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35-518: Guadalcanal ( / ˌ ɡ w ɑː d əl k ə ˈ n æ l / ; indigenous name: Isatabu ) is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands , located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean , northeast of Australia . It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second-largest by population (after Malaita ). The island is mainly covered in dense tropical rainforest and has

70-631: A United States Navy escort carrier that operated in World War II. Eleven thousand US Marines landed at Lunga Point on August 7, 1942, in order to capture the airfield being constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy before it could become operational, beginning the Guadalcanal Campaign . 9°25′S 160°02′E  /  9.417°S 160.033°E  / -9.417; 160.033 This Solomon Islands location article

105-597: A Malaitan enclave and the Malaita Eagle Force took over government. The Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy deployed vessels to the area to protect the expatriate community resident mostly in Honiara. In 2003, the Pacific Forum negotiated the intervention of RAMSI or Operation Helpem Fren involving Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific island nations. About 25 km (15 mi) from Honiara to

140-507: A beach at Point Cruz; he was killed during the evacuation. During the Battle for Henderson Field , the Medal of Honor was also awarded to John Basilone , who was later killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. After the war, American and Japanese groups repeatedly visited Guadalcanal to search for the remains of missing soldiers. The bodies of some 7,000 Japanese troops remain missing on

175-517: A defensive ring around their conquests and threaten the lines of communication from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. The Japanese reached Guadalcanal in May 1942. When an American reconnaissance mission spotted construction of a Japanese airfield at Lunga Point on the north coast of Guadalcanal, the situation became critical. This new Japanese airfield represented a threat to Australia, so as

210-514: A full term (4 years) since 1985. He entered Office with a huge debt of more than SBD30m. He also faced a lot of challenges during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite these hardships, Premier Sade managed to reform Guadalcanal Provincial Government financially with a strong debt-servicing and revenue collections. The current debt of the provincial government in the 2023 - 2024 FY is believed to be less than SBD 2M. Premier Sade also do some reforms with

245-428: A matter of urgency, despite not being adequately prepared, the United States conducted its first amphibious landing of the war on Guadalcanal. The initial landings of the 1st Marine Division on 7 August 1942 secured the airfield with little difficulty, but holding the airfield for the next six months against combined Japanese ground assault, air attack and naval bombardment was one of the most hotly contested campaigns in

280-640: A mountainous hinterland . Guadalcanal was first charted by Westerners during the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568. The name comes from the village of Guadalcanal , in the province of Seville , in Andalusia , Spain, birthplace of Pedro de Ortega Valencia, a member of Mendaña's expedition. During 1942 and 1943, it was the scene of the Guadalcanal campaign and saw bitter fighting between Japanese and U.S. troops. The Americans were ultimately victorious. At

315-426: A particularly nasty bite. The Guadalcanal Watersheds form a site that has been identified by BirdLife International as an important bird area , because it supports populations of threatened or endemic bird species. At 376,146 ha (1,452 sq mi), it covers some 70% of the island, extending along the southern coast inland to the central highlands, and contains riverine and lowland tropical rainforest , as well as

350-487: A protectorate over the northern Solomons in 1884, while in 1893, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was proclaimed, which included the island of Guadalcanal. Germany eventually handed over most of their protectorate to Britain, though, in 1899. By the early 20th century, large agricultural plantations (specialising in copra ), run mainly by Australians, were established in the region. Guadalcanal

385-455: Is Edward Juvia. The first honorable premier of Guadalcanal Province is David Rosalio, from Savulei Ward. He was elected in 1984 under the Area Council and transitioned as the first Premier from 1985 - 1988. The current premier of Guadalcanal Province is Francis Sade who entered the office after the 2019 provincial election. Premier Sade is the first Premier of Guadalcanal to hold office for

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420-533: Is rainforest tropical. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is 447 meters (1,467 ft). The island became the scene of the important Guadalcanal Campaign during World War II . The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the Department of State '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

