When it comes to the Solomon Islands, many people think of it as somewhere in the Mediterranean or the Indian Ocean. Because the three words "Solomon" have long belonged to the Jews of the Middle East in history, and Israel and Jerusalem are one. But in fact, the Solomon Islands are in the far Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles away from the Middle East.
Solomon Islands is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, located 1,600 kilometers northeast of Australia, the largest power in Oceania, across the sea from Papua New Guinea, the second largest country in Oceania. In addition, Fiji, a more famous tourist destination on our side, and Tonga, which has been making a lot of noise because of volcanic eruptions, are neighbors of the Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands is not large in size, although it is the fourth largest territorial "power" in Oceania. However, the total area is only 28,900 square kilometers, which is not the size of a Hainan Island. More crucially, just a little bit of land is scattered on nearly a thousand scattered islands.
The reason why it is called the Solomon Islands is more because the Spaniards got it in the wrong place.
Legend has it that in the 10th century BC, the ancient state of Israel flourished under the leadership of King Solomon. From the Euphrates River in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south, it is Israel's territory. Jewish fleets crisscrossed the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and even brought trade to the Indian subcontinent.
Solomon also built the capital Jerusalem into a holy place and a temple for Jehovah. In this temple, the "Golden Ark of the Covenant" containing the precepts of Judaism is enshrined, a holy relic of the ancient nation of Israel and regarded as the "treasure of the town". Underneath the temple, secret tunnels and crypts were built, where Solomon's treasures were stored.
However, after Solomon's death, the kingdom of Israel split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, and gradually declined. In 586 BC, the rising neo-Babylonian kingdom invaded the southern kingdom of Judah.
The Babylonian army captured the holy city of Jerusalem and burned Solomon's temple to the ground. However, they were unable to find the fabled "Golden Ark" and "Solomon's Treasure" ( ) .
The whereabouts of the "Ark of the Covenant" and the "Treasure" are unknown, which has led to unlimited reverie.
There is a theory that during Solomon's reign, there was a great emphasis on maritime trade, and his fleet often sailed far and wide. Is it possible, then, that Solomon had already transferred the treasures of the temple overseas? Maybe the treasure is now hidden in a small island overseas.
However, the sea is vast, the islands are numerous, how easy is it to find this treasure? For more than two thousand years, there have been attempts to find this treasure in the sea, but to no avail.
In 1586, the Spanish explorer Mendner led his fleet to an island group in the South Pacific. They found that the indigenous people of the island wore gold and silver, which was very dazzling. The more luxuriously the natives of such a remote place, the more they were able to dress, which puzzled the Spaniards. So they attributed the reason to the "treasure", believing that the natives were because they had found Solomon's treasure. So they named it "Solomon Islands".
For hundreds of years afterward, many people would come here in search of treasure, but found nothing. Perhaps the archipelago has nothing to do with Solomon, but is just wishful thinking on the part of Spain.
In the age of great navigation, those European navigators ran all over the world, called adventure, but in fact most of them came out to grab things. Therefore, after the Solomon Islands were discovered by Spain, they also naturally played a colonial role. For hundreds of years, spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Germans, Japanese, and British took turns in battle, using the Solomon Islands as if they were strongholds of the Great Powers in the South Pacific.
It was not until 7 July 1978 that Solomon was able to gain independence from the British and become a sovereign state.
However, like many colonial powers, the colonists stole their lives and wealth here, leaving only ignorance and backwardness. After independence, Solomon did not develop well, and for a long time was one of the least developed countries in the world.
Taking GDP data as an example, according to the World Bank, solomon islands have a total GDP of only $1.55 billion in 2020, and a per capita GDP of less than $2,500. Most of the solomon islands' economic industries are dominated by primary industries, such as planting, fishing and so on. As for things like energy and industrial goods, solomon islands can only rely on imports.
As we all know, most of the primary industry belongs to low value-added industries, the profit margin is extremely low, at most it is barely enough to maintain food and clothing, it is difficult to negotiate how much money to make. Therefore, the Solomon Islands' national finances have been in a state of poverty for a long time, and they do not have much money to import at all, and they are more shy to find "neighbors" to help.
In addition, solomon islands are a country with frequent natural disasters. The location of the Solomon Islands is located in the volcanic seismic belt of the western Pacific Ocean, and the geological activity in the territory is relatively intense, like volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis are purely commonplace. As an island nation, solomon islands are isolated in the ocean, and it is almost inevitable to face these natural disasters.
The backward economy and poor natural environment greatly influenced the development of the Solomon Islands.
To date, solomon islands have one of the lowest levels of human development in the world. According to the 2020 Human Development Index released by the United Nations Development Programme, the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands has a human development index of only 0.567, ranking 151st among nearly 200 participating countries and regions, which is a "low level of human development".
The country currently has a total of more than 600,000 people, of whom one-third live below the poverty line and half of the population is illiterate. Every year, a quarter of all new babies die. It can be seen that the Solomon Islands, whether economically, educationally or healthily, are at a rather bad stage.
It is worth mentioning that although the Solomon Islands are so poor, they still have a high sense of international presence. Because the country's geographical location is quite critical, it is a strategic location in the South Pacific.
The Solomon Islands are known as the gateway to Oceania and are located right in the middle of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands. Most of the ships that travel between the United States and Australia pass through here. Even routes to and from New Zealand will suffer from this area.
It is no exaggeration to say that the control of the Solomon Islands is equivalent to controlling the traffic lifeblood of Australia and even the whole of Oceania. As the largest country in the Pacific, Australia can undoubtedly play a decisive role in the strategic situation in the entire Asia-Pacific region. According to this logic, the strategic position of the Solomon Islands is very important.
During World War II, Japan and the United States fought in the South Pacific, and the famous Guadalcanal Scramble, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, broke out. Japan hopes to achieve the purpose of controlling Australia's route to the United States by controlling Guadalcanal and its surrounding islands, threatening Australia, and thus gaining the initiative in the Pacific theater.
The United States hopes to use Guadalcanal as a springboard to secure its ties with Australia while gaining a base for attacking the Japanese mainland. Because from the Solomon Islands to the north, you can follow many islands to the Mariana Islands, and after crossing the Mariana Islands, the Japanese mainland is not safe to defend.
Therefore, in the course of the Pacific War, the Battle of Guadalcanal can be called an important turning point. It was only after the U.S. military took control of Guadalcanal that it gained the initiative in the war. Then boil the frog in warm water, and gradually force Japan to the end.
It is worth mentioning that this Guadalcanal island is part of the Solomon Islands. This shows that solomon islands have a strategic position in the Pacific Ocean. For Australia and the United States in particular, the Solomon Islands are worth as much as an aircraft carrier battle group.
Therefore, Australia and the United States have always regarded the Solomon Islands as their own gardens and have not allowed others to interfere. But anyone with "outside forces" who want to enter the Solomon Islands is bound to speak out or even obstruct them.
For solomon islands, this is obviously not a good thing. Because such a "closed" environment indirectly affects the external exchanges and development of the Solomon Islands, it is also one of the reasons why the Solomon Islands are still poor. If it had been resigned, it would have been difficult for the Solomon Islands to have a head start.