The Solomon Sea is a

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

located within the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. It lies between

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. Many major battles were fought there during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

defines the limits of the Solomon Sea as follows:

''On the Northwest.'' By the Southeast limit of
Bismarck Sea The Bismarck Sea (, ) lies in the south-western Pacific Ocean within the Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinean exclusive economic zone. It is located north-east of the island of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Archipelago. It has coastlines i ...
New Ireland along the parallel of 4°50' South to the coast of New Britain">New_Ireland_(island).html" ;"title=" line from the Southern point of New Ireland (island)">New Ireland along the parallel of 4°50' South to the coast of New Britain, along its Northern coast and thence a line from its Western extreme through the Northern point of Umboi Island to Teliata Point,
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
()]. ''On the Northeast.'' By a line from the Southern point of New Ireland to the North point of Buka Island, through this island to the Northwest point of Bougainville Island, along the Southern coasts of Bougainville, Choisel Choiseul.html" ;"title="/nowiki> Choiseul">/nowiki>Choiseul Island, Choiseul/nowiki>, Ysabel Santa Isabel/nowiki>, Malaita">anta_Isabel_Island.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Santa Isabel Island">Santa Isabel/nowiki>, Malaita and San Cristobal [Makira] Islands. ''On the South.'' The Northern limit of the Coral Sea between San Cristobal Island, the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
, and Gado-Gadoa Island, off the Southeast extreme of
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
[Gado-Gadoa Island near its Southeastern extreme (), down this meridian to the line and thence along the Southern edges of Uluma (Suckling) Reef and those extending to the Eastward as far as the Southeast point of Lawik Reef () off Tagula Island [Vanatinai], thence a line to the Southern extreme of Rennell Island and from its Eastern point to Cape Surville, the Eastern extreme of San Cristobal Island]. ''On the Southwest.'' By the coast of New Guinea and a line from its Southeasternmost point through the Louisiade Archipelago to Rossel Island.

Etymology

The Solomon Sea is named after the

. These islands received their name "Islas Salomón" from the legend of the biblical land of Ophir — fabled as the source of King

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

's wealth which was hoped to be discovered, in the first 1568 voyage by their discoverer Spanish navigator

Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira (or Neyra) (1 October 1542 – 18 October 1595) was a Spanish navigator, explorer, and cartographer, best known for two of the earliest recorded expeditions across the Pacific Ocean in 1567 and 1595. His voyages led t ...

. They were so named after his voyage when it was mapped.

Deepest point

The Solomon Sea roughly corresponds with the Solomon Sea Plate, a tectonic feature, and includes the New Britain Trench, in the New Britain subduction zone, which reaches its maximum depth at 29,988 feet (9,140 m) below sea level in the Planet Deep.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean Seas of Oceania Bodies of water of Papua New Guinea Bodies of water of the Solomon Islands Geography of Milne Bay Province Geography of New Britain Geography of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Solomon Islands (archipelago) Papua New Guinea–Solomon Islands border