Solomon Islands

OceaniaCapital city: HoniaraCapital metro: HoniaraPrime Minister: Matthew Wale
2026 population
750K
Rank #171 globally
Area
29k km² (11k sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
13% of population in metros
Composite score
0.3
Rank #224 globally

population: Natl annual projection (1 Jul 2024) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Solomon Islands metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#2546Honiara★ Capital▲ Largest
Capital Territory · 94K · Local Metro
0.3
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions

10 entries listed under Solomon Islands across 2 types. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

10 total

Capital Territories (1)

📋 At a glance
Official language
English
Legislature
National Parliament of Solomon Islands
Demonym
Solomon Islands
Time zone
UTC+11:00
Driving side
Left
Calling code
+677
Internet TLD
.sb
ISO 3166
SB
Established
1978
Highest point
Mount Popomanaseu (2,335 m (7,661 ft))
National anthem
God Save Our Solomon Islands

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Solomon Islands

English first; 2 languages share the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
English100%Official
Pijin82%None
Roviana1.4%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

English reach
100%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
0%
English is spoken by 100%

Solomon Islands on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#154 / 191
0.584
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#180 / 193
$1.7B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#154 / 193
$2.1k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#177 / 190
$2.8k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#153 / 192
$2.0k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#128 / 194
70.7 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
20.3 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#171 / 194
31%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
2.3%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#153 / 193
29/km² (74/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#183 / 193
0.3%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#74 / 175
0.67
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#99 / 166
37.1
World Bank · 2012
Internet users
#170 / 193
29%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#101 / 185
3.4%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#29 / 192
0.4 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#149 / 186
9%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations3 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History20 leaders · click to expand
Matthew Wale✦ Current
Prime Minister · 2026–present
2026–Present
Jeremiah Manele
Prime Minister · 2y 0m
2024–2026
Manasseh Sogavare
Prime Minister · 5y 0m
2019–2024
Rick Houenipwela
Prime Minister · 1y 5m
2017–2019
Manasseh Sogavare
Prime Minister · 2y 11m
2014–2017
Gordon Darcy Lilo
Prime Minister · 3y 0m
2011–2014
Danny Philip
Prime Minister · 1y 2m
2010–2011
Derek Sikua
Prime Minister · 2y 8m
2007–2010
Manasseh Sogavare
Prime Minister · 1y 7m
2006–2007
Snyder Rini
Prime Minister · 0y 0m
2006–2006
Allan Kemakeza
Prime Minister · 4y 4m
2001–2006
Manasseh Sogavare
Prime Minister · 1y 5m
2000–2001
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#213 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
800k
#166 in the world
Since 1800
14×
from 57k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.01%
0.01% in 1800
215k429k644k858k18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Solomon Islands: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
1.3m
95% band 994k to 1.8m
2100
1.8m
95% band 777k to 4.7m
2100 against 2025
2.21×
median still rising in 2100
1.2m2.5m3.7m4.9m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
5k born · 3k died · 0 net migration
TFR 7.15 · life expectancy 41.4 · median age 16.6
1960
7k born · 2k died · -917 net migration
TFR 7.06 · life expectancy 47.7 · median age 15.7
1970
8k born · 2k died · -2k net migration
TFR 6.98 · life expectancy 56.1 · median age 15.6
1980
10k born · 2k died · +151 net migration
TFR 6.77 · life expectancy 63.7 · median age 14.8
1990
13k born · 2k died · -335 net migration
TFR 5.74 · life expectancy 66.2 · median age 15.7
2000
16k born · 3k died · -4k net migration
TFR 4.76 · life expectancy 67.1 · median age 17.2
2010
18k born · 3k died · +5k net migration
TFR 4.34 · life expectancy 68.7 · median age 18.5
2020
21k born · 4k died · +2k net migration
TFR 3.75 · life expectancy 69.3 · median age 19.6

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Solomon Islands on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.