POPULATION 490,000
ANGLICAN 34 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 19 percent
SOUTH SEA EVANGELICAL (BAPTIST) 17 percent
UNITED CHURCH OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS 11 percent
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST 10 percent
OTHER PROTESTANT 5 percent
TRADITIONALIST 4 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Solomon Islands, an island archipelago in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, lies just east of Papua New Guinea. Its main islands include Choiseul, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, Malaita, Guadalcanal, and Makira (or San Cristobal). The inhabitants are nearly all Melanesians, but some are western Polynesians.

As a result of missionary work since the midnineteenth century, the islands are almost exclusively Christian. The geographical distribution of denominations derives from an interchurch agreement in 1880. Guadalcanal is mainly Anglican and Catholic; on Malaita the South Sea Evangelical Church is concentrated in the north, while Anglicans are more widely spread. In the remaining larger islands the United Church (formerly the Methodists) is strong in the west, as...