455-467: The Cactus Air Force . They defended the airfield and threatened any Japanese ships that ventured too close to the island during daylight hours. At night, however, Japanese naval forces were frequently able to shell the airfield and deliver troops with supplies, retiring before daylight. The Japanese used fast ships, namely destroyers, to conduct this reinforcement and supply effort, which became known as

490-616: The Tokyo Express . So many ships from both sides were sunk in the many naval engagements in and around the Solomon Island chain that the nearby waters came to be referred to as Ironbottom Sound . The naval Battle of Cape Esperance was fought on 11 October 1942 in the waters off the northwest coast of Guadalcanal. During the engagement, the United States Navy intercepted and defeated a Japanese formation of ships on their way down "

525-579: The 18th and 19th centuries. With these outsiders also arrived foreign institutions such as forced labour. Beginning during the 1860s, about 60,000 natives from many parts of the Solomon Islands were indentured and sent to Australia or Fiji by British authorities to work on plantations. This system continued into the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Germans and the British vied for control of the Solomons. Germany established

560-642: The Battle of Midway in turning the tide against them. After six months of hard combat in and around Guadalcanal, the Japanese forces on the island were critically undersupplied and no longer combat effective, while Allied troops were steadily increasing in quantity and quality. Remaining Japanese forces on the island were evacuated at Cape Esperance on the northwest coast in February 1943. American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on 9 February 1943. The Guadalcanal campaign

595-517: The Pacific theater of war that two battleships engaged each other in combat, with the next such engagement occurring in 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf . Some Japanese viewpoints consider these naval engagements, which showcased the improving capability of Allied warships to challenge the Imperial Japanese Navy's significant advantage in night-fighting techniques, to be just as significant as

630-506: The Slot " to reinforce and resupply troops on the island, suffering losses of their own in the process. The multi-day Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November marked a critical turning point in the campaign. Allied naval forces engaged a large, experienced Japanese surface force at night and forced it to withdraw, sinking the IJN battleship Kirishima in the process. This was one of only two times in

665-472: The Solomon Islands, Honiara , is on the island; in July 1983, it was designated a 22 km (8.5 sq mi) 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

700-549: The country after Malaita. Mount Popomanaseu is the island's highest point and the highest in Solomon Islands, with an elevation of 7,661 ft (2,335 m) above sea level. The Mbokokimbo River is the island's longest river, with a total length of 98.7 km (61.3 mi). List of peaks in Guadalcanal by elevation List of longest rivers by length The island has been settled since at least 4500–2500 BC based on archaeological finds at Poha Cave and Vatuluma Posovi. During

735-474: The end of World War II , Honiara , on the north coast of Guadalcanal, became the new capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and later the capital of the independent nation of Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal is the largest island in Solomon Islands , with a total land area of 5,302 km (2,047 sq mi), and has a population of 155,605 people, making it the second-most populous island in

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770-402: The entire Pacific theater of war. Immediately after landing on the island, U.S. Navy Seabees began finishing the airfield begun by the Japanese. It was then named Henderson Field after a Marine aviator killed in combat during the Battle of Midway . Aircraft operating from Henderson Field during the campaign were a mix of U.S. Marine, Army, Navy, and other Allied aircraft that became known as

805-448: The greatest contiguous area of cloud forest in the Solomons. Although it also contains gardens and old village sites, most of it has never been permanently inhabited. Significant birds for which the site was identified include chestnut-bellied imperial pigeons , Woodford's rails , Guadalcanal moustached kingfishers , Meek's lorikeets , Guadalcanal honeyeaters , Guadalcanal thicketbirds , and Guadalcanal thrushes . Potential threats to

840-409: The human resources and policy reforms. This Solomon Islands location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lunga Point Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal , the site of a naval battle during World War II . It was also the name of a nearby airfield , later named Henderson Field . USS  Lunga Point is also the name of

