Honiara

Honiara is the capital of the Solomon Islands, on the north coast of the island of Guadalcanal where the Mataniko River meets the sea. The name comes from naho-ni-ara, a phrase of the local Ghari language meaning facing the east and southeast wind.

Before the Second World War the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was at Tulagi, a small island across the strait. After the war the government moved to Guadalcanal, and Honiara grew around the roads and the airfield left there. It became the capital of the independent Solomon Islands in the late 1970s. In 2023 the city hosted the Pacific Games, with a new national stadium built for the event.

Solomon Breweries makes SolBrew lager at its brewery in Honiara. The port at Point Cruz ships timber, copra and canned tuna from the islands, while small cargo boats leave from its wharf for the other provinces. Shell money, strings of small shell discs made by hand on the island of Malaita, is still used for bride price and sold in the markets of the city.

The Central Market, beside the sea in the center, sells fruit, vegetables, fish and betel nut brought in by canoe and truck. The Solomon Islands National Museum shows traditional canoes, carvings and body ornaments from the provinces, with a garden of traditional houses built in the styles of different islands. The Botanical Gardens on the western side of the city keep orchids and tropical trees along a stream. Mataniko Falls, a waterfall in the hills above the city, drops into a cave where swifts nest.