Location:
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea

Geographic coordinates:
8 00 S, 159 00 E

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
total: 28,896 sq km
land: 27,986 sq km
water: 910 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
5,313 km

Maritime claims:
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm

Climate:
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather

Terrain:
mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m

Natural resources:
fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel

Land use:
arable land: 0.62%
permanent crops: 2.04%
other: 97.34% (2005)

Irrigated land:
NA

Total renewable water resources:
44.7 cu km (1987)

Natural hazards:
typhoons, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis

Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; many of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea; on 2 April 2007 an undersea earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale occurred 345 km WNW of the capital Honiara; the resulting tsunami devastated coastal areas of Western and Choiseul provinces with dozens of deaths and thousands dislocated; the provincial capital of Gizo was especially hard hit