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WHAT POSSIBLE FACTORS WOULD AFFECT THE LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY and EMPLOYMENT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS FROM YOUR RESEARCH?
( CONSIDER FROM THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMY PERSPECTIVES.  )

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Introduction

Settlers from Papua arrived on Solomon Islands around 30,000 years ago. About 6,000 years ago, Austronesian settlers came to Solomon Islands and the two groups mixed extensively. Despite significant inter-island trade, no attempts were made to unite the islands into a single political entity. In 1568, Spanish explorer Alvaro de MENDANA became the first European to spot the islands. After a failed Spanish attempt at creating a permanent European settlement on the islands in the late 1500s, Solomon Islands remained free of European contact until 1767 when British explorer Philip CARTERET sailed by the islands. The islands were regularly visited by European explorers and American and British whaling ships into the 1800s, followed by missionaries in the 1850s.

Germany declared a protectorate over the northern Solomon Islands in 1885 and the UK established a protectorate over the southern islands in 1893. In 1899, Germany transferred its Solomon Islands to the UK in exchange for the UK relinquishing all claims in Samoa. The UK tried to encourage plantation farming but few Europeans were willing to go to Solomon Islands and the UK left most services - such as education and medical services - to missionaries. In 1942, Japan invaded Solomon Islands and significant battles against Allied forces during the Guadalcanal Campaign proved a turning point in the Pacific war. World War II destroyed large parts of Solomon Islands and a nationalism movement emerged near the end of the war. By 1960, the British relented to allow for some local autonomy. The islands were granted self-government in 1976 and independence two years later under Prime Minister Sir Peter KENILOREA.

In 1999, longstanding ethnic tensions between ethnic Guale in Honiara and ethnic Malaitans in Honiara's suburbs erupted in civil war, leading thousands of Malaitans to take refuge in Honiara and Guale to flee the city. In 2000, newly-elected Prime Minister Manasseh SOGAVARE focused on peace agreements and distributing resources equally among groups, but his actions bankrupted the government in 2001 and led to SOGAVARE's ouster. In 2003, Solomon Islands requested international assistance to reestablish law and order. The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), which ended in 2017, was generally effective in improving the security situation. In 2006, riots broke out in Honiara and the city's Chinatown burned over allegations that the prime minister took money from China. SOGAVARE was reelected prime minister for a fourth time following elections in 2019 and that same year announced Solomon Islands would switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.

Visit the Definitions and Notes page to view a description of each topic.

Geography

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm

measured from claimed archipelagic baselines

tropical cyclones, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis

volcanism: Tinakula (851 m) has frequent eruption activity, while an eruption of Savo (485 m) could affect the capital Honiara on nearby Guadalcanal

People and Society

22.6 years (2015 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

improved: urban: 95% of population

rural: 67.1% of population

total: 73.6% of population

unimproved: urban: 5% of population

rural: 32.9% of population

total: 26.4% of population (2017 est.)

improved: urban: 95.6% of population

rural: 22% of population

total: 39.1% of population

unimproved: urban: 4.4% of population

rural: 78% of population

total: 60.9% of population (2017 est.)

Government

Democratic Alliance Party or DAP [Steve ABANA]
Kadere Party of Solomon Islands or KPSI [Peter BOYERS]
People's Alliance Party or PAP [Nathaniel WAENA]
Solomon Islands People First Party or SIPFP [Dr. Jimmie RODGERS]
Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement or SIPRA [Manasseh MAELANGA]
United Democratic Party or UDP [Sir Thomas Ko CHAN]

note: in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions

embassy: the US does not have an embassy in the Solomon Islands; the US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to the Solomon Islands

Communications

Transportation

major seaport(s): Honiara, Malloco Bay, Viru Harbor, Tulagi

Military and Security

Transnational Issues

since 2003, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, consisting of police, military, and civilian advisors drawn from 15 countries, has assisted in reestablishing and maintaining civil and political order while reinforcing regional stability and security

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Settlers from Papua arrived on Solomon Islands around 30,000 years ago. About 6,000 years ago, Austronesian settlers came to Solomon Islands and the two groups mixed extensively. Despite significant inter-island trade, no attempts were made to unite the islands into a single political entity.

