Mass Public Transit

The mass public transit in Romania is mainly through roads (mainly buses, microbuses and cabs) and railways.

(Source: Statistics of Romania, Pg: 60)

Ports

Major ports in Romania are at:

• Black Sea: Constantza, Mangalia
• Danube: Moldova Noua, Orsova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Calafat, Corabia, Turnu, Magurele, Zimnicea, Giurgiu, Olteniþa, Calarasi, Cernavoda, Harsova, Macin, Braila, Galaþi, Tulcea, Sulina

(Source: Statistics of Romania, Pg: 09)

Airports

(Source: aircraft-charter-world)

Telecommunication networks

Internet usage in country is growing at a steady pace. From 2007 to 2010 the total population having access to internet usage increased from 23.9% to 35.5%.

(Source: internetworldstats)

In 2009, the population of Romania is recorded at 21.5 million, similar to 2008 figures. Females accounted for 51.3% of the entire population in 2009.

(Source: Statistics of Romania: Page 10)

As on 1^st July 2009, population density was about 90.1 persons per sq km. Average age of population in 2009 was recorded at 39.5 years.

(Source: Statistics of Romania: Page 10)

In 2009, majority of the population, about 65.11% were recorded in the age group between 15-59 years and about 20% population belonged to the age group of 60+ years. The age group between 0-14 years accounted for 14.89% of the population.

(Source: Statistics of Romania)

Birth and death rate

The crude birth rate during 2009 remained at 10.4 live births per 1,000 people compared to 10.2 live births in 2006.

The average death rate was around 12.0 deaths per 1,000 people during 2009. As a result of improvement in maternal and child health services, the country recorded a decrease in infant mortality rate from 13.9 per 1,000 live births in 2006 to 10.1 per 1,000 live births in 2009.

(Source: Statistics of Romania: Page 12)

Average life expectancy

In 2009, the average life expectancy at birth was 69.7 years for males and 77.1 years for females.

(Source: Statistics of Romania, Pg: 14)

Infant mortality rate

In 2009, the country had an infant mortality rate of 7.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.

 (Source: Statistics of Romania, Pg: 12)

Migration

In 2009, the number of emigrants increased to 10,211, namely 0.48 emigrants per 1000 inhabitants.

(Source: Statistics of Romania, Pg 16)

Racial/ ethnic environment

Ethnic groups in Romania are mainly dominated by Romans with 89.5% of the entire population, followed by Romany (Gypsies) and Hungarians accounting to 6.6% and 2.5% respectively. The balance of 1.14% is constituted by Ukrainians, Germans and other ethnic groups.

(Source: Statistics of Romania, Pg: 11)

Human development index (HDI)

The country is ranked 50^th on the HDI 2010 index with value of 0.767. HDI ranking is based on factors like life expectancy at birth, mean and expected years of schooling, gross national per capita income, etc.

(Source: HDR UNDP)

Labour Force

In 2009, the total labour force in the Solomon Islands was recorded at 119,569.60.

(Source: worldbank.org)

Labour force participation rate

Labour force participation rate was recorded at 38% in 2009.

(Source: worldbank.org)

Minimum wage

The minimum wage is set at SBD 1.25 per hour in the fishing and agricultural sectors, and SBD 1.50 per hour for all other workers.

(Source: Minimum Wage)

Level of unionisation

The Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions is the national trade union confederation of the country.

(Source: pitic.org)

Government stability

Solomon Islands’ politics takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy within the commonwealth. Executive power is exercised by the government and legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament. The Prime Minister is the head of the government, and elected by parliament.

The country has a national parliament with 50 seats. The Chief of State is Queen Elizabeth II, but she is represented by Governor General Nathaniel WAENA and serves a term of 5 years.

(Source: mfat.gov.nz, Election Guide)

Major political parties in the country are:

• Association of Independent Members (AIM)
• People's Alliance Party (PAP)
• Socred, Rural Advancement Party (RAP)
• Lafari Party
• Christian Alliance Party
• Democratic Party
•  National Party
• Liberal Party
• Labor Party

(Source: state.gov)

Solomon Islands conducted elections on 4^th August, 2010 and new Prime Minister Danny Philip was elected on 25^th August, 2010. The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2014.

(Source: mfat.gov.nz, Election Guide)

Regulatory environment

The economic freedom score of Solomon Islands is 45.9, making its economy the 162th freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. The country’s ranked 35^th out of the 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is below the world average.

(Source: Heritage.org)

(Source: Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Solomon Islands is ranked 110^th with a score of 2.8 which indicates that the corruption level in the public departments in the country is fairly high.    

(Source: Transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Solomon Islands is not included in the Press Freedom Index 2010.

(Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers

Major newspapers in Solomon Islands include:

•  Solomon Star
•  Solomon Voice
• Solomon Times
• Agrikalsa Nius
• Citizen’s Press

(Source: news.bbc)

Judicial System

The country’s judicial system includes

•  High Court
•  Magistrates’ Courts
•  Local Courts
• Customary Land Appeal Court

High Court

High Court has unrestrained original civil and criminal jurisdiction. The court has a criminal appellate jurisdiction defined in part IX of the Criminal Procedure Code.  

Magistrate’s courts

Magistrate’s court has civil jurisdiction and orders to restrain violation of contracts or similar issues.  These courts also have authority to hear appeals from decisions of the local courts functioning within the corresponding area.

Local courts

Local courts have civil and criminal jurisdiction issues prevailing within the local jurisdiction of the respective court. The High Court and Land Appeal Court may refer cases to local courts under the Land and Titles Act. 

