands, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. * Northernmost point – Ontong Java Atoll, Malaita Province * Easternmost point – Fatutaka, Santa Cruz Islands, Temotu Province * Southernmost point – South Reef,

Indispensable Reef The Indispensable Reefs are a chain of three large coral atolls in the Coral Sea. They are located about south of Rennell Island, separated from it by Rennel Trough. The chain stretches over a length of and its average width is . Administrat ...

, Rennell and Bellona Province * Westernmost point – Mono Island, Treasury Islands, Western Province

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of The Solomon Islands