# Salomon Islands

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Salomon_Islands
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Salomon_Islands.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon_Islands
> Source revision: 1351184840
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Island in the Indian Ocean

Not to be confused with [Solomon Islands](/source/Solomon_Islands).

This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Salomon Islands" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Salomon Islands (islands are shown in dark green)

Salomon Atoll

The **Salomon Islands** or **Salomon Atoll** is a small [atoll](/source/Atoll) of the [Chagos Archipelago](/source/Chagos_Archipelago) in the Indian Ocean.

## Description

The atoll is located in the northeast of the [Chagos Archipelago](/source/Chagos_Archipelago), between [Blenheim Reef](/source/Blenheim_Reef) and [Peros Banhos](/source/Peros_Banhos). The main islands in the group are Île Boddam, with the former main settlement, and a land area of 1.08 km2 (0.42 mi2), and Île Anglaise (0.82 km2, 0.32 mi2), both on the western rim of the reef. There were smaller settlements of [Chagossians](/source/Chagossians) in Fouquet (0.45 km2, 0.17 mi2) and Takamaka (0.48 km2, 0.19 mi2) Islands. Île de la Passe is 0.28 km2 (0.11 mi2) in area, and Île Mapou 0.04 km2 (0.02 mi2). The remaining islets are much smaller. The total land area is 3.56 km2 (1.37 mi2).

There is a passage into the [lagoon](/source/Lagoon), named Baie de Salomon, on the Northern side, between Île Anglaise and Île de la Passe. The Salomon Islands are one of the favorite anchoring spots for itinerant [yachtsmen](/source/Yachtsmen) passing through the Chagos, even though there are no proper moorings for yachts and a permit of the BIOT authorities is needed. Now uninhabited, the islands are overrun by low [jungle](/source/Jungle) between the [coconut](/source/Coconut) trees and it is hard to find the traces of the former settlements.[1][2]

## History

Abandoned church on Boddam Island, Salomon Atoll

This atoll was settled in the last half of the 18th century by coconut plantation workers from [Isle de France](/source/Isle_de_France_(Mauritius)) (now [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius)). Little is known about the condition of the workers who were mostly of [African](/source/African_diaspora) origin. Most probably they lived in conditions close to [slavery](/source/Slavery). The company exploiting the plantation was called the [Chagos Agalega Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chagos_Agalega_Company&action=edit&redlink=1).

The Salomon Islands were surveyed in 1837 by Commander [Robert Moresby](/source/Robert_Moresby) of the Indian Navy on HMS *Benares*. Moresby's survey produced the first detailed map of this atoll. The atoll was surveyed again in 1905 by Commander B.T. Sommerville on [HMS *Sealark*](/source/HMS_Sealark_(1903)), who drew a more accurate map. Some of the Salomon Islands were inhabited by the [Chagossians](/source/Chagossians), but at the time that the British Government decided to empty the Chagos of local inhabitants, only Île Boddam was inhabited.

Between 1967 and 1973, 500 inhabitants of the Salomon Islands were evicted by the British and their pets were killed in gas chambers by [Sir Bruce Greatbatch](/source/Bruce_Greatbatch) in order to make way for an [American military base](/source/Chagossians#Eviction). The evictees were resettled in [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius) and [Seychelles](/source/Seychelles).[3][4] Île Boddam had a jetty, shops, offices, a school, a church and a villa where the plantation manager lived. All these buildings are now hidden by thick jungle. There are wells on Boddam and Takamaka islands[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] which are still used by yachtsmen to replenish their supplies.[5]

## Islets

Boddam Island and small Ile Diable to the right

The individual islets of the atoll are, starting in the North, clockwise:

1. Île de la Passe

1. Île Mapou

1. Île Takamaka

1. Île Fouquet

1. Île Sepulture

1. Île Jacobin

1. Île du Sel

1. Île Poule

1. Île Boddam

1. Île Diable

1. Île Anglaise

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Cruising Chagos"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200213103527/http://hackingfamily.com/Cruise_Info/Indian/Chagos_Cruising.htm). Archived from [the original](http://hackingfamily.com/cruise_info/Indian/Chagos_Cruising.htm) on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Ile Boddam, Saloman Island, Chagos, BIOT, 2009"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120402223548/http://www.thevoyageofbluesky.com/Boddam.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.thevoyageofbluesky.com/Boddam.html) on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-SNA_evictees_3-0)** Lablache, John; Amla, Hajira. ["Re-opening old wounds: Chagossians in Seychelles tell of trip to visit home islands"](http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3041/Re-opening+old+wounds+Chagossians+in+Seychelles+tell+of+trip+to+visit+home+islands). *Seychelles News Agency*. Retrieved 14 October 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-EversKooy2011_4-0)** Sandra Evers; Marry Kooy (2011). [*Eviction from the Chagos Islands: Displacement and Struggle for Identity Against Two World Powers*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-sQISQZKhoC&pg=PA201). BRILL. pp. 201–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-90-04-20260-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-20260-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [1st Report for 2007: Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives and Chagos (1 Feb – 22 May)](http://www.taniwani.de/R2007-01.htm)

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Salomon Islands](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Salomon_Islands).

- [Map of Salomon Islands](https://web.archive.org/web/20140606213006/http://www.chagos.org/geo/carte-salomon.jpg)

- [Chagos Archipelago](https://web.archive.org/web/20100316045413/http://www.aliisa.net/voyage/chagos.html)

v t e Atolls of the Chagos Archipelago List of islands in Chagos Archipelago Atolls with land area Blenheim Reef Diego Garcia Egmont Islands Great Chagos Bank Peros Banhos Salomon Islands Speakers Bank Totally submerged Benares Shoals Cauvin Bank Centurion Bank Colvocoresses Reef Ganges Bank Owen Bank Pitt Bank Victory Bank Wight Bank

[5°19′00″S 72°15′36″E / 5.31667°S 72.26000°E / -5.31667; 72.26000](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Salomon_Islands&params=5_19_00_S_72_15_36_E_region:GB_type:isle)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Salomon Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon_Islands) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon_Islands?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.