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Taro Island
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3,837
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5th
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20,008
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1999
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7th
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52
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7th
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The is one of the nine
Provinces of the
Solomon Islands . It lies between the island of
Bougainville (part of
Papua New Guinea ) and
Isabel in the west of the Solomon Islands. It consists of Choiseul island with an area of 3 294 km&
2 and the three small surrounding islands Taro Island (100 km&
2), Vaghena (243 km&
2), and Rob Roy (200 km&
2). It has a population of 20,008 (1999). The capital is Taro on Taro Island.
When the
Spanish explorer
Álvaro De Mendaña De Neira discovered this island in 1568 he named it San Marcos. It was almost forgotten for 200 years until the
French explorer
Louis Antoine De Bougainville rediscovered it and named it after the
Minister Of Foreign Affairs and statesman
Choiseul .
The people consists of several
Melanesian tribes including the
Gilbertese who live on Vaghena. In the
19th Century Head Hunting and
Blackbirding were widespread in the Solomon Islands. This led to the extinction of the people on Vaghena in the
1870s . Even in the
20th Century the Choiseul islanders were ill-reputed as brutal cannibals so that visitors only came with armed forces to that island. In 1916 there were brutal feuds between the several tribes which were ended by the peace treaty of Sasamungga on
August 8 ,
1921 . This event, called Kabule, is a holiday on Choiseul.
The currency is the
Solomon Islands Dollar .
The inhabitants of Choiseul are soccer enthusiasts. They have a team called Lauru Kuvoju. In 2005 they took part at the
Solomon-Cup , the national football championship of the Solomon Islands. They have finished their participation already in the preliminary round.
The flora and fauna are both characteristic of Australia and New Guinea. The biggest mammal is the endangered
Dugong , a
Seacow which occurs in the waters near Rob Roy. The largest reptile is the
Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) known from Australia. Known birds are the
Sanford's Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus sanfordi), the
Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa), and the
Eastern Reef Egret (Egretta sacra). Until the beginning of the 20th century there was the only habitat of the now extinct
Choiseul Crested Pigeon (Microgoura meeki). Choiseul is also an important breeding place for the
Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The fauna is represented by
Mangrove s and
Coconut s.