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WHAT POSSIBLE FACTORS WOULD AFFECT THE LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY and EMPLOYMENT OF UNITED KINGDOM FROM YOUR RESEARCH?
( CONSIDER FROM THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMY PERSPECTIVES.  )

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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was born of the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, which previously had been distinct states joined in a personal union, under the 1701 Acts of Union.

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WHAT POSSIBLE FACTORS WOULD AFFECT THE LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY and EMPLOYMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA FROM YOUR RESEARCH?
( CONSIDER FROM THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMY PERSPECTIVES.  )

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Introduction

Some of the earliest human remains in the fossil record are found in South Africa. By about A.D. 500, Bantu speaking groups began settling into what is now northeastern South Africa displacing Khoisan speaking groups to the southwest. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of present-day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the settlers of Dutch descent (Afrikaners, also called "Boers" (farmers) at the time) trekked north to found their own republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the 1820s, several decades of wars began as the Zulus expanded their territory, moving out of what is today southeastern South Africa and clashing with other indigenous peoples and with expanding European settlements during a period known as the Mfecane. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration from Europe.

The Anglo-Zulu War (1879) resulted in the incorporation of the Zulu kingdom's territory into the British Empire. Subsequently, the Afrikaner republics were incorporated into the British Empire after their defeat in the Second South African War (1899-1902). However, the British and the Afrikaners ruled together beginning in 1910 under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a Whites-only referendum. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - billed as "separate development" of the races - which favored the White minority and suppressed the Black majority and other non-White groups. The African National Congress (ANC) led the resistance to apartheid and many top ANC leaders, such as Nelson MANDELA, spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts by some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to unban the ANC and negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule.

The first multi-racial elections in 1994 following the end of apartheid ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa has since struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in wealth, housing, education, and health care under successive administrations. Jacob ZUMA became president in 2009 and was reelected in 2014, but resigned in February 2018 after numerous corruption scandals and gains by opposition parties in municipal elections in 2016. His successor, Cyril RAMAPHOSA, has made some progress in reigning in corruption, though many challenges persist. In May 2019 national elections, the country's sixth since the end of apartheid, the ANC won a majority of parliamentary seats, delivering RAMAPHOSA a five-year term. RAMAPHOSA was reelected ANC leader in 2022 ahead of national elections scheduled for 2024.

Visit the Definitions and Notes page to view a description of each topic.

Geography

slightly less than twice the size of Texas

agricultural land: 79.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 9.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 69.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 7.6% (2018 est.)

other: 13% (2018 est.)

Orange (shared with Lesotho [s], and Namibia [m]) - 2,092 km; Limpopo river source (shared with Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 1,800 km; Vaal [s] - 1,210 km
note - [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

the population concentrated along the southern and southeastern coast, and inland around Pretoria; the eastern half of the country is more densely populated than the west as shown in this population distribution map

prolonged droughts

volcanism: the volcano forming Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands, which last erupted in 2004, is South Africa's only active volcano

People and Society

isiZulu (official) 25.3%, isiXhosa (official) 14.8%, Afrikaans (official) 12.2%, Sepedi (official) 10.1%, Setswana (official) 9.1%, English (official) 8.1%, Sesotho (official) 7.9%, Xitsonga (official) 3.6%, siSwati (official) 2.8%, Tshivenda (official) 2.5%, isiNdebele (official) 1.6%, other (includes Khoi, Nama, and San languages) 2%; note - data represent language spoken most often at home (2018 est.)

major-language sample(s):
Die Wereld Feite Boek, n' onontbeerlike bron vir basiese informasie. (Afrikaans)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. (English)

South Africa's youthful population is gradually aging, as the country's total fertility rate (TFR) has declined dramatically from about 6 children per woman in the 1960s to roughly 2.2 in 2014, and has remained at this level as of 2022. This pattern is similar to fertility trends in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and sets South Africa apart from the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average TFR remains higher than other regions of the world. Today, South Africa's decreasing number of reproductive age women is having fewer children, as women increase their educational attainment, workforce participation, and use of family planning methods; delay marriage; and opt for smaller families.

