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Balalae/Shortland, Solomon Islands - Melanesians

The Shortland Islands are group of islands belonging to the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. They lie in the extreme northwest of the country's territory, close to the island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Germany claimed the islands until 1900. The Solomon Islands are believed to have been inhabited by Melanesian people for thousands of years.

The islands' ocean-equatorial climate is extremely humid throughout the year, with a mean temperature of 27 °C (80 °F) and few extremes of temperature or weather. June through August is the cooler period. Though seasons are not pronounced, the northwesterly winds of November through April bring more frequent rainfall and occasional squalls or cyclones. The annual rainfall is about 3050 mm (120 in).

The Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial ecoregions. Most of the islands are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion, which also includes the islands of Bougainville and Buka, which are part of Papua New Guinea, these forests have come under pressure from forestry activities. The Santa Cruz Islands are part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion, together with the neighboring archipelago of Vanuatu. Soil quality ranges from extremely rich volcanic (there are volcanoes with varying degrees of activity on some of the larger islands) to relatively infertile limestone. More than 230 varieties of orchids and other tropical flowers brighten the landscape.

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http://whc.unesco.org/

 

 
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