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Updates: 

Update 16 to the U.S. standard GEC is dated 2014-06-30. It adds a code for Honiara city. It also changes the name of Makira to Makira and Ulawa. Sorin Cosoveanu sent me some documentation about these names.

Census data from 2009 are now available. Source [3] differs from source [4] only in transferring nine people between Honiara and Choiseul. I'm using the more recent source.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter I-8, published on 2007-04-17, has ISO codes for the new provinces of Solomon Islands. They are shown in the table below.

FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2006-03-23. It assigns new FIPS codes to the two new provinces, and changes the codes for the old provinces from which they were formed.

Country overview: 

Short name	SOLOMON ISLANDS
ISO code	SB
FIPS code	BP
Language	Pidgin, English (en)
Time zone	+11
Capital	Honiara

 

By the end of 1900, all of the Solomon Islands were a British protectorate (except Bougainville and neighboring islands, which are geographically part of the Solomons but have been politically associated with New Guinea). The formal name was British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Most of the Solomons were occupied by Japan in World War II. The country became independent on 1978-07-07.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Salomonøerne
2. Dutch: Salomoneilanden, Salomonseilanden
3. English: British Solomon Islands Protectorate (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Salomonsaaret
5. French: Îles fp Salomon, Salomon
6. German: Salomon-Inseln fp, Salomonen fp
7. Icelandic: Salómonseyjar
8. Italian: Isole Salomone, Salomone fp
9. Norwegian: Salomonøyene (Bokmål), Salomonøyane (Nynorsk)
10. Portuguese: Ilhas fp Salomão
11. Russian: Соломоновы Острова
12. Spanish: Islas fp Salomón
13. Swedish: Salomonöarna
14. Turkish: Solomon Adaları

Origin of name: 

discovered 1568 by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira and named Islas de Solomon in the hope that they were the legendary islands of King Solomon (king of Israel 961-922 B.C.)

Primary subdivisions: 

Solomon Islands is divided into nine provinces and one town council.

Province	HASC	ISO	GEC	Pop-2009	Pop-1999	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Central	SB.CN	CE	BP10	26,051	21,577	615	237	Tulagi
Choiseul	SB.CH	CH	BP12	26,372	20,008	3,837	1,481	Taro Island
Guadalcanal	SB.GU	GU	BP06	93,613	60,275	5,336	2,061	Honiara
Honiara	SB.CT	CT	BP14	64,609	49,107	22	8	Honiara
Isabel	SB.IS	IS	BP07	26,158	20,421	4,136	1,597	Buala
Makira Ulawa	SB.MK	MK	BP08	40,419	31,006	3,188	1,231	Kirakira
Malaita	SB.ML	ML	BP03	137,596	122,620	4,225	1,631	Auki
Rennell and Bellona	SB.RB	RB	BP13	3,041	2,377	671	259	Tigoa
Temotu	SB.TE	TE	BP09	21,362	18,912	895	346	Lata
Western	SB.WE	WE	BP11	76,649	62,739	5,475	2,114	Gizo
10 divisions				515,870	409,042	28,400	10,965
Province: Honiara is a city council. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. GEC: "Geopolitical Entities and Codes." Pop-2009: 2009-11-22 census (source [4]). Pop-1999: 1999-11-21 census (source [2]). Areas: Source [1].

Further subdivisions:

See the Wards of Solomon Islands page.

The nine provinces are subdivided into 183 wards.

Territorial extent: 

1. Central includes the Florida Islands (Nggela Sule and Nggela Pile are the largest), Savo Island, and the Russell Islands.
2. Choiseul includes Choiseul, Wagina (Vaghena), Rob Roy, and Taro Islands.
3. Guadalcanal includes Guadalcanal Island and adjacent islets, excluding Honiara city.
4. Isabel includes Santa Isabel, San Jorge, Barora Fa, Barora Ite, the Ghizunabeana Islands, and others.
5. Makira Ulawa includes San Cristobal, Ulawa, Uki Ni Masi, Santa Ana, Santa Catalina, and others.
6. Malaita includes Malaita, Maramasike, Manaoba, Ndai, and the islets and reefs of Stewart Islands (Sikaiana), Ontong Java (Lord Howe), Roncador, etc.
7. Rennell and Bellona includes Rennell Island (Mu Nggava) and Bellona Island (Mu Ngiki).
8. Temotu includes the Santa Cruz Islands (Vanikoro and Ndeni are largest), Reef Islands, Duff Islands, and the remote islands of Anuta, Fatutaka, and Tikopia.
9. Western includes the New Georgia Islands (New Georgia, Kolombangara, Vella Lavella, Rendova, Ranongga, Gizo, etc.), and the Shortland Islands (Alu, Treasury Islands, Fauro).

