The Most Similar Countries to Solomon Islands

map of similar countries to the solomon islands

Have you ever wondered how similar or different two countries are? The Country Similarity Index attempts to quantify how similar countries are to each other relative to other countries. The index is a statistically-based way to measure this. It weighs equally five major aspects of countries: their demographics, culture, politics, infrastructure, and geography. The methodology is exactly the same for each country. The research combines 1,000 different data points to arrive at the conclusions.

diagram of similar countries to the solomon islands

Top 10 Countries Most Similar to the Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands is a country in the South Pacific. The top four most similar countries have English as one of their official languages, although these countries have a wide variety of native languages. In addition, these countries are mostly Christian. Furthermore, the five most similar countries are located on tropical islands in the Pacific Ocean. Another aspect these countries have in common is that they are democracies.

  1. Vanuatu is another mountainous and heavily forested archipelago to the southeast of the Solomon Islands. Both countries are inhabited by Melanesian people that speak Austronesian languages and are mostly Protestant. However, since Vanuatu was jointly administered by both Great Britain and France, it has less of a British influence, so it drives on the right and is not a constitutional monarchy.
  2. Papua New Guinea is just to the west of the Solomon Islands. It is another Commonwealth realm nation, which still has the Queen of the United Kingdom as its head of state. Both countries have English as one of their official languages and are predominately Protestant. Their technology is similar as well since they both drive on the left and use Type I electrical outlets. However, most Papuans do not speak Austronesian languages.
  3. Samoa is in Polynesia, unlike the Solomon Islands, so its people have less Melanesian ancestry. However, it still has many similarities due to its climate shared Anglosphere influence. While the Solomon Islands was a territory of Great Britain, Samoa was a territory of New Zealand. Their climate is also similar. The production of coconuts is a large part of the economy in both countries.
  4. Fiji is another former British colony in Melanesia. However, Fiji is unique since a large proportion of its population came from India, as indentured workers. It is more religiously diverse as a result, since it has significant amounts of Hindus and Muslims. However, it has a higher percentage of farmland and a lower percentage of forested land than the Solomon Islands.
  5. East Timor, unlike other countries on this list, was a colony of Portugal, not Great Britain. Therefore, it is mostly Catholic and does not have English as one of its official languages. While both are mountainous countries located on islands in the Pacific Ocean, East Timor has more agricultural land and less forested land. Still, East Timor has a similar climate and demographics to the Solomon Islands.
  6. Philippines 7. Liberia, 8. Belize, 9. Madagascar, 10. Guyana

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Top 10 Countries Least Similar to the Solomon Islands

The four of the five least similar countries to Solomon Islands are located in Europe. They all have a much higher standard of living and their infrastructure is more developed. They are also more densely populated and have less forested land. Despite the fact that the Solomon Islands is mostly Christian, four of the five least similar countries are also mostly Christian, although their people tend to be far less religious.

  1. Israel is a densely populated country in the Mediterranean. Its people are mostly Jewish and use the Hebrew alphabet for their writing. In contrast to the dry climate of Israel, the Solomon Islands is one of the wettest countries on Earth. While the Solomon Islands has little infrastructure, Israel is highly developed. It also drives on the right and uses different electrical outlets as well.
  2. Belarus is the least similar country in Europe to the Solomon Islands. Its government is far less democratic than the Solomon Islands. Furthermore, the country’s climate is quite cold. It is also landlocked and quite flat with a low percentage of forested land, in contrast to the Solomon Islands. The country also uses the Cyrillic alphabet, not the Latin alphabet. Although both countries are predominately Christian, most people in Belarus are Orthodox Christians.
  3. Luxembourg is a small, landlocked country located between Germany and France. It is mostly Catholic. It is also one of the wealthiest countries in the world. However, one similarity with the Solomon Islands is that they are both parliamentary democracies that still have monarchs as their head of state.
  4. Belgium is very similar to Luxembourg. It is another mostly Catholic country in Europe. However, it is not as wealthy as Luxembourg. It is also not landlocked, although it does not have much coastline either. Belgium is much more densely populated than the Solomon Islands and is also far less mountainous.
  5. Germany is yet another Northern European country on this list. It has little demographic, technological, or climatic similarity to the Solomon Islands. However, Germany does have many Protestants, even though they are far less religious. Its laws are also far more liberal than laws in the Solomon Islands, since it allows same sex marriage and abortion.
  6. Saudi Arabia, 7. Russia, 8. Netherlands, 9. Kazakhstan, 10. Ukraine

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The Solomon Islands is like if Vanuatu was more like Papua New Guinea

The two most similar countries to the Solomon Islands are Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. It is located in between these two countries, so it is no surprise that it has a mix of characteristics from both. There are a few aspects of the Solomon Islands that Vanuatu lacks, since it was jointly administered by France and Great Britain, unlike Papua New Guinea.

Full Ranking of Countries and Territories Most Similar to the Solomon Islands

All data accurate as of 2020.

graph of similar countries to the solomon islands

Country Superlatives

Most Similar Demographics: Vanuatu
Most Similar Culture: Papua New Guinea
Most Similar Government: Papua New Guinea
Most Similar Infrastructure: Papua New Guinea
Most Similar Geography: Vanuatu

Least Similar Demographics: Japan
Least Similar Culture: Japan
Least Similar Government: North Korea
Least Similar Infrastructure: United States
Least Similar Geography: Netherlands

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