As the proportion of working-age South Africans has grown relative to children and the elderly, South Africa has been unable to achieve a demographic dividend because persistent high unemployment and the prevalence of HIV/AIDs have created a larger-than-normal dependent population. HIV/AIDS was also responsible for South Africa's average life expectancy plunging to less than 43 years in 2008; it has rebounded to 65 years as of 2022. HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious public health threat, although awareness-raising campaigns and the wider availability of anti-retroviral drugs is stabilizing the number of new cases, enabling infected individuals to live longer, healthier lives, and reducing mother-child transmissions.

Migration to South Africa began in the second half of the 17th century when traders from the Dutch East India Company settled in the Cape and started using slaves from South and southeast Asia (mainly from India but also from present-day Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia) and southeast Africa (Madagascar and Mozambique) as farm laborers and, to a lesser extent, as domestic servants. The Indian subcontinent remained the Cape Colony's main source of slaves in the early 18th century, while slaves were increasingly obtained from southeast Africa in the latter part of the 18th century and into the 19th century under British rule.

After slavery was completely abolished in the British Empire in 1838, South Africa's colonists turned to temporary African migrants and indentured labor through agreements with India and later China, countries that were anxious to export workers to alleviate domestic poverty and overpopulation. Of the more than 150,000 indentured Indian laborers hired to work in Natal's sugar plantations between 1860 and 1911, most exercised the right as British subjects to remain permanently (a small number of Indian immigrants came freely as merchants). Because of growing resentment toward Indian workers, the 63,000 indentured Chinese workers who mined gold in Transvaal between 1904 and 1911 were under more restrictive contracts and generally were forced to return to their homeland.

In the late 19th century and nearly the entire 20th century, South Africa's then British colonies' and Dutch states' enforced selective immigration policies that welcomed "assimilable" white Europeans as permanent residents but excluded or restricted other immigrants. Following the Union of South Africa's passage of a law in 1913 prohibiting Asian and other non-white immigrants and its elimination of the indenture system in 1917, temporary African contract laborers from neighboring countries became the dominant source of labor in the burgeoning mining industries. Others worked in agriculture and smaller numbers in manufacturing, domestic service, transportation, and construction. Throughout the 20th century, at least 40% of South Africa's miners were foreigners; the numbers peaked at over 80% in the late 1960s. Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, and Eswatini were the primary sources of miners, and Malawi and Zimbabwe were periodic suppliers.

Under apartheid, a "two gates" migration policy focused on policing and deporting illegal migrants rather than on managing migration to meet South Africa's development needs. The exclusionary 1991 Aliens Control Act limited labor recruitment to the highly skilled as defined by the ruling white minority, while bilateral labor agreements provided exemptions that enabled the influential mining industry and, to a lesser extent, commercial farms, to hire temporary, low-paid workers from neighboring states. Illegal African migrants were often tacitly allowed to work for low pay in other sectors but were always under threat of deportation.

The abolishment of apartheid in 1994 led to the development of a new inclusive national identity and the strengthening of the country's restrictive immigration policy. Despite South Africa's protectionist approach to immigration, the downsizing and closing of mines, and rising unemployment, migrants from across the continent believed that the country held work opportunities. Fewer African labor migrants were issued temporary work permits and, instead, increasingly entered South Africa with visitors' permits or came illegally, which drove growth in cross-border trade and the informal job market. A new wave of Asian immigrants has also arrived over the last two decades, many operating small retail businesses.

