什麼是索羅門羣島

南太平洋島國。包括瓜達爾卡納爾島、馬萊塔島、聖克里斯托瓦爾島、舒瓦瑟爾島、聖伊莎貝爾島、佛羅里達島、倫內爾島、羅素島、肖特蘭羣島、聖克魯斯島和新喬治亞羣島以及小島和環礁。面積28,370平方公里。人口480,000（2001）。首都︰荷尼阿拉。人口以美拉尼西亞人爲主。語言︰英語（官方語）、皮欽語（一種混雜英語），另有六十多種美拉尼西亞土語。宗教︰基督教徒（多爲新教）。貨幣︰索羅門羣島元（SI$）。該羣島包括七個大火山島羣，形成兩串平行的島鏈，並集中於東南部。大部分島嶼林木茂密，地勢崎嶇不平，河流不長，但水流湍急。氣候炎熱。經濟以農業、漁業和木材業爲基礎。旅遊業已發展起來，以乘客輪遊覽和參觀第二次世界大戰戰場爲主。政府形式爲君主立憲政體，一院制。國家元首爲英國君主，由總督作爲代表。政府首腦爲總理。

索羅門羣島至少在西元前2000年就開始有人居住，大概是講澳斯特羅尼西亞語的民族。1568年西班牙人來到此地。荷蘭人、法國人和英國人也隨後探險至此。1893～1900年爲英國保護地，後成爲英屬索羅門羣島。1942年，日本人入侵索羅門羣島，其後三年在索羅門羣島上的戰事是太平洋戰區中最爲激烈的，以瓜達爾卡納爾爲甚。1975年保護地被允許內部自治。1978年獲得完全獨立。其他羣島稱作索羅門島，包括布干維爾島，爲巴布亞紐幾內亞的一部分。

Solomon Islands

Island nation, South Pacific Ocean. It includes the islands of Guadalcanal, Malaita, san Cristobal, Choiseul, Santa Isabel, Florida, and Rennell; the Russell, Shortland, Santa Cruz, and New Georgia island groups; and small islands and reefs. Area: 10,954 sq mi (28,370 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 411,000. Capital: Honiara. The population is largely Melanesian. Languages: English (official); Pijin (an English-based pidgin), and more than 60 indigenous Melanesian languages. Religion: Christianity (mostly Protestantism). Currency: Solomon Islands dollar. The Solomons group consists of seven large volcanic islands arranged in two parallel chains that converge in the southeast. They consist mostly of heavily wooded, mountainous terrain drained by short, swift-flowing rivers. The climate is tropical. The economy is based on agriculture, fishing, and lumbering. Tourism is increasing as cruise ships and visitors to World War II battlefields stop at the islands. The nation is a constitutional monarchy with one legislative house; its chief of state is the British monarch represented by the governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The Solomon Islands were probably settled c. 2000 BC by Austronesian people. Visited by the Spanish in 1568, they were subsequently explored and charted by the Dutch, French, and British. They were under British protection 1893-1900 and became the British Solomon Islands. The Japanese invasion of 1942 ignited three years of the most bitter fighting in the Pacific, particularly on Guadalcanal. The protectorate became self-governing in 1975 and fully independent in 1978. (Another island group named Solomon Islands, which includes Bougainville, is part of Papua New Guinea.).