Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Pacific Ocean |
Archipelago | |
Length | 11 km (6.8 mi) |
Width | 5 km (3.1 mi) |
Highest elevation | 180 m (590 ft) |
Highest point | Maringe Hill |
Administration | |
Province | Western Province |
Demographics | |
Population | 7,177 (2019) |
Ghizo Island lies in the Western Province of Solomon Islands, west of New Georgia and Kolombangara, and is home to the provincial capital, Gizo. The island is named after an infamous local head-hunter.
Ghizo is relatively small when compared to the surrounding islands, the island is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) wide, with a summit elevation of 180 metres (590 ft) (Maringe Hill).
The local language is Bilua language.
Ghizo is home to a substantial number of people of I-Kiribati descent. These people were relocated there by the British administration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (now the nation state of Solomon Islands) in the 1950s. They had previously spent 20 years on the islands of Orona (Hull Island) and Nikumaroro (Gardener Island), having been resettled on these previously uninhabited islands in the Phoenix Group from various islands in the Gilberts archipelago in the 1930s. The original resettlement in the 1930s was on alleged grounds of overcrowding, particularly on drought prone islands in the southern Gilberts. The second resettlement was on alleged grounds of the islands in the Phoenix group having harsh living conditions and also prone to drought, although remoteness and costs falling on the colonial administration also played parts. (See also Wagina Island.) [1] [2] [3]
The whole of the island and its surrounding waters, with a total area of 12,862 hectares (31,783 acres), has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of several threatened or endemic bird species. These include Melanesian scrubfowl, red-knobbed imperial pigeons, buff-headed coucals, Sanford's sea eagles, Solomons cockatoos, cardinal lories, song parrots and Gizo white-eyes. Threats to the site come from logging and forest clearance. [4]
Solomon Islands is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, that lies east of Papua New Guinea.
Seychelles is a small island country east of the African continent located in the Sea of Zanj due north of Madagascar, with Antsiranana as its nearest foreign city. Seychelles lies between approximately 4ºS and 10ºS and 46ºE and 54ºE. The nation is an archipelago of 155 tropical islands, some granite and some coral. the majority of which are small and uninhabited. The landmass is only 452 km2 (175 sq mi), but the islands are spread wide over an exclusive economic zone of 1,336,559 km2 (516,048 sq mi). About 90 percent of the population of 100,000 live on Mahé, 9 percent on Praslin and La Digue. Around a third of the land area is the island of Mahé and a further third the atoll of Aldabra.
The geography of France consists of a terrain that is mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in the north and west and mountainous in the south and the east. Metropolitan France has a total size of 551,695 km2 (213,011 sq mi). It is the third largest country in Europe by area and the largest in Western Europe.
The New Georgia Islands are part of the Western Province of Solomon Islands. They are located to the northwest of Guadalcanal. The larger islands are mountainous and covered in rain forest. The main islands are New Georgia, Vella Lavella, Kolombangara, Ghizo, Vangunu, Rendova and Tetepare. They are surrounded by coral reefs and include the Marovo Lagoon.
The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kiribati. Their combined land area is 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi). The only island of any commercial importance is Canton Island. The other islands are Enderbury, Rawaki, Manra, Birnie, McKean, Nikumaroro, and Orona.
New Georgia, with an area of 2,037 km2 (786 sq mi), is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 224th-largest island in the world.
Savo Island is an island in Solomon Islands in the southwest South Pacific ocean. Administratively, Savo Island is a part of the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. It is about 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the capital Honiara. The principal village is Alialia, in the north of the island.
Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the nation state of Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The name is from a local language, a rough translation of its meaning is "Water Lord" with approximately 80 rivers and streams running down its flanks.
The Russell Islands are two small islands, as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately 48 kilometres northwest of Guadalcanal. The islands are partially covered in coconut plantations, and have a copra and oil factory at Yandina. Yandina also has basic services, including a store, post office, and airport.
Hunter Island and Matthew Island are two small and uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Pacific, located 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of New Caledonia and south-east of Vanuatu archipelago. Hunter Island and Matthew Island, 70 km (43 mi) apart, are claimed by Vanuatu as part of Tafea Province, and considered by the people of Aneityum part of their custom ownership, and as of 2007 were claimed by France as part of New Caledonia.
Brunei Bay is on the northwestern coast of Borneo island, in Brunei and Malaysia.
Choiseul Province is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. It lies southeast of Bougainville, west of Santa Isabel Island, and north of Vella la Vella, Kolombangra & New Georgia. It has a population of 36,719
Kennedy Island, is a 1.17 hectares, uninhabited island in Solomon Islands that was named after John F. Kennedy, following an incident involving Kennedy during his World War II naval career. Kennedy Island lies 15 minutes by boat from Gizo, the provincial capital of the Western Province of Solomon Islands.
Gizo is the capital of the Western Province in Solomon Islands. With a population of 7,177, it is the third largest town in the country. It is situated on Ghizo Island approximately 380 kilometres west-northwest of the capital, Honiara, and is just southwest of the larger island of Kolombangara.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gizo is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara. It was erected Vicariate Apostolic in 1959 from the Vicariates Apostolic of Northern Solomon Islands and Southern Solomon Islands. In 1966, it was elevated to a diocese and was renamed as the Diocese of Gizo. St. Peter's Cathedral at Gizo is the mother church for the diocese.
The 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake took place on 2 April 2007, near the provincial capital of Gizo on Ghizo Island, in the Solomon Islands. Its magnitude was estimated at 8.1 on the Mw scale, and 7.8 on the Ms scale. The tsunami that followed the earthquake killed 52 people. According to the USGS, the earthquake was recorded around 7:39:56 a.m. local time (UTC+11). The focus was 10 km (6 mi) deep and 40 km (25 mi) south southeast of Gizo township on New Georgia Islands in Western Province. There were numerous aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 6.2.
Ranongga is an island located in the New Georgia Islands group of Western Province, Solomon Islands.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Solomon Islands:
Wagina Island is a small island in the country of Solomon Islands. The easiest way to reach Wagina is by plane to Kaghau Airport, Choiseul Province, from Honiara. From Kagau it takes only 45 – 60 minutes by OBM to Wagina.
Matusevich Glacier is a broad glacier about 50 nautical miles long, with a well developed glacier tongue, flowing to the coast of East Antarctica between the Lazarev Mountains and the northwestern extremity of the Wilson Hills.
8°5′S156°50′E / 8.083°S 156.833°E