In the post-apartheid period, increasing numbers of highly skilled white workers emigrated, citing dissatisfaction with the political situation, crime, poor services, and a reduced quality of life. The 2002 Immigration Act and later amendments were intended to facilitate the temporary migration of skilled foreign labor to fill labor shortages, but instead the legislation continues to create regulatory obstacles. Although the education system has improved and brain drain has slowed in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, South Africa continues to face skills shortages in several key sectors, such as health care and technology.

South Africa's stability and economic growth has acted as a magnet for refugees and asylum seekers from nearby countries, despite the prevalence of discrimination and xenophobic violence. Refugees have included an estimated 350,000 Mozambicans during its 1980s civil war and, more recently, several thousand Somalis, Congolese, and Ethiopians. Nearly all of the tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who have applied for asylum in South Africa have been categorized as economic migrants and denied refuge.

the population concentrated along the southern and southeastern coast, and inland around Pretoria; the eastern half of the country is more densely populated than the west as shown in this population distribution map

improved: urban: 99.7% of population

rural: 90.3% of population

total: 96.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 0.3% of population

rural: 9.7% of population

total: 3.3% of population (2020 est.)

improved: urban: 96.6% of population

rural: 86.4% of population

total: 93.2% of population

unimproved: urban: 3.4% of population

rural: 13.6% of population

total: 6.8% of population (2020 est.)

Environment

agricultural land: 79.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 9.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 69.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 7.6% (2018 est.)

other: 13% (2018 est.)

Orange (shared with Lesotho [s], and Namibia [m]) - 2,092 km; Limpopo river source (shared with Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 1,800 km; Vaal [s] - 1,210 km
note - [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Government

name: Pretoria (administrative capital); Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)

geographic coordinates: 25 42 S, 28 13 E

time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology: Pretoria is named in honor of Andries PRETORIUS, the father of voortrekker (pioneer) leader Marthinus PRETORIUS; Cape Town reflects its location on the Cape of Good Hope; Bloemfontein is a combination of the Dutch words bloem (flower) and fontein (fountain) meaning "fountain of flowers"

description: bicameral Parliament consists of:

National Council of Provinces (90 seats; nine 10-member delegations, each with 6 permanent delegates and 4 special delegates, appointed by each of the 9 provincial legislatures to serve 5-year terms; note - the Council has special powers to protect regional interests, including safeguarding cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities)

National Assembly (400 seats; half the members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies and half in a single nationwide constituency, both by proportional representation popular vote; members serve 5-year terms)

elections: National Council of Provinces and National Assembly - last held on 8 May 2019 (next to be held in 2024)

election results:

National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ANC 29, DA 13, EFF 9, FF+ 2, IFP 1; composition of permanent members - men 34, women 20, percent of women 37%; note - 36 appointed members not filled

National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 57.5%, DA 20.8%, EFF 10.8%, IFP 3.8%, FF+ 2.4%, other 4.7%; seats by party - ANC 230, DA 84, EFF 44, IFP 14, FF+ 10, other 18; composition as of mid-2022 (396 current seats) - men 212, women 184, percent of women 46.5%; note overall Parliament percent of women 45.3%

African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE]
African Independent Congress or AIC [Mandla GALO]
African National Congress or ANC [Cyril RAMAPHOSA]
African People's Convention or APC [Themba GODI]
Agang SA [Andries TLOUAMMA]
Congress of the People or COPE [Mosiuoa LEKOTA]
Democratic Alliance or DA [John STEENHUISEN]
Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF [Julius Sello MALEMA]
Freedom Front Plus or FF+ [Pieter GROENEWALD]
GOOD [Patricia de LILLE]
Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Velenkosini HLABISA]
National Freedom Party or NFP [vacant]
Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania or PAC [Mzwanele NYHONTSO]
United Christian Democratic Party or UCDP [Modiri Desmond SEHUME]
United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA]

total World Heritage Sites: 10 (5 cultural, 4 natural, 1 mixed)

selected World Heritage Site locales: Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa (c); iSimangaliso Wetland Park (n); Robben Island (c); Maloti-Drakensberg Park (m); Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape (c); Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (n); Vredefort Dome (n); Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape (c); Khomani Cultural Landscape (c); Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (n)

Economy

$790.625 billion (2021 est.)

