It takes about 3 hours by flight from Brisbane, Australia to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands consist of 6 main islands that are of a volcanic type with mountains and forest. Guadalcanal is the island where most people live and where the capital and airport are located. Today, many people come as tourists to the Solomon Islands and then popular excursion destinations are places where battles were fought during World War II. You can dive and take a closer look at boat wrecks as well as visit memorial sites where you can read more about what happened on site. The Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain in 1978.
More about the Solomon Islands
There are many different ethnic groups in the Solomon Islands and it is believed that the largest group, Melanesians, have inhabited the islands for several thousand years. The first European to visit the islands was the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana. He came in 1568 and named the islands Islas Salomon. Since the islands gained independence, they have functioned as a constitutional monarchy with the British monarch as head of state. The official language is English and in 2009 a population of just over 500,000 was expected.
Geography and climate
The Solomon Islands are located east of Papua New Guinea and all in all, there are thousands of islands. The distance between the islands furthest to the west and those furthest to the east is estimated to be about 1,500 km. According to bridgat, the climate is very humid all year round with high temperatures of around 26.5 ° C. It is cooler between June and August and it rains more often between November and April. The Solomon Islands can be divided into two different ecoregions. Most of the islands belong to the region of the Solomon Islands rainforest region. The other region is the Vanuatu rainforest region and includes the Santa Cruz Islands. The earth is in many places very fertile which is due to volcanic activity. On some of the larger islands there are volcanoes that are still active. The most active volcanoes are Tinakula and Kavachi.
Earthquakes
In 2007 in April, the Solomon Islands was hit by a strong earthquake followed by a major tsunami. The tsunami destroyed more than 900 homes and killed at least 52 people. The earthquake also affected the landscape so that new beaches were formed where you can now see remnants of coral reefs that were once under water. As recently as April 12, 2014, the region was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale and this is a reality that the country’s residents have to deal with using warning systems and construction technology that provides houses that can better withstand the earthquakes.
