Taro Island

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Taro Island
Choiseulandneighbourhood.png
Choiseul and neighbouring islands (Taro not shown)
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Taro Island
Location in Solomon Islands
Coordinates: 06°42′41″S156°23′47″E / 6.71139°S 156.39639°E / -6.71139; 156.39639
Country Solomon Islands
Province Choiseul
Area
  Total0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi)
Elevation
25 m (82 ft)
Population
 (2009)
  Total507

Taro Island is a small island in Solomon Islands with 507 inhabitants. It is the capital of Choiseul Province and is located in Choiseul Bay off the northwest coast.

Taro Island is home to the Choiseul Bay Airport, served by Solomon Airlines with flights to Gizo and other destinations. [1]

In September 2012, groundbreaking for the construction of a police housing project began. The project will be supervised by the Choiseul Province police board, and will strengthen police presence on the island. [2]

The island is vulnerable to sea level rise. In 2016, John A. Church, Colin Woodroffe, and other Australian researchers from CSIRO predicted that Taro Island would become the first provincial capital globally to relocate residents and services due to the threat of sea level rise. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

Communications in the Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Islands</span> Country in the south-western Pacific

Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu. It has a land area of 28,400 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi), and a population of approximately 700,000. Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal. The country takes its name from the wider area of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, but excludes the Santa Cruz Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island country</span> State whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands

An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically more stable than many continental states but are vulnerable to conquest by naval superpowers.

Taro is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rennell Island</span>

Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the nation state of Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of 660 square kilometres (250 sq mi) that is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) long and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide. It is the second largest raised coral atoll in the world with the largest lake in the insular Pacific, Lake Tegano, a lake that is listed as a World Heritage Site. Rennell Island has a population of about 1,840 persons of Polynesian descent who primarily speak Rennellese, Pijin and some English. Rennell and Bellona Islands are two of the few islands in the otherwise Melanesian Solomon Islands archipelago classified as a Polynesian outlier; others being Sikaiana, Ontong Java, Tikopia, Anuta, Duff Islands, and some Reef Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carteret Islands</span> Papua New Guinea islands in located in northeast of Bougainville in the South Pacific

The Carteret Islands are Papua New Guinea islands located 86 km (53 mi) north-east of Bougainville in the South Pacific. The atoll has a scattering of low-lying islands called Han, Jangain, Yesila, Yolasa and Piul, in a horseshoe shape stretching 30 km (19 mi) in north-south direction, with a total land area of 0.6 square kilometres (0.2 sq mi) and a maximum elevation of 1.5 metres above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choiseul Province</span> Province in Taro Island, Solomon Islands

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guadalcanal Province</span> Province in Honiara, Solomon Islands

Guadalcanal Province is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands, consisting of the island of Guadalcanal. It is a 2,510 square mile (5,336 km2) island and is largely a jungle. Its name was given by Pedro de Ortega Valencia, born in the village of Guadalcanal, Seville, Spain. The national capital and largest city of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, is on the island; in July 1983 it was designated a 22 km2 (8.5 sq mi) separately-administered Capital Territory and is no longer considered part of the province. The population of the province is 93,613 (2009), not including the capital territory. The population of the island is 161,197. Honiara serves as the provincial capital. The climate is rainforest tropical. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is 447 meters (1,467 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Isabel Island</span>

Santa Isabel Island is the longest in Solomon Islands, the third largest in terms of surface area, and the largest in the group of islands in Isabel Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gizo, Solomon Islands</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choiseul Island</span>

Choiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at 7.08°S 157°E. The administrative headquarters of Choiseul Province is situated in the town of Taro, on Taro Island.

Choiseul Bay Airport is an airport at Choiseul Bay on Taro Island, part of the Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranongga</span>

Ranongga is an island located in the New Georgia Islands group of Western Province, Solomon Islands.

Cyprian Bridge Island is a small island located among the Solomon Islands. The island lies at a latitude of -6.85S and a longitude of 156.18333E. It is an uninhabited volcanic island that lies between the islands of Fauro and Choiseul. The island lies within Choiseul Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bougainville monkey-faced bat</span> Species of mammal

The Bougainville monkey-faced bat or Bougainville flying monkey is a megabat endemic to Bougainville Island of Papua New Guinea and Choiseul Island of the Solomon Islands in Melanesia. It inhabits mature forests in upland areas, within the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and Bougouriba Province.

Nuatambu is an island in the Solomon Islands in Choiseul Province. Nuatambu is home to families. In 2021 the island was reported to have been separated into two islands. In 2023 the island shows up on Google Maps as a contiguous island.

Arnarvon Islands are a group of islands in Solomon Islands. They are located in Isabel Province and nearby to Wagina Island in Choiseul Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honiara</span> Capital city in Honiara City, Solomon Islands

Honiara is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. As of 2021, it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies along the Kukum Highway.

Babatana, also spelled Mbambatana, is the principal indigenous language of Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands. Although native to the South Choiseul coastline area between Sepa and the Manggo Bay area, the use of this language has spread across much of Choiseul Island and it is generally understood, much like Solomon Islands Pijin, across the province as a second or third language.

Masamasa is an island of the Shortland Islands Archipelago, located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is some 97 meters. To the east lies Fauro Island, to the south lies Piedu Island (Piru), and to the east lies the northern tip of Choiseul Island.

References

  1. "Domestic Route Map". Solomon Airlines. Archived from the original on 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  2. Taro Police Housing Project Archived 2013-02-02 at archive.today , By Jennifer Kakai, 24 August 2012, Solomon Star News
  3. Peralta, Eyder (10 May 2016). "'Window Into The Future': Scientists Document Disappearing Islands". NPR . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  4. Albert, Simon (2016). "Interactions between sea-level rise and wave exposure on reef island dynamics in the Solomon Islands". Environmental Research Letters. IOP Publishing. 11 (5): 054011. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054011 .


Coordinates: 06°42′41″S156°23′47″E / 6.71139°S 156.39639°E / -6.71139; 156.39639