Solomon Islands

Why it sticks

1. 1

   The 1942–43 battle for Guadalcanal was a turning point of the Pacific War. Honiara grew up around the wartime airfield.

2. 2

   The Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña named the islands in 1568, hoping they held the riches of King Solomon.

3. 3

   Many Melanesians in the Solomons have naturally blond hair, caused by a gene variant different from the one found in Europeans.

• No official Street View: only user photospheres.
• Drives on the left, with English signage and Pijin heard everywhere.
• Dense rainforest, stilt houses made of leaf thatch, and WWII wrecks around the capital.