esian 93.0%, Polynesian 4.0%, Micronesian
1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4%

_#_Religion: almost all at least nominally Christian; Anglican 34%,
Roman Catholic 19%, Baptist 17%, United (Methodist/Presbyterian) 11%,
Seventh-Day Adventist 10%, other Protestant 5%

_#_Language: 120 indigenous languages; Melanesian pidgin in much of
the country is lingua franca; English spoken by 1-2% of population

_#_Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)

_#_Labor force: 23,448 economically active; agriculture, forestry, and
fishing 32.4%; services 25%; construction, manufacturing, and mining
7.0%; commerce, transport, and finance 4.7% (1984)

_#_Organized labor: NA, but most of the cash-economy workers have
trade union representation

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none

_#_Type: independent parliamentary state within Commonwealth

_#_Capital: Honiara

_#_Administrative divisions: 7 provinces and 1 town*; Central,
Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Temotu, Western

_#_Independence: 7 July 1978 (from UK; formerly British Solomon
Islands)

_#_Constitution: 7 July 1978

_#_Legal system: common law

_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 7 July (1978)

_#_Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, Cabinet

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Parliament

_#_Judicial branch: High Court

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor General George LEPPING (since 27 June 1989,
previously acted as governor general since 7 July 1988);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Solomon MAMALONI (since 28
March 1989);
Deputy Prime Minister Sir Baddeley DEVESI (since NA October 1990)

_#_Political parties and leaders:
People's Alliance Party (PAP);
United Party (UP), Sir Peter KENILOREA;
Solomon Islands Liberal Party (SILP), Bartholemew ULUFA'ALU;
Nationalist Front for Progress (NFP), Andrew NORI;
Labor Party (LP), Joses TUHANUKU

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 21

_#_Elections:

National Parliament--last held 22 February 1989 (next to be held
February 1993);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(38 total) PAP 13, UP 6, NFP 4, SILP 4, LP 2, independents 9

_#_Member of: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
WMO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant) resides in Honiar