Gizo is the capital of the Western Province in

Solomon Islands 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 north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. With a population of 7,177 (as of 2019), it is the second largest town in the country. It is situated on

Ghizo Island 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 ...

approximately west-northwest of the capital,

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and li ...

, and is just southwest of the larger island of

Kolombangara Kolombangara (sometimes spelled ''Kulambangara'') 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 ...

. Gizo has a small landing strip on the nearby island of Nusatupe to the north east of the town, making it relatively developed compared to other settlements in the general vicinity. These days Gizo is a tourism centre with diving and surfing being popular activities.

History

This area of Solomon Islands has had a history of

headhunting Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in h ...

. According to local stories the Gizo tribe were notorious in this activity. As a consequence the surrounding local tribes took the unusual step of joining together to obliterate the Gizo tribe. The stories further relate that the only survivors were a Gizo woman and her son. This event led to Ghizo island being declared as a property of the state, rather than the usual customary ownership prevalent in much of the rest of the Solomons. As a secondary consequence becoming an administrative and business centre because of the relative ease with which registered land titles could be obtained. The

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Mission in the Western Province was established by Rev. John Frances Goldie in 1902. He dominated the mission and gained the loyalty of Solomon Islander members of his church. The relationship with the colonial administrators of the British Solomon Island Protectorate were also fraught with difficulty, at this time due to Goldie's effective control over the Western Solomon Islands. From 1927 to 1934 Dr Edward Sayers worked at the

mission where he established a hospital at Gizo and also at Munda and Vella Lavella, and carried out fieldwork in the treatment of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

. St. Peter's Cathedral, also called Gizo Cathedral, is the cathedral affiliated to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

that is located in Gizo. It was inaugurated and blessed by Bishop EJ Crawford on June 18, 1964.

World War II

In 1942, the islands were occupied by imperial Japanese troops. ''Gizo'' was the operating base for

Robert Ballard Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeolo ...

's '' The Search for Kennedy's PT 109'', which was a

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

television special. The son of Eroni Kumana, who was one of the two natives that found the shipwrecked Lt. John F. Kennedy and his surviving men, lives on the island. The three islands,

Plum Pudding Christmas pudding is sweet dried-fruit pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use of ...

, Olasana, and Naru, that were visited by the PT 109 survivors lie just to the southeast of Ghizo island.

The 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake

On 2 April 2007 Gizo was hit by a tsunami caused by the 8.1 magnitude earthquake centred only 25 miles from the town. Now known as the 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake the final official death total throughout the Western Province and Choiseul was 52. The tsunami hit during daylight hours, giving people warning to seek higher ground, as the tide withdrew in advance of the wall of water. Ten metre-high waves hit nearby Sasamunga (to the north-east of Gizo on the island of Choiseul), destroying houses, food gardens and a hospital.

2010 earthquakes

Magnitude 7.2 and 6.5 quakes hit near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific less than an hour apart on January 4, 2010. The larger quake was centered 65 miles south-southeast of Gizo, Solomon Islands, and at a depth of 19 miles. The smaller quake was 55 miles south-southeast of Gizo at a depth of 6.2 miles.

2011 tsunami

On March 11 Gizo was put under tsunami warning following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off Japan's east coast.

Climate

Ghizo has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

(Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

Government

Construction on the Correctional Services of Solomon Islands Gizo Correctional Centre in Gizo began in December 2010.Work starts on new Gizo Correctional Centre
." '' Solomon Star''. Monday 6 December 2010. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.

External links

{{coord, 8, 06, 20, S, 156, 50, 20, E, region:SB_type:city, display=title Populated places in the Solomon Islands Western Province (Solomon Islands)