World Factbook
Solomon Islands
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Area
land
27,986 sq km
water
910 sq km
total
28,896 sq km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few temperature and weather extremes
Terrain
mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
Land use
other
6.2% (2023 est.)
forest
89.9% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
3.9% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 0.8% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 2.8% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 0.3% (2023 est.)
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Coastline
5,313 km
Elevation
lowest point
Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point
Mount Popomanaseu 2,335 m
Irrigated land
0 sq km (2022)
Map references
Oceania
Land boundaries
total
0 km
Maritime claims
note
note: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea
12 nm
continental shelf
200 nm
exclusive economic zone
200 nm
Natural hazards
tropical cyclones, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis volcanism: Tinakula (851 m) has frequent eruption activity, and an eruption of Savo (485 m) could affect the capital Honiara on nearby Guadalcanal
Geography - note
strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea; Rennell Island, the southernmost in the Solomon Islands chain, is one of the world’s largest raised coral atolls; the island’s Lake Tegano, formerly a lagoon on the atoll, is the largest lake in the insular Pacific (15,500 hectares; 38,300 acres)
Natural resources
fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel
Area - comparative
slightly smaller than Maryland
Geographic coordinates
8 00 S, 159 00 E
Population distribution
most of the population lives along the coastal regions; about one in five live in urban areas, and of these about two thirds reside in Honiara, the largest town and chief port