The land drops sharply to the sea on one side of the island and gently to a narrow coastal strip on the other. Rainfall in the Solomon Islands varies from 150 to 500 centimetres annually. Japan buys much of the fish and timber exported by the country. Food, machinery, manufactured goods, and petrol are imported from Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. The country has good shipping services, but it has few roads.
Air routes connect the Solomon Islands with Australia and other neighbouring islands.
There are three FM radio stations in Honiara. Solomon Telekom relays Australian programmes. Scholars believe the Solomon Islands were first settled about 6,000 years ago by people from New Guinea. In 1568, a Spanish explorer named Alvaro de Mendana became the first European to reach the islands. Few other Europeans went there for the next 200 years.