Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal (gwädəlkənăl`), volcanic island (1992 est. pop. 63,633), c.2,510 sq mi (6,500 sq km), South Pacific, largest of the Solomon Islands. Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands, is there. The island is largely jungle. Mt. Makarakombou rises to 8,028 ft (2,447 m). There are coconut and oil palm plantations and some gold mining. The inhabitants, mostly Melanesians, live along the coasts. Discovered by English navigators in 1788, Guadalcanal became a British protectorate in 1893. During World War II it was occupied by the Japanese. In Aug., 1942, U.S. forces began their first large-scale invasion of a Japanese-held island; after bitter fighting, it was conquered (Feb., 1943). In 1999, attacks by the Gwale majority caused many of the Malaitan minority to flee their homes; by 2000 the conflict had escalated into battling between ethnic militias in Honiara and the jungle. Points of interest include a museum of Melanesian artifacts and Henderson Field, the main objective of the American invasion.

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Guadalcanal

Island (pop., 1999: 109,382), Solomon Islands, west-central South Pacific Ocean. The largest of the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal has an area of 2,069 sq mi (5,358 sq km); the national capital, Honiara, lies on the northern coast. The economy is based mainly on fishing and agriculture, with some gold mining. The island was visited by the Spanish in the 16th century and by the British in the late 18th century; it was annexed in 1893 as part of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. During World War II it was the scene of prolonged fighting between U.S. and Japanese forces (1942–43), which resulted in the Allied capture of a Japanese air base there. Several naval battles were also fought in the region. Ethnic tensions between Guadalcanal islanders and migrants from the nearby island of Malaita worsened after World War II. After the islands achieved independence from Great Britain in 1978, ethnically based disputes simmered on the island, sparking violence and rioting in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

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Guadalcanal

Marines triumphed in first major U.S. offensive of WWII (1942–1943). [Am. Hist.: Van Doren, 490]

See : Battle