Customary land appeal court

The customary land appeal court is a separate appeal court, which handles customary land appeals. Its decisions are subject to appeal to the High Court.

(Source: paclii.org)

Population

In 2010, the population of Solomon Islands was registered at 0.5 million.

(Source: undp.org)

Gender balance

In 2009, 48.2% of population consisted of females and 51.8% were males.

(Source: undp.org)

(Source: worldbank.org)

Population balance

In 2009, the population below 14 years of age constituted 39.1%. Men above 60 years of age made up 5% of total population and women constituted 4.7%.

(Source: data.un.org)

Median age

In 2010, the median age of the population was recorded at 20.3 years.

(Source: undp.org)

Life expectancy

In the period betweeen 2005 and 2010, the life expectancy for males and females was registered at 65.1 years and 67 years respectively.

(Source:data.un.org)

Mortality rate

The mortality rate of infants was recorded at 44.3 per 1,000 live births in the period between 2005 and 2010.

(Source: undp.org)

Death rate and birth rate

The crude death rate and crude birth rate for 2009 was 6 (per ‘000) and 30 (per ‘000) respectively.

(Source: unicef.org)

Urbanisation

18.6% of the country’s population is classified as urban.       

(Source: undp) 

Migration

International migrant stock till mid 2010 was recorded at 7,000 people, or 1.3% of the population.

(Source: un.org)

Ethnic groups

There are three main ethnic groups in Solomon Islands, namely, Melanesian, Polynesian andMicronesian. Christianity is the main religion practiced in the country.

(Source: state.gov)

Human development index (HDI)

Solomon Islands is ranked 123^rd, with a score of 0.494 on the UNDP (United Nations Development Program)’s Human Development Index (HDI) 2010. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: undp) 

Romania is a sovereign and independent country. The Romanian State is a Republic and it would be in framework of constitutional democracy. Constitution is the supreme authority with a major focus on law enforcement.

The Parliament of Romania has a bicameral structure and is formed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The two Chambers have different numbers of members: the Chamber of Deputies is composed of 332 Deputies and the Senate, with 137 Senators. The internal structures of the two Chambers of Parliament consist of the Presidents of the Chambers, the Standing Bureaux, the parliamentary committees and the parliamentary groups.

The President is elected by the parliament and is the only person qualified to designate a candidate for the office of prime minister.

(Source: Parliament of Romania)

Political parties in the Senate are:

·         Conservator Party

·         Democratic - Liberal Party

·         Independents

·         National Liberal Party

·         Social Democratic Party

·         The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania

(Source: Parliament of Romania)

Regulatory environment

Government in Romania is based on the Constitutional Democratic framework where the head of the state is representative of the people chosen by the people and is bound to govern by the constitutional law.

The country’s economic freedom score is 64.7, making its economy the 63^rd freest in the 2011 Index. Its score has increased by 0.5 points over 2010. Romania is ranked 27^th out of 43 countries in the Europe region.

(Source: heritage.org)

Corruption perception

Romania is ranked 69^th on World’s Corruption Perception Index 2010. The country has a score of 3.7 (out of 10), which indicates that the levels of corruption in public departments is relatively low.

(Source: Transparency.org)

Freedom of information

World Press Freedom Index 2010 ranks Romania at 52^nd position with a score of 16, indicating the media in the country is reasonably unrestricted.

(Source: rsf.org)                                                                           

Adevarul, Libertatea, Evenimentul Zilei, Jurnalul National, Romania Libera, Capital, Nine O' Clock are the key newspapers in country.

TVR, Antena 1 , Pro TV , Prima TV, Acasa TV, Realitatea TV  are some of the broadcasters in Romania.

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judiciary in Romania consists of

·         High Court of Cassation and Justice

·         Courts of Appeal

·         Tribunals, specialized tribunals

·       Military Courts

·       First instance Courts

According to law on judicial organisation, there is only one supreme authority called ‘High Court of Cassation and Justice’ ensuring the unitary analysis and application of the law by other law courts. It is categorised into: the civil section and intellectual property, the criminal section, the commercial section, the section for contentious administrative and fiscal business, 4 panels of 5 judges.

First instance courts, tribunals, specialized tribunals, Courts of appeals are organised at every county levels and in districts of Bucharest. The activities of military courts are carried out in military tribunals, Bucharest Territorial Tribunal and Bucharest Military Court of Appeal.

(Source: High Court of Cassation and Justice, justitia-romana.org)

Ministry of Transport, Works and Communications is responsible for the transport sector of Solomon Islands.

(Source: Ministry of Commerce)         

Roadways

In 2002, the total roadway length of Solomon Islands was 1,360 km.

(Source: world.bymap.org)

Ports

The country has 12 ports. These are: Allardyce Harbour, Port of Aola Bay, Port of Gizo, Port of Honiara, Port of Malloco Bay, Port of Noro, Port of Pakera Point, Port of Ringi Cove, Shortland Harbour, Port of Tulagi, Viru Harbour, and Port of Yandina.

(Source: World Port Source)

Airports

(Source: Aircraft Charter)

Telecommunication

The country had 8,200 fixed telephone line subscribers in 2009, as compared to 8,000 in 2008.

(Source: ITU)

Mobile cellular subscriptions

In 2009, the number of mobile cellular subscription users was recorded at 30,000.

(Source: ITU)

Internet Access

Approximately 10,000 out of 595,613people, or 1.7% of population used the internet in 2010. From 2000 to 2010, Internet users grew by 400.0 %.

(Sources: Internet World Stats)