875-456: The island's highly populated areas. Guadalcanal Province is sub-divided into the following wards (population numbers come from the 2009 census): The Guadalcanal Provincial Assembly is one of the nine provincial assemblies in the Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal received its 'Devolution Order' in 1984 from the Area Council. The 'Devolution Order' gives the provinces some autonomous to administer the province in terms of certain services and also allows

910-485: The island's shores. In recent times, these crocodiles have been found only on the Weather Coast in the south of the island, but during World War II, they were found along the north coast in the vicinity of the airstrip where the fighting was taking place, as evidenced by names such as Alligator Creek . Venomous snakes are rare on the island and are not considered to be a serious threat, but a kind of centipede there has

945-662: The island, and islanders still bring the Japanese groups bones that they say are those of unearthed Japanese soldiers. Immediately after the Second World War, the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was moved to Honiara on Guadalcanal from its previous location at Tulagi in the Florida Islands . In 1952, the high commissioner for the Western Pacific moved from Fiji to Honiara, and

980-447: The local Guale people on Guadalcanal and more recent migrants from the neighbouring island of Malaita erupted into violence. The Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army, later called Isatabu Freedom Movement , began terrorising Malaitans in the rural areas of the island in an effort to force them out of their homes. About 20,000 Malaitans fled to the capital, and others returned to their home island; Guale residents of Honiara fled. The city became

1015-722: The period 1200-800 BC, Austronesian Lapita peoples settled the islands. A Spanish expedition from Peru in 1568 under the command of Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira were the first Europeans to see the island. Mendaña's subordinate, Pedro de Ortega Valencia, named the island after his home town Guadalcanal in Andalusia, Spain. In the years that followed the discovery, the island was variously referred to as Guadarcana, Guarcana, Guadalcana, and Guadalcanar, which reflected different pronunciations of its name in Andalusian Spanish. European settlers, whalers, and missionaries began to arrive in

1050-413: The post was combined with that of the governor of the Solomon Islands. The airfield which was the cause of the fighting in 1942, and which became well known as Henderson Field, is now the international airport for the Solomon Islands. It sits about five miles to the east of Honiara. The secondary airfield, known as "Fighter Two", is now the local golf course. In early 1999, long-simmering tensions between

1085-636: The province to create its own ordinances. The Guadalcanal Provincial Assembly Office is administered by the Honorable Speaker. The current Honorable Speaker of the 9th Provincial Assembly (2019 - 2023) is Honorable Peter Aoraunisaka. He was a longtime member of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF). The Provincial Assembly Office also has a Clerk of the Assembly. The current Clerk of Guadalcanal Provincial Assembly (2019 - 2023)

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1120-418: The site include logging and invasive species . Guadalcanal Province Guadalcanal Province is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands , consisting of the island of Guadalcanal . It is a 2,510 square mile (5,336 km ) 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

1155-543: The west, Vilu War Museum houses an outdoor collection of remains of various parts of military equipment and of several aircraft. Several memorials for the American, Australian, Fijian, New Zealand, and Japanese soldiers who died were erected, as well. The island hosts a native marsupial known as the phalanger or grey cuscus, Phalanger orientalis . The only other mammals are bats and rodents. Many species of colourful parrots are found there, and estuarine crocodiles inhabit

1190-471: Was a major turning point in the war, as it stopped further Japanese expansion. Two U.S. Navy ships have been named for the campaign: To date, the only U.S. Coast Guardsman recipient of the Medal of Honor is Signalman 1st Class Douglas Albert Munro , awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroism on 27 September 1942 at Point Cruz . Munro provided covering fire and helped evacuate 500 besieged Marines from

1225-709: Was not seriously affected by World War I. In 1932, the British confirmed the name Guadalcanal in line with the town in Andalusia, Spain. In the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Japanese drove the Americans out of the Philippines , the British out of British Malaya , and the Dutch out of the East Indies . The Japanese then began to expand into the western Pacific, occupying many islands in an attempt to build

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