..... Click the link for more information. , Malaita, New Georgia, the Santa Cruz Islands, Choiseul, Ysabel (Santa Isabel), San Cristobal (Makira), the Shortland Islands, and countless smaller islands—are only part of the 900-mi (1,448-km) Solomon Islands chain, which also includes Bougainville Bougainville , volcanic island (1990 est. pop. 154,000), c.3,880 sq mi (10,050 sq km), SW Pacific, largest in the Solomon Islands chain. With Buka and smaller neighboring islands, it forms an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea.
..... Click the link for more information. and Buka, which are politically part of Papua New Guinea. Administratively, the country is divided into nine provinces and the capital territory, which is Honiara Honiara , town (1986 pop. 30,413), capital of the Solomon Islands. Located on Guadalcanal in the SW Pacific, Honiara was rebuilt to replace the former capital of Tulaghi at the end of World War II and occupies the site of an important American campaign against the
..... Click the link for more information. , on Guadalcanal.
Land, People, and Economy
The Solomons are mountainous and heavily wooded. The inhabitants are largely Melanesians, although some Polynesians live in the outlying atolls. Economic development has been slow. Seafood, copra, and timber are the only significant exports. By the 1990s, logging levels had become unsustainable and the government instituted regulatory legislation. There is very little manufacturing.
History
A Spanish explorer, Álvaro de Mendeña de Neira, was the first European to visit the islands (1568), but his colonizing efforts failed. European settlers and missionaries arrived throughout the 18th and 19th cent. In 1885 the German New Guinea Company established control over the N Solomons. The southern islands were placed under a British protectorate in 1893; the eastern islands were added to it in 1898. In 1900, Germany transferred its islands (except Bougainville and Buka) to Great Britain in return for British withdrawal from W Samoa. Bougainville and Buka were occupied by Australian forces during World War I and were placed under Australian mandate by the League of Nations in 1920. During World War II, Choiseul, New Georgia, Ysabel, and Guadalcanal were occupied by the Japanese (1942) but were liberated by U.S. forces (1943–44).
The Solomon Islands became self-governing in 1976 and independent in 1978. The government is parliamentary, with a governor-general representing the British crown, a prime minister and cabinet, and an elected unicameral parliament. In Aug., 1997, Bartholomew Ulufa'alu became prime minister after winning a leadership vote in parliament. Ethnic strife broke out on Guadalcanal in 1999, as island natives fought with immigrants from the island of Malaita. In 2000 the battling between ethnic-based militias intensified, and the Malaita militia took Ulufa'alu hostage in June. The prime minister resigned under duress; Mannasseh Sogavare, who was chosen to succeed him, pledged to seek a resolution to the violence.
After elections held in Dec., 2001, Sir Allan Kemakeza was elected prime minister. Despite efforts to negotiate an end to the violence, it continued, ruining the economy and bankrupting the country. In July, 2003, an Australian-led peacekeeping force entered the Solomons at the government's request to restore order. The operation was largely successful, disarming rebels, arresting their leaders, and enabling people displaced by the violence to return home, and most troops were withdrawn before year's end. Police officers associated with the mission remain in the Solomons.
Corruption accusations against several government ministers led to large losses for Kemakeza's party in the Apr., 2006, elections. Former deputy prime minister Snyder Rini was elected to succeed Kemakeza as prime minister, but Rini's election sparked protests in Honiara by demonstrators upset with his ties to what they regarded as a corrupt administration. The protests turned into anti-Chinese riots because the corruption has been associated with the money and development brought by recent Chinese investors. Additional Australian and New Zealand forces were sent to the Solomons to help restore order, and Rini resigned when he lost parliamentary support. In May, Mannasseh Sogavare was elected prime minister with the support of the opposition parties.
The new government's relations with Australia subsequently became strained when Australia's ambassador criticized a Solomons investigation into the post-election riots as a potential whitewash and was expelled. The situation worsed when Sogavare appointed Julian Moti, an Australian lawyer of Fijian descent who was wanted in Australia on child sex charges, as the Solomons attorney general. Australia sought Moti's extradition from Papua New Guinea, where Moti was arrested (Sept., 2006) while in transit. Moti managed to flee with apparent help from Papua New Guinea and Solomons officials, and then entered the Solomons illegaly and was held there. (His appointment as attorney general was suspended as a result of his illegal entry.)
A Solomons police investigation into Moti's illegal entry resulted in a raid on the prime minister's office. Sogavare criticized the raid as an Australian violation of his nation's sovereignty because of the presence of Australians (hired by the Solomons government) throughout the police force; the Australian government denied having any involvement in Solomons police affairs. A Solomons court cleared Moti of all Solomons charges in December, and the Australian-born police commissioner was subsequently declared an undesirable immigrant. In Apr., 2007, an undersea earthquake and tsunami caused widespread significant destruction in the W Solomon Islands, devastating the nation's second largest city, Gizo.
Solomon Islands
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Official name: Solomon Islands
Capital city: Honiara
Internet country code: .sb
Flag description: Divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green
Geographical description: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Total area: 11,599 sq. mi. (27,556 sq. km.); archipelago: 280,000 sq. mi. (725,197 sq. km.)
Climate: Tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
Nationality: noun: Solomon Islander(s); adjective: Solomon Islander
Population: 566,842 (July 2007 CIA est.)
Ethnic groups: Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, other 1.5%
Languages spoken: Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English is official, but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population; 120 indigenous languages
Religions: Anglican Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church (Methodist) 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2%
Legal Holidays:
| Christmas | Dec 25 |
| Good Friday - Easter Monday | Apr 22, 2011; Apr 6, 2012; Mar 29, 2013; Apr 18, 2014; Apr 3, 2015 |
| Independence Day | Jul 7 |
| National Day of Thanksgiving | Dec 26 |
| New Year's Day | Jan 1 |
| Queen's Birthday | Jun 17, 2011; Jun 15, 2012; Jun 21, 2013; Jun 20, 2014; Jun 19, 2015 |
Solomon Islands
an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, east of New Guinea in Melanesia. The principal islands are Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Santa Isabel, Malaita, San Cristobal, Choiseul, and New Georgia. Area, 40,400 sq km. Population, 263,200 (1971). The northern islands, including Bougainville, Buka, Nissan, and several atolls, are part of Papua New Guinea. The rest, the larger part of the islands, has been an independent state since 1978. It has an area of 28,400 sq km and a population of 200,000 (1977). The state’s capital is Honiara.
The Solomons are inhabited by several dozen ethnic groups, most of whom belong to the Melanesian race and speak Austronesian or Papuan languages. In addition, there are also Polynesians and Micronesians. Most of the inhabitants of the Solomon Islands are Christians, chiefly Protestants.
Most of the islands are of volcanic origin; the Balbi and Bagana volcanoes are still active. The maximum elevation, 2,743 m, is on Bougainville. The climate is subequatorial and very humid, with mean monthly temperatures of 26°–28°C. The annual precipitation ranges from 2,300 mm to 7,500 mm. Southeasterly trade winds prevail from May to October and northwesterly equatorial monsoons from December to March. The rivers are short and deep.
The islands are extensively covered with evergreen forests of palms, figs, and other trees. Savannas are found in the drier areas, and mangroves fringe the coast. The fauna includes rats, bats, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, giant frogs, wild pigeons, and parrots. The main economic activities are the growing of coconut palms, pineapples, cacao trees, and cotton, as well as fishing and lumbering. Copper is mined on Bougainville.
The Solomon Islands were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator A. Mendaña de Neyra, who obtained gold from the natives and named the islands Islas de Solomón after Solomon’s Land of Gold.
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