The bipolar Pacific

• Helen Hughes
• Centre for Independent Studies

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20 August 2008The Pacific is bipolar, on almost every available indicator, the
Pacific’s development path is split in two. One group of Pacific
islands, including Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, and
French Polynesia, is growing at a speed similar to the economies in East
Asia. These countries have good education systems and useful healthcare
facilities, and consequently provide better social and economic outcomes
for their people.

A second group of islands, including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,
Fiji, Vanuatu, and Kiribati, are stagnant and some are even becoming
poorer. Their governments fail to provide electricity, running water,
sanitation, and healthcare.

The Pacific’s two groups of islands display different demographic
characteristics, and different outcomes in employment, education, and
other social indicators. Whereas one group of islands has moderate
population growth and good education systems, the other experiences
widespread illiteracy and some of the highest population growth rates in
the world.