Solomon Islands | History, Capital, Language, Flag, Facts & Geography of Solomon Islands
History of Solomon Islands:
The Solomon Islands is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia. This country is made up of her over 1,000 islands. Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, is located on the largest island called Guadalcanal.
The islands were founded around 1000 BC. First inhabited by tribal people. The first European to discover the island was the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana y Neira in 1567. He was looking for legendary treasures and the Solomon Islands.
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Many years later, in the 19th century, more and more people came to the Solomon Islands and tried to settle there. In 1900 the British occupied the island.
The Solomon Islands were the scene of fierce fighting between Japan and the United States during World War II. More than 21,000 Japanese and 7,000 Americans died in the fighting on the island. In December 1943, the Allies finally took control. In 1978 the country became fully independent.
Information about Solomon Islands:
| Capital | Honiara |
| Population | 743,198 (Source: 2023 worldometer) |
| Major Cities | Honiara (capital), Malango, Auki, Gizo, Kirakira, Buala |
| Borders | None |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) | $1,595,710,784 (2022 worldometer) |
| Currency | Solomon Islands dollar (SBD) |
Flag of Solomon Islands:
Solomon Islands Economy Key Industries:
Solomon Islands Major Industries: fish (tuna), mining, timber
Solomon Islands Agricultural Products: cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; timber; cattle, pigs; fish
Solomon Islands Natural Resources: fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel
Solomon Islands Major Exports: timber, fish, copra, palm oil, cocoa
Solomon Islands Major Imports: food, plant and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals
The Geography of Solomon Islands:
Total Size of Solomon Islands: 28,896 km² (source: 2022 wikipedia)
Geographical Low Point of Solomon Islands: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Geographical High Point of Solomon Islands: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m
Climate of Solomon Islands: Tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
General Terrain of Solomon Islands: mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
World Region or Continent of Solomon Islands: Oceania
Geographical Coordinates: 8 00 S, 159 00 E
The People of Solomon Islands & Culture
Solomon Islands Government Type: parliamentary democracy
Solomon Islands Nationality: Solomon Islander(s)
Solomon Islands National Holiday: Independence Day, 7 July (1978)
Solomon Islands Independence: 7 July 1978 (from UK)
Solomon Islands National Symbol:
Solomon Islands National Anthem or Song: God Save Our Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands Languages Spoken: Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population
Solomon Islands Religions: Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Interesting Facts about Solomon Islands:
The Solomon Islands is an island nation in Oceania. It consists of about 992 small islands, atolls and coral reefs.
Only 347 of the islands are inhabited. The six main islands are Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Malaita, Makira, New Georgia and Santa Isabel.
The Solomon Islands are her third largest archipelago in the South Pacific. The first settlers of the Solomon Islands were Papuan-speaking hunter-gatherers from New Guinea. They are thought to have lived on the islands for up to 50,000 years before becoming extinct around 4,000 BC. Early Austronesian-speaking Melanesians arrived.
The Lapita people appeared about 3,000 years ago, between 2000 and 1600 BC. BC – Solomon Islands.
The first European to explore the island was Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana in 1568.
Mendana believed gold existed and he named the island after the legendary King Solomon’s mines.
The Solomon Islands were colonized by the British in the 19th century. In 1893 it was declared a protectorate of the British Solomon Islands.
The protectorate was informally known as the “Happy Isles”.
In 1942, during World War II, the Solomon Islands were occupied by Japan. In particular, a large-scale battle took place in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Eventually in 1945 the Japanese were expelled from the islands by the Allies and British rule was restored.
Today, the island is popular with divers because of its many World War II submarine, ship and plane wrecks.
The Solomon Islands gained her autonomy in 1976 and became fully independent from Britain in 1978 when Prime Minister Peter Kenirolea came to power.
The flag consists of a blue triangle representing the importance of water and a green triangle representing trees and crops, separated by a yellow diagonal line representing the sun. In the upper corner she has five white stars representing her five states that originally made up this country.
Between 1998 and 2003, the Solomon Islands experienced a crisis known as “Tensions”, with armed fighting between Guadalcanal and Malaita insurgents.
In 2000, Prime Minister Bartholomew Urfaal was taken hostage by Malaitan Eagle forces. He was then forced to resign.