Guadalcanal Province is one of the nine
provinces of Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is divided into nine provinces. The national capital, Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, is separately governed as the country's Capital Territory.
History
Under the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, there were ini ...
, consisting of the island of
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...
. It is a 2,510 square mile (5,336 km
2) island and is largely a jungle. Its name was given by Pedro de Ortega Valencia, born in the village of
Guadalcanal, Seville, Spain. The national capital and largest city of the Solomon Islands,
Honiara
Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and li ...
, is on the island; in July 1983 it was designated a separately-administered Capital Territory and is no longer considered part of the province. The population of the province is 93,613 (2009), not including the capital territory. The population of the island (including Honiara) is 161,197 (as of 2021). Honiara serves as the provincial capital. The climate is rainforest tropical. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is .
World War II
The island became the scene of the important
Guadalcanal Campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the
Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs established an explosive ordnance disposal training program. It safely disposed of hundreds of items of UXO, and it trained police personnel to respond to EOD call-outs in the island's highly populated areas.
Administrative divisions
Guadalcanal Province is sub-divided into the following wards (population numbers come from the 2009 census):
* Guadalcanal Province (93,613)
**Saghalu (6,429)
**Tandai (14,995)
**Malango (10,532)
**Paripao (3,068)
**Aola (4,065)
**Savulei (3,003)
**Tangarare (3,118)
**Wanderer Bay (3,448)
**Duidui (3,190)
**Vatukulau (1,833)
**Talise (1,716)
**Avuavu (2,262)
**Moli (3,696)
**Tetekanji (1,111)
**Birao (3,159)
**Valasi (1,459)
**Kolokarako (1,418)
**Longgu (3,767)
**East Tasimboko (7,438)
**Vulolo (4,429)
**West Ghaobata (4,962)
**East Ghaobata (4,515)
References
Provinces of the Solomon Islands
Guadalcanal
States and territories established in 1981
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