The Northern Solomons were the more northerly group of islands in the
Solomon Islands (archipelago)
The Solomon Islands (archipelago) is an island group in the western South Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. The archipelago is in the Melanesian subregion and bioregion of Oceania and forms the eastern boundary of the Solomon Sea. The ...
over which Germany declared a
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
in 1885. Initially, the German Solomon Islands Protectorate included, in the south-east,
Choiseul,
Santa Isabel, and the
Shortland Islands
The Shortland Islands is an archipelago of Western Province, Solomon Islands, at . The island group lies in the extreme north-west of the country's territory, close to the south-east edge of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea.
The largest isla ...
, along with
Ontong Java Atoll
Ontong Java Atoll or Luangiua, (formerly ''Lord Howe Atoll'', not to be confused with Lord Howe Island) is one of the largest atolls on earth.
Geographically it belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby Nukumanu Atol ...
. These were transferred to the
British Solomon Islands Protectorate
The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part ...
in 1900. The main island in the region,
Bougainville, continued under German administration until
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when it fell to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and after the war, it formally passed to Australian jurisdiction under a
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
.
Today, what were the North Solomon Islands are split between the
Autonomous Region of Bougainville
Bougainville ( ; ; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil''), officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Tok Pisin: ''Otonomos Region bilong Bogenvil''), is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the re ...
(
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
) and the sovereign state of
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 capita ...
. The latter gained independence in 1976 and
succeeded the British Solomon Islands Protectorate known for decades before 1975 as the
British Solomon Islands
The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part o ...
.
History
On 17 February 1568, the Spanish explorer
Alvaro de Mendaña y Neyra became the first European to sight the island, naming them ''Islas de Salomon''.
In April 1885 a German protectorate (''Schutzgebiet'') was declared over the northern Solomon Islands:
Bougainville,
Buka,
Choiseul,
Santa Isabel and
Ontong Java Atoll
Ontong Java Atoll or Luangiua, (formerly ''Lord Howe Atoll'', not to be confused with Lord Howe Island) is one of the largest atolls on earth.
Geographically it belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby Nukumanu Atol ...
.
In 1893 the British declared a protectorate over the southern Solomon Islands of
New Georgia
New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 200th-largest island in the world.
Geography
New Georgia island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of ...
,
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
,
Malaita
Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...
and
San Cristobal, and this protectorate became known as the
British Solomon Islands Protectorate
The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part ...
. In 1898 Britain annexed the
Santa Cruz and the
Rennell and Bellona
Rennell and Bellona is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands, comprising two inhabited atolls, Rennell and Bellona, or and respectively in Rennellese (a Polynesian language), as well as the uninhabited Indispensable Reef. Rennell and Be ...
Islands.
In the year 1900, under the terms of
Treaty of Berlin (14 November 1899), Germany transferred
Choiseul,
Santa Isabel,
the Shortlands and
Ontong Java Atoll
Ontong Java Atoll or Luangiua, (formerly ''Lord Howe Atoll'', not to be confused with Lord Howe Island) is one of the largest atolls on earth.
Geographically it belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby Nukumanu Atol ...
Islands to the
British Solomon Islands Protectorate
The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part ...
, but retained Bougainville and its surrounding islands. Germany granted this claim in exchange for the British giving up all claims to
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
.
Missions
![A United Church village choir in Siwai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/A_United_Church_village_choir_in_Siwai.jpg)
The Roman Catholic ''
Apostolic prefecture
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...
of the Northern Solomon Islands'' was established on 23 May 1898, by separation from the
Apostolic Vicariate of New Pomerania
New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the ...
, including the Islands of Ysabel, Choiseul, Bougainville and all the islets under German protectorate; until 1904, it was named
Apostolic Prefecture of German Solomon Islands.
In 1897 the islands were put under the jurisdiction of Mgr Broyer, Apostolic Vicar of
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
, and in 1898 formed into a new prefecture under Mgr Joseph Forestier, who resided at
Kieta
Kieta is a port town located on the eastern coast of the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, near the township of Arawa. After extensive destruction during the 1990 Civil Uprising on Bougainville, Kieta has few inhabitants now, and is kno ...
, on Bougainville Island. Fever was so prevalent at the mission that most of the fathers who went to the islands in 1898 were carried off by disease.
In 1911 the mission contained: 3 churches; 3 stations; 10
Marist Fathers
The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM, commonly known as the Marist Fathers, is a men's Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right. It was founded by Jean-Claude Colin and a group of seminarians in ...
; 5 lay brothers; 7 sisters of the
Third Order of Mary; 2 Samoan
catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
s; 5 Catholic schools, with 140 pupils; 2 orphanages; and a few hundred Catholics. The Marist missionaries belonged to the Province of Oceania, the superior of which resided at Sydney, New South Wales.
In 1930, it was promoted to
Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Solomon Islands, from which the present
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bougainville
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bougainville is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul. It was erected as the Prefecture Apostolic of German Solomon Islands in 1898 and elevated to a Vicariate Apostolic in 1930. It was furth ...
stems.
References
External links
World Statesmen – Solomon Islands
{{Catholic, title=North Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands (archipelago)
Former colonies in Oceania
Former German colonies
History of the Solomon Islands
History of Papua New Guinea
Geography of Melanesia
Geography of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville
Archipelagoes of Papua New Guinea
1885 establishments in German New Guinea
1900 disestablishments in Germany
1885 establishments in Oceania
1900 disestablishments in Oceania
Former protectorates