Solomon Islands is the third largest archipelago in the South Pacific, comprising
nearly 1000 islands of which only around one-third are populated. While many of the
country’s islands are coral atolls, the larger islands, including Guadalcanal, Choiseul,
Santa Isabel, Malaita, San Cristobal and New Georgia (which account for eighty
percent of land mass and home to eighty percent of the population) are mountainous
and thickly forested, occasionally skirted by thin coastal plains that provide fertile but
limited agricultural land. The total land area is 28,370 km2, but less than one percent
of land is presently under cultivation, whilst the total sea area of Solomon Islands is
1.35 million km2. The vast majority of the population are Melanesian (settling the
islands over 3,000 years ago), however over 150 languages are spoken throughout
the country. English is the official language, yet most people use Pidgin to
communicate with those from other language groups.