Discover the Top 11 Captivating Fun Facts About the Enchanting Solomon Islands

1. Radiant War Shields and Prestigious Pendants

Forget about flashy jewelry and designer bling, the Solomon Islands have been outshining modern swag for centuries with radiant war shields and prestigious pendants: The Solomon Islands' impressive art and culture features woven-wicker war shields, embellished with glowing nautilus shell squares from as far back as the 1840s, as well as high-status individuals donning prestigious pendants made from turtleshell and giant clam shell as a symbol of their rank.
Source => metmuseum.org

2. Hangeul: Solomon Islands' Brief Linguistic Wave

Who says Hangeul is just for K-pop enthusiasts and Korean drama addicts? Here's a language twist that might make you go, "Annyeonghaseyo!": In 2012, the Solomon Islands initiated a pilot program to teach middle and high school students how to read and write their native languages Ghari and Kwara’ae, in Korean Hangeul. Unfortunately, the program was short-lived due to financial difficulties, but it sure gave these kids a brief linguistic hallyu wave!
Source => asianews.network

Did you know that young men in Vanuatu perform a heart-stopping land diving ceremony as a rite of passage and to ensure a bountiful yam harvest? With just vines tied to their ankles, they leap from a 100-foot tower and rely on the vines' elasticity to avoid injury. Discover more about this daring tradition!

=> Fun Facts about Vanuatu

3. Island Hopping Champions

If island hopping were an Olympic sport, the Solomon Islanders would take home the gold, navigating over 300 inhabited islands like a highway of tropical beauty: Steeped in rich cultural traditions, the Solomon Islands boast lush forests and coral atolls amidst a population known for resilience and resourcefulness, even as Mother Nature occasionally throws cyclones and droughts their way.
Source => unocha.org

4. Headhunting and War Canoes

Whoever said canoes are for leisurely paddling probably never met the Solomon Islanders: These islanders not only have a history of crafting large war canoes called tomako for cultural celebrations, but they also used them for headhunting and capturing slaves during raids on neighboring islands, a skill that's thankfully just a preserved tradition now.
Source => australian.museum

5. The Crocodile Control Unit

Crikey! Looks like the Solomon Islands is in need of a Crocodile Dundee to keep their scaly residents in check: A specialized crocodile control unit has been established by the police to handle the growing population of saltwater crocodiles, which have been responsible for attacks on humans and domestic animals, sparking debate on whether to lift the 30-year ban on exporting crocodile skins.
Source => theguardian.com

6. Natural Blondes of the Solomon Islands

Blondes may not have more fun, but they sure have more company on this tropical escape: The Solomon Islands boast the world's highest percentage of blonds outside of Europe, with up to 10% of its population sporting golden locks, thanks to a unique recessive mutation in the TYRP1 gene that results in decreased melanin content and premature melanocyte death - no European ancestry required!
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

7. The Polyglot Paradise

If Solomon Islands were a house party, the language scene would be the epitome of BYOB: Bring Your Own Babble! With more than 70 living languages under its roof, this linguistic fiesta is something straight out of Dr. Dolittle's dream diary: Aside from English being the official tongue, a whopping majority of Solomon Islanders opt for Solomons Pijin, a Creole language, as their daily chit-chat staple, while Western Oceanic and Polynesian languages share their fair share of revelry in this polyglot paradise.
Source => familysearch.org

8. Birdwatcher's Dream Destination

If you've ever thought about attending a wild and avian-exclusive masquerade ball, the Solomon Islands is the perfect exotic venue for it: With a record-breaking 72 species (44% of the land birds) found only in this archipelago, and another 62 (38%) being unique subspecies of their own, this paradisiac destination is a bird lover's dream-come-true and an evolutionary goldmine for understanding speciation theory.
Source => whc.unesco.org

9. The Tea Kettle of Davy Jones

If Davy Jones possessed a tea kettle, it would undoubtedly be the Kavachi volcano, incessantly belching and spewing its contents from the ocean floor: Located in the Solomon Islands, this active submarine volcano has had a series of eruptions between 1969-1970, and then again in 2000 and 2014, hurling water, steam, tephra, and rocks up to 500 feet in the air, eventually eroding its peak below the ocean surface.
Source => volcano.si.edu

10. Volcano Cooking Adventures

Talk about a hot meal: On Savo Island in the Solomon Islands, there's an active volcano where locals and daring tourists hike to the peak just to cook foods like bananas, megapode eggs, and kasava straight in its boiling waters!
Source => sibconline.com.sb

11. Pole & Line Fishing Masters

In a world where humans are out-fished by aquatic acrobats, the unsung heroes of the Solomon Islands cast their lines to champion sustainable seafood practices: The talented locals have proudly revived the ancient art of pole & line fishing for tuna, ensuring a veritable smorgasbord of environmentally friendly fish, empowering their economy, and leaving no one floundering!
Source => sourcingtransparencyplatform.org