Solomon Islands – from ancient island societies to independence in 1978
People have lived in the Solomon Islands for many thousands of years. Early Papuan-speaking settlers were later joined by Austronesian seafarers, and the islands developed a remarkable variety of languages, customs and local leadership traditions rooted in clan and land.
The first recorded European visitor was the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568, who gave the islands their name. Sustained contact came only in the 19th century with whalers, traders, missionaries and the notorious labour recruitment known as "blackbirding", which took many islanders to plantations in Queensland and Fiji. In the 1890s Britain declared a protectorate over the southern islands, later extending it across most of the archipelago.
During the Second World War the islands became a major battleground: the campaign for Guadalcanal in 1942–43 was a turning point in the Pacific War, and Solomon Islanders played an important part as scouts and labourers. After the war, the Maasina Rule movement voiced a growing desire for self-determination. The Solomon Islands gained self-government and then full independence in 1978, remaining a member of the Commonwealth.
Tensions between groups on Guadalcanal and Malaita led to serious unrest around the turn of the millennium, and a regional assistance mission helped restore order from 2003 onwards.
Today the country is shaped by its many island communities, customary land and a strong sense of local identity.
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