Honiara, << `hoh` nee AHR uh >> (pop. 30,499) is the capital and largest community of the Solomon Islands, an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Honiara, a port town, is on the north coast of Guadalcanal Island. The town lies on two sides of a harbor that serves both small and seagoing ships. Since the 1970’s, several multistory business and government buildings have been built in the community’s rapidly growing commercial center.
Honiara stands near a former coconut plantation that Japan, and later the United States, turned into an airfield and military base during World War II (1939-1945). The town became the capital of the Solomon Islands soon after the war ended.
