In the last issue of the "National Series", we introduced: "The Land of a Thousand Islands" Indonesia: the country where volcanoes meet the sea, the largest country in Southeast Asia. Today we move our gaze from the Malay Archipelago in Asia and Southeast Asia, in a south-easterly direction, through the island of New Guinea to the Melanesian Archipelago in the South Pacific, to introduce the 29th country, the Solomon Islands, the "Island of Luck": an agricultural country, one of the least developed countries in the world.
The "Island of Luck" Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an archipelagic country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, belonging to the Melanesian Islands, one of the three major archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean, and the other two islands are micronesia and Polynesia. The Solomon Islands are located in the northeast of Australia, the largest country in Oceania, separated by about 1600 kilometers from the Coral Sea, about 485 kilometers between the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to the west, and Nauru, Tuvalu, Fiji and other countries to the east.
Location map of solomon islands
The Solomon Islands consist of more than 900 islands, with a general northwest-southeast orientation and a total land area of about 28,400 square kilometers, equivalent to the area of four and a half Shanghai. The main islands in the Solomon Islands include Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Maquila, Choisel, Santa Isabel, Santa Cruz, etc. Of which Guadalcanal is the largest island with an area of about 5302 square kilometers, it is the seat of the "Honiara", the capital of the Solomon Islands.
Solomon's capital, Honiara
From the perspective of latitude and longitude, the longitude of the Solomon Islands ranges between 155 ° e and 170 ° e, spanning the eastern and western hemispheres, from the time zone point of view belongs to the Eastern Eleventh District, the Solomon Islands is very close to the 180 degree meridian, that is, the international date change line, so the Solomon Islands is one of the earliest countries in the world to usher in a new day. The Solomon Islands, with latitudes ranging from 5°s to 12°s, are located in the southern hemisphere and are low-latitude tropical regions not far from the equator.
Solomon Islands
Because the Solomon Islands is located near the equator, it is controlled by the equatorial low pressure belt all year round, and the updraft prevails all year round, which belongs to the "tropical rainforest climate". The climate is characterized by high temperatures all year round, large annual precipitation, and due to the vast sea area around it, the source of water vapor of precipitation is increased, so the annual precipitation in the Solomon Islands is more than 3000 mm. The high temperature and rainy climate make the Solomon Islands lush with vegetation, and the natural belt is dominated by tropical rainforest belts, with a forest coverage rate of up to 90%.
Map of the position of the Solomon Islands among the six plates
The Solomon Islands are located near the "extinction boundary" where the Pacific Plate and the Indian Ocean Plate collide with each other, and many of the islands in the archipelago are volcanic islands formed by volcanic eruptions, of which Guadalcanal, where the capital is located, is a volcanic island. However, at present, the volcanic activity on the Solomon Islands is not frequent, and the impact on the production and life of the local population is small, so the Solomon Islands has another name of "Lucky Island". Located at the junction of plates, due to the collision and squeezing of plates, earthquake disasters are the most important geological disasters in the local area.
Map of solomon islands
The history of human habitation in the Solomon Islands dates back 3,000 years, and the main inhabitants belong to the Melanesians. Thereafter, until 1568, the Solomon Islands were discovered and named by the Spaniards, after which Europeans began to land and develop the Solomon Islands, Dutch, German and British colonists came to the Solomon Islands one after another, and fought for it, and by 1893 it became the "British Solomon Islands Protectorate", which was briefly occupied by Japanese invaders in World War II. Later, in 1978, the Solomon Islands gained independence and were members of the Commonwealth.
Schools of fish in the ocean near the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is one of the least developed countries in the world, with a total population of only about 600,000 people, of which the population engaged in agricultural activities accounts for about 90% of the total population of the country, of which tropical cash crop cultivation and fishing are the pillar industries, in addition, due to the high forest cover rate, forestry has developed rapidly. As the so-called "poor people are short-sighted", the Solomon Islands have long received foreign economic assistance, and Australia is currently its largest donor. On September 16, 2019, the Solomon Islands announced that it would break off its relations with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with China (the mainland).
Solomon Islands villages