Solomon Islands

Information about the Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands is a nation in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea and is part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It consists of more than 990 islands, which together cover a land mass of 28,000 square kilometres.

The Islands' first inhabitants likely arrived about 30,000 B.C.; later -- about 4,000 B.C. -- other Polynesian settlers brought agriculture, sailing, and other technologies.

The Spanish explorer Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (He was "Master of the Route.") discovered the islands in 1568. Alvaro de Menda�a de Neira accompanied Sarmiento on this voyage. He wanted to take credit for the discovery and threw Sarmiento's maps and notes overboard. Spain lost its interest in the islands late in the 16th century, when one of Alvaro's ships was lost on a second visit to the area. Later, Dutch, French and British navigators visited the islands; their reception was often hostile.

Missionary activity started at the mid 19th century and European colonial ambitions led to the establishment of a German Protectorate over the Northern Solomons, following an Anglo-German Treaty of 1886. A British Solomon Islands Protectorate over the southern islands was proclaimed in 1893. German interests were transferred to Britain under the Samoa Tripartite Convention of 1899, in exchange for recognition of the German claim to Western Samoa.

Age-old customs are handed down from one generation to the next, allegedly from the ancestral spirits themselves, to form the cultural values to Solomon Islands.

The above includes excerpts from Wikipedia.org, the free encyclopedia:

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