31 Facts About Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands, a nation of hundreds of South Pacific islands, has many WWII-era sites. Guadalcanal, a province and one of the archipelago's largest islands, has a U.S. War Memorial that honours fallen Allied soldiers.

Honiara, the nation's capital, is also located on Guadalcanal, and its bustling Central Market showcases the islands' produce and traditional handicrafts.

The Solomon Islands are an Oceanian island nation. They are made up of 992 small islands, atolls, and reefs.

There are only 347 inhabited islands. Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Malaita, Makira, New Georgia, and Santa Isabel are the six major islands.

The Solomon Islands are the South Pacific's third-largest archipelago.

The Solomon Islands' first settlers were Papuan-speaking hunter-gatherers from New Guinea. They may have lived on the islands for up to 50,000 years before Austronesian-speaking early Melanesians arrived around 4000BC.

The Lapita people first appeared in the Solomon Islands between 2000 and 1600 BC, approximately 3,000 years ago.

In 1568, the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana became the first European to explore the islands.

Mendana named the islands after the legendary King Solomon's mines, believing that gold was present.

The Solomon Islands were colonised by the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century. In 1893, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was established.

The protectorate was dubbed "The Happy Isles" informally.

The Solomon Islands were occupied by Japan during World War II in 1942. There was a lot of fighting, especially during the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal. The Allies eventually drove the Japanese off the islands in 1945, and British rule was restored.

Due to the numerous Second World War submarine, ship, and aircraft wrecks, the islands are now popular with scuba divers.

As a reminder of his time stranded in the Solomon Islands in 1943, US President John F. Kennedy kept a coconut shell in his Oval Office. He was rescued after his boat sank by two Solomon Islanders named Eroni Kumana and Biuku Gasa.

The president and ten other survivors swam to Plum Pudding Island, which was uninhabited. It is now known as Kennedy Island.

The Solomon Islands gained self-government in 1976 before gaining complete independence from the United Kingdom in 1978, led by Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea.

The national flag is made up of blue triangles that represent the importance of water, and green triangles that represent trees and crops, separated by a yellow diagonal stripe that represents the sun. The five white stars in the upper right corner represent the original five provinces that made up the country.

Between 1998 and 2003, the Solomon Islands was gripped by a crisis known as "the tensions," in which militants from the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita engaged in armed conflict.

The Malaitan Eagle Force kidnapped Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu in 2000. He was eventually forced to resign.

An Australian-led peacekeeping force was deployed in the Solomon Islands in 2003. It was there for 14 years, until 2017.

The Solomon Islands were one of several Pacific islands affected by 'blackbirding' in the late 1800s. Kidnapping for forced labour on plantations in Fiji and Australia was known as blackbirding. The heinous practise came to an end around 1872, leading to the prohibition of overseas labour recruitment in several countries.

Between 1870 and 1910, an estimated 30,000 Solomon Island labourers were recruited to work on plantations in Fiji and Queensland, Australia.

The coat of arms of the Solomon Islands is a shield framed by a crocodile and a shark. Under it, the motto "To Lead Is To Serve" is displayed. An eagle, a turtle, a war shield, and some fighting spears are depicted on the shield.

Despite being an official language, English is only spoken by about 1-2% of the population. The Solomon Islands also have about 120 indigenous languages spoken.

Prince Charles of the United Kingdom visited the Solomon Islands in 2019 and "delighted" a crowd of Solomon Islanders by addressing them in pidgin. "Mi hapi visiting to place blong yu fela," he said, drawing applause from the audience.

The Solomon Islands is one of only 22 countries without an army.

In the Solomon Islands, a species of giant rat capable of opening coconuts with its teeth was discovered in 2017. No one could prove the creature existed for decades until one fell from a tree as it was being cut down in 2015. The rats can reach 45cm in length and weigh 0.5kg.

The Solomon Islands have 173 bird species, 69 of which are endemic and can only be found in the Solomon Islands.

Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands is the world's largest raised coral atoll, measuring 86 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide. East Rennell Island is the only UNESCO World Heritage site in the country.

The Solomon Islands are home to over 4,500 plant species, including 230 orchid varieties.

Around 90% of the islands are covered in dense rain forest.