$753.6 billion (2020 est.)

$804.634 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

comparison ranking: 32

$13,300 (2021 est.)

$12,800 (2020 est.)

$13,900 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

comparison ranking: 124

53% of GDP (2017 est.)

51.6% of GDP (2016 est.)

comparison ranking: 97

$179.871 billion (2019 est.)

$173.714 billion (2018 est.)

comparison ranking: 43

rand (ZAR) per US dollar -

14.779 (2021 est.)

16.459 (2020 est.)

14.448 (2019 est.)

13.234 (2018 est.)

13.324 (2017 est.)

Energy

470.358 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from coal and metallurgical coke: 387.835 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from petroleum and other liquids: 73.163 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from consumed natural gas: 9.361 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

comparison ranking: total emissions 12

Communications

Transportation

South Africa operates one PC 5 or 6 class light icebreaker
note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 5 - year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 70-120 cm); PC 6 - summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 30-70 cm)

Military and Security

0.9% of GDP (2022 est.)

0.9% of GDP (2021)

1.1% of GDP (2020)

1% of GDP (2019)

1% of GDP (2018)

comparison ranking: 120

Space

Space programs overview: the largest producer of satellites (particularly nanosatellites) in Africa; areas of focus for development include remote sensing (RS) capabilities, such as optical instruments and synthetic aperture radar systems, space engineering, ground support to space operations (tracking, telemetry, etc.), and space science, particularly astronomy; SANSA is responsible for aggregating RS data for southern African countries; has a sounding rocket program for carrying experimental payloads for research purposes; cooperates with foreign space agencies and industries, including those of China, France, India, Russia, and the US; participates in international programs such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Project, an international effort to build the world's largest radio telescope by 2030; has more than 120 state- and privately-owned aerospace companies, as well as a substantial number of academic and research institutions involved in space-related activities (2023)

note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country's space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S

Terrorism

Terrorist group(s): Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)

note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T

Transnational Issues

South Africa-Botswana: none identified

South Africa-Eswatini: Eswatini seeks to reclaim land it says was stolen by South Africa

South Africa-Lesotho: crossborder livestock thieving, smuggling of drugs and arms, and illegal migration are problematic

South Africa-Mozambique: animal poachers cross the South Africa-Mozambique border to hunt wildlife in South Africa's Kruger National Park; border fences were removed in some areas to allow animals to roam between nature reserves in the two countries; improved patrols, technology, and crossborder cooperation are reducing the problem

South Africa-Namibia: the governments of South Africa and Namibia have not signed or ratified the text of the 1994 Surveyor's General agreement placing the boundary in the middle of the Orange River; the location of the border could affect diamond mining rights; South Africa has always claimed that the northern bank of the Orange River is the border between the two countries, while Namibia's constitution states that the border lies in the middle of the Orange River

South Africa-various: South Africa has placed military units to assist police operations along the border of Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique to control smuggling, poaching, and illegal migration

South Africa-Zimbabwe: Zimbabweans migrate illegally into South Africa in search of work or smuggle goods to sell at a profit back home

leading regional importer of chemicals used in the production of illicit drugs especially synthetic drugs;

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Some of the earliest human remains in the fossil record are found in South Africa. By about A.D. 500, Bantu speaking groups began settling into what is now northeastern South Africa displacing Khoisan speaking groups to the southwest.

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China (click the picture to access the link)

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China (click the picture to access the link)

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WHAT POSSIBLE FACTORS WOULD AFFECT THE LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY and EMPLOYMENT OF CHINA FROM YOUR RESEARCH?
( CONSIDER FROM THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMY PERSPECTIVES.  )

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China's historical civilization dates to at least the 13th century B.C., first under the Shang (to 1046 B.C.) and then the Zhou (1046-221 B.C) dynasties. The imperial era of China began in 221 B.C. under the Qin Dynasty and lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912.