Makira-Ulawa Province Day – August 3, 2024

History of Makira-Ulawa Province Day

The Solomon Islands have been inhabited since around 2,000 B.C. but exploration by people from other lands in June 1598, when Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira sailed there on his boat. He became the first European to visit this bunch of islands, and he was also responsible for its first name — the Islas Salomón.

After Mendaña y Neira, these islands were not visited again for almost 200 years, until the British colonized parts of these islands. Eventually, the group of islands was in part governed by England and Germany, at least until 1886, when both countries agreed to an equal share in the islands’ governance. Germany eventually handed over all islands to Britain after an agreement in 1899, and the place became a British protectorate. Not all (nine) major island groups were part of British territory.

The occupation was disrupted during the Second World War when the Japanese invaded these islands. Fierce battles, among them the famous and bloody Battle of Guadalcanal, marked this period. The British only regained control of the island at the end of the war, in 1945.

The name of this place, which was called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate until 1975, was changed to the Solomon Islands. They claimed self-governance the following year and achieved complete independence two years on. They changed their name again, dropping the article and becoming the Solomon Islands.

As for the Makira-Ulawa province, its isolation for very long periods during high tide caused a variety of flora and fauna to flourish here, which created a unique biodiverse habitat in the region. The place is also said to have caves so remote that it is only inhabited by the Kakamora or ‘leprechauns of the Pacific,’ a race of Makira-Ulawa people who stand only up to a meter tall. The region and its unique customs — like crocodile wrestling and crab harvesting — have been attracting a lot of interest.