Guadalcanal : Ask Biography

Islands information

Name

Guadalcanal

Native name

Isatabu

Location

Pacific Ocean

Archipelago

Solomon Islands

Geography information

Highest point

Mount Popomanaseu

Administration information

Solomon Islands

province

Guadalcanal Province

Largest city

Honiara

Administration information

Population

109382 as of 1999

Ethnic groups

Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4%

Home | Islands | Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal (Isatabu) is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568. The name comes from Guadalcanal, a village in the province of Seville, in Andalusia, Spain, birthplace of Pedro de Ortega Valencia, a member of Mendaña's expedition.

During 1942-43 it was the scene of bitter fighting between Japanese and Americans in which the latter were victorious.

At the end of the war, Honiara, on the north coast of Guadalcanal, became the new capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Guadalcanal is mainly covered in tropical rainforest and jungle, and has a mountainous interior with an active volcano, Mount Popomanaseu. The population in 1998 was around 85,000.