The Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province

Central Province (Solomon Islands)

The Central Province is one of the provinces of the Solomon Islands, covering the Russell Islands, Nggela Islands and Savo Island. Its area comprises 615 km² and had a population of 21,577 as of 1999. The capital is Tulagi.-Islands:*Aeaun...

 of the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

, a state

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

 in the southwest Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

.

The chain is composed of the main island, Nggela Sule, as well as a number of smaller islands, including Tulagi

Tulagi

Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida Island. The town of the same name on the island Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island (5.5 km by 1 km) in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida...

, Gavutu

Gavutu

Gavutu is a small islet in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands, some 500 metres in length. It is one of the Nggela Islands....

 and Tanambogo

Tanambogo

Tanambogo is an islet in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. It is one of the Florida Islands.Along with the nearby island of Gavutu, it played an important role in the Guadalcanal campaign during World War II. In 1942 the Japanese attempted to establish a seaplane base on the island. On...

. The name Florida Island is sometimes also used to refer to Nggela Sule.

History

The Nggela Islands group lies immediately north of the more famous island of Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

, the scene of the Battle of Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal campaign

The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

; however, Nggela Sule itself was garrisoned by the Japanese

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 in April 1942 in connection with their efforts to establish a seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

 base on neighboring Gavutu. On 7 August of the same year, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 1st Battalion

1st Battalion 2nd Marines

1st Battalion, 2nd Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina consisting of approximately 900 Marines and Sailors...

, 2nd Marine Regiment landed on the island to provide cover for the assault on the neighboring Tulagi islet. Florida Island would never become as famous as Guadalcanal, although it did serve as a small, very secondary base of operations for the US & Australian war effort in the Pacific for the duration of the war. Following the American liberation of the island from the Japanese, it became the site of a US seaplane base. The island subsequently served as a watering point for the US Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, diverting water from an underground source on the island.

Fauna

The possibly extinct Florida Naked-tailed Rat

Florida Naked-tailed Rat

The Florida Naked-tailed Rat is a poorly known and possible extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was confined to the Nggela Islands in the Solomon Islands...

 was endemic to the Nggela Islands. Other animals include Solomon's Naked-backed Fruit Bat

Solomon's Naked-backed Fruit Bat

The Solomon's Naked-backed Fruit Bat is a species