The UN LOCODE page  for Solomon Islands lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

Guadalcanal: the island was named by its discoverer, Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, after his home town in Spain.

Change history: 

Before World War II, the Solomon Islands were divided into twelve administrative districts, as shown here:

District	Population	Area(km.²)
Choiseul	4,051	2,540
Eastern Solomons	7,594	4,660
Gizo	7,318	5,180
Guadalcanal	14,300	6,470
Lord Howe	750
Malaita	40,121	4,070
Nggela and Savo	5,541	610
Rennell and Bellona Islands	1,500
Santa Cruz	5,098	960
Shortlands	1,346	520
Sikaiana (Stewart)	235
Ysabel and Cape Marsh	5,768	4,670
12 districts	95,428	32,120
Population: 1931 census Source: Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition

 

~1945: Capital of country moved from Tulagi to Honiara.

The postwar division of Solomon Islands was as follows. These districts were further subdivided into councils (in some cases one council was one district).

District	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)
Central	BP01	113,317	10,780
Eastern	BP02	36,577	4,083
Malaita	BP03	80,032	4,225
Western	BP04	55,250	9,312
4 districts		285,176	28,400
Population: 1986-11-23 census

 

1. 1982-01-29: Provincial Government Act of 1981 established seven provinces. Eastern district split into Makira and Temotu provinces; Central district split into Central, Guadalcanal, and Isabel provinces; Malaita and Western districts became provinces. The new provinces were the same as the council areas under the previous system.
2. ~1983-07: Honiara split from Guadalcanal district. The ensuing division was as shown below:

Province	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Honiara	CT		34,900	22	Honiara
Central	CE	BP05	19,600	1,286	Tulagi
Guadalcanal	GU	BP06	50,400	5,336	Honiara
Isabel	IS	BP07	15,300	4,136	Buala
Makira	MK	BP08	22,300	3,188	Kirakira
Malaita	ML	BP03	85,900	4,225	Auki
Temotu	TE	BP09	16,800	895	Lata
Western	WE	BP04	73,100	9,312	Gizo
8 provinces			318,300	28,400
Province: these divisions were provinces except for Honiara, which was a capital territory. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1992 estimate (source [1]).

 

1. 1986-07-02: Name of Makira province changed to Makira Ulawa.
2. 1993-02-25: Choiseul province split from Western.
3. 1995-07-20: Rennell and Bellona split from Central.
4. 1999-05-26: Status of Honiara changed from town to city.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Honiara: Capital Territory (variant)
2. Choiseul: Lauru (variant)
3. Makira Ulawa: Makira (obsolete)
4. Rennell and Bellona: Renbel, RenBell (informal)
5. Temotu: Eastern Islands (variant)

Population history:

Province	1970-02-07	1976-02-07	1986-11-23	1999-11-21	2009-11-22
Capital District	12,006	14,942	30,413	49,107	64,609
Central	9,418	11,683	16,655	21,577	26,051
Choiseul	8,017	10,349	13,569	20,008	26,372
Guadalcanal	23,996	31,677	49,831	60,275	93,613
Isabel	8,653	10,420	14,616	20,421	26,158
Makira Ulawa	12,390	14,891	21,796	31,006	40,419
Malaita	51,722	60,043	80,032	122,620	137,596
Rennell-Bellona	1,504	1,893	1,802	2,377	3,041
Temotu	9,078	10,945	14,781	18,912	21,362
Western	24,214	29,980	41,681	62,739	76,649
Total	160,998	196,823	285,176	409,042	515,870

 

Proleptic populations from source [4].

Sources: 

1. [1] Solomon Islands 1993 Statistical Yearbook.
2. [2] Households and population, by type of building and by province, type of household, type of dwelling; also by urban-rural distribution, type of household, type of dwelling , Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (retrieved 2010-06-16).
3. [3] Statistical Bulletin: 14/2010 , Solomon Islands Ministry of Finance & Treasury, Statistics Division (retrieved 2011-02-04).
4. [4] Statistical Bulletin 06/2011 : Basic Tables and Census Description, Solomon Islands Ministry of Finance & Treasury, Statistics Division (retrieved 2011-08-14).