The Solomon Islands consists of 992 islands spread across 28,400 square kilometers of land and 1.35 million square kilometers of ocean in Melanesia. Six major islands constitute most of the landmass: Guadalcanal at 5,302 square kilometers, Malaita at 4,225 square kilometers, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, Choiseul, and Makira. The archipelago extends roughly 1,500 kilometers southeast from Bougainville in Papua New Guinea toward Vanuatu. Mount Popomanaseu on Guadalcanal reaches 2,335 meters, the highest point in the country. Honiara, the capital on Guadalcanal's north coast, holds approximately 85,000 of the nation's 720,000 people. Most islands remain forested and undeveloped. The government controls infrastructure on perhaps a dozen islands. Roads on Guadalcanal total approximately 80 kilometers of sealed surface. Gizo in Western Province and Auki in Malaita Province function as regional centers but offer limited services. Electricity reaches approximately 15 percent of the population. Mobile phone coverage exists in Honiara and provincial capitals but fails across most rural areas and outer islands.
Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña arrived in 1568, naming the islands after the biblical King Solomon under the mistaken belief he had found gold-bearing lands. No sustained European contact occurred until the 1800s. Britain declared a protectorate in 1893 over the southern islands, adding the northern islands in 1899 and 1900. Between August 1942 and February 1943, American and Japanese forces fought the Guadalcanal Campaign across multiple islands. The Battle of Guadalcanal killed approximately 7,000 Americans and 31,000 Japanese. Iron Bottom Sound, the strait between Guadalcanal and the Florida Islands, holds more than fifty sunken warships and transports. The Vilu War Museum on Guadalcanal displays American and Japanese aircraft, artillery, and equipment left in the jungle. Independence from the United Kingdom occurred on July 7, 1978. Peter Kenilorea became the first Prime Minister. Between 1998 and 2003, armed militants from Guadalcanal and Malaita fought ethnic conflicts called "The Tensions" that displaced 20,000 people and collapsed government authority. Australia led the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands in 2003, deploying 2,250 police and military personnel who remained until 2017. The country switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China in 2019. Riots in Honiara in November 2021 burned Chinatown and destroyed approximately 100 businesses. Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji deployed stabilization forces. In April 2022, the Solomon Islands signed a security cooperation agreement with China permitting Chinese police and military deployments.
Marovo Lagoon in New Georgia measures approximately 700 square kilometers, making it the world's largest double-barrier saltwater lagoon. The lagoon contains dozens of small islands, coral reefs, and traditional villages accessible only by boat. Tetepare Island spans 118 square kilometers as the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific. The Tetepare Descendants Association removed the last residents in the 1860s due to headhunting raids and now manages the island as a conservation area. East Rennell, the southern portion of Rennell Island, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. Rennell is the world's largest raised coral atoll at 86 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide. Lake Tegano in the center of East Rennell covers 15,500 hectares, the largest lake in the insular Pacific. The lake contains brackish water and endemic species found nowhere else. Kolombangara, a near-perfect volcanic cone rising to 1,770 meters, retains primary rainforest from sea level to summit. The Arnavon Islands between Santa Isabel and Choiseul protect nesting grounds for hawksbill and leatherback turtles.
Diving concentrates on wartime wrecks. Iron Bottom Sound contains aircraft, tanks, and ships in 20 to 60 meters of water. The USS Atlanta lies at 130 meters. Visibility averages 15 to 25 meters but drops during plankton blooms. Water temperature ranges from 27 to 29 degrees Celsius year-round. Strong currents run through the sound on tidal changes. Gizo in Western Province offers access to approximately twenty dive sites including the Toa Maru, a 140-meter Japanese transport at 30 meters depth, and the Hellcat fighter at 10 meters. Live coral covers less area than wrecks. Most reefs show damage from crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and coral bleaching events in 2016 and 2020. Reef fish populations remain higher than heavily fished Pacific locations but lower than protected reserves. Sharks appear infrequently on recreational dives. Commercial dive operators exist in Honiara, Gizo, and Munda. Equipment rental quality varies. Hyperbaric chambers operate in Honiara and Gizo.