Choiseul Province is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. It lies southeast of Bougainville (part of Papua New Guinea), west of Santa Isabel Island, and north of Vella la Vella, Kolombangra & New Georgia. It has a population of 36,719 (as of 2020)
The province has three major islands: Choiseul, Wagina, and Rob Roy. Choiseul Island (commonly known as Lauru to the natives) has a land area of ; Wagina's is ; Rob Roy's is . Taro Island, the capital of the province, has an area of .
History
Discovery and naming
When the natives first arrived and discovered the big island, they called it Lauru. Then, in 1568, the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira rediscovered the island and named it San Marcos ('Saint Mark'). Mendana himself never set foot on Lauru. He called it San Marcos, because he saw the island from Santa Isabel on the Day of Saint Mark.
200 years later in 1768, the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville saw the island again and named it Choiseul after the Minister of foreign affairs and statesman Choiseul.
Today, the two most common names for the island are Choiseul and Lauru. San Marcos is not commonly used in the present day.
Colonial era
Choiseul Province was initially not part of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP). Like Buka, Bougainville (both now part of Papua New Guinea's North Solomons Province), Santa Isabel, and the Ontong Islands, it was part of the German Solomon Islands in 1884. Fifteen years later, in 1899, Germany ceded Choiseul, Isabel and Ontong Java to the British to become part of the British Solomon Islands. In 1900, Charles Woodford, the Resident Commissioner for the Solomon Islands sailed to Choiseul via Isabel on a ship named Torch and planted the British flag on Choiseul on 23 August 1900. Proclaiming Choiseul as part of the British Solomon. During World War II, North West Choiseul, along the Nukiki to Voza corridor was partly occupied by Japanese military forces whose garrison was raided by US marine forces in October and November 1943. The protectorate (BSIP) set up the Choiseul Council in 1948. The council consisted of representatives of the seven sub districts in Choiseul. It met twice a year with the District Commissioner to discuss its business.