r general on the advice of
the prime minister from among the members of Parliament
elections : none; the queen is a hereditary monarch; governor general
appointed by the queen on the advice of Parliament for up to five
years; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority
party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually elected prime
minister by Parliament; deputy prime minister appointed by the
governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the
members of Parliament

Legislative branch: unicameral National Parliament (47 seats; members
elected from single member constituencies by popular vote to serve
four-year terms)
elections: last held 26 May 1993 (next to be held 6 August 1997)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GNUR
21, PAP 7, NAPSI 5, SILP 4, UP 4, independents 6

Judicial branch: High Court

Political parties and leaders: National Unity and Reconciliation Group
(GNUR), Solomon MAMALONI; People's Alliance Party (PAP); National
Action Party (NAPSI), leader NA; Solomon Islands Labor Party (SILP),
leader NA; United Party (UP), leader NA; Nationalist Front for
Progress (NFP), Andrew NORI; Labor Party (LP), Joses TUHANUKU;
Christian Fellowship, leader NA

International organization participation: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO,
G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Stephen Rex HOROI (represents the country
as both the Permanent Representative to the UN and the ambassador to
the US)
chancery: Permanent Mission of the Solomon Islands to the UN, 820
Second Avenue, Suite 800, New York, NY 10017
telephone : [1] (212) 599-6193
FAX: [1] (212) 661-8925

Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy
in Solomon Islands (embassy closed July 1993); the ambassador to Papua
New Guinea is accredited to the Solomon Islands

Flag description: divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the
lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with
five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower
triangle is green

Economy

Economy - overview: The bulk of the population depend on subsistence
agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of their
livelihood. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products