by Roohi

Created on: January 21, 2009   Last Updated: January 27, 2009

The Beautiful Solomon Islands

Beautiful coral islands, amazing lagoons and underwater volcanoes are what you will find, if you take a cruise to the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands are located just east of Papua New Guinea and are a group of around 1000 islands located in the Pacific Ocean. While enjoying diving, cruising and fishing, you will also get the chance to have a look at the superb marine life in the surrounding waters.

* The Early History of Solomon Islands
Although not much is known about the early settlers in the Solomon Islands, it is believed that Papuan-speaking settlers arrived here around 30,000 B.C. Austronesian speakers are believed to have arrived here around 4000 B.C. It was only between the 1200 and 800 B.C. that the Lapita people, ancestors of the Polynesians, arrived here.

* The Contact of the Solomon Islands inhabitants with the Europeans
Alvaro de Mendana de Neira, a Spanish navigator, was the first European to discover these islands. Missionaries began visiting these islands in the middle part of the 19th century. The brutal recruitment of laborers for the sugar plantations prompted the United Kingdom to declare a protectorate over southern Solomon Islands. In 1900, the remainder of the islands was also transferred to the British administration. This helped the missionaries to settle down and convert most of the population to Christianity.

After a fierce war which raged from May 1942 to December 1943, the U.S. forces and its Allies took over the command of the entire Solomon Islands. After the end of World War II, the British colonial government had returned. Many indigenous groups tried to defy the government from time to time but without any success.

It was only in 1974 that a new constitution was adopted and parliamentary democracy and ministerial system was established. The Solomon Islands finally gained independence from the British Solomon Islands Protectorate on July 7, 1978.

* The Cultural Diversity of Solomon Islands
The cultural diversity of the Solomon Islands is reflected in the diversity of the traditional handicrafts of the different provinces, which includes items made of mother-of-pearl and pandanus. Majority of the people on the Solomon Islands are Melanesian. A small part of the population is Polynesian and Micronesian as well. There are about 70 languages spoken in this country. Although English is the official language of the country, only a small part of the population speaks this language. Solomons Pidjin is in fact

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