Knowledge and culture
It is not compulsory schooling. Most children start in 6-year primary school when they are six years old. High school is 7 years old. The University of the South Pacific has a department in Honiara and the University of Papua New Guinea a department at Guadalcanal.
There are three daily newspapers and one news website, two weekly newspapers and two monthly newspapers.
According to thesciencetutor, founded in 1976, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Company (SIBC) has daily radio broadcasts in English and Pigdin-English. SIBC initiated television broadcasts in 1992.
Well-known authors are John Saunana (1945-), Rexford Orotaloa (1956-), Jully Makini (Jully Sipolo) (1953-) and Julian Maka’a (1957-).
Folk music includes pan flute orchestras and bamboo music. Modern music includes rock and reggae as well as so-called island music influenced by Polynesian and Christian music.
Honiara
Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands Republic of the Western Pacific; approximately 61,000 residents (1999). The city is located on the north coast of the largest island, Guadalcanal. Honiara emerged as a U.S. military base during World War II; it became the capital in 1952 to replace the former capital, Tulagi, which had been bombed by the Japanese. Honiara is the trading center for the vast island, and the port handles a large part of its exports (wood, fish and cocoa).
During the 1999 riots, the local opposition group, the Guadalcanal Liberation Army, occupied the city to expel the many migrants from other islands in the country. During the prolonged unrest, many foreigners traveled home. An Australian-led peacekeeping force was deployed in 2003 to stop civil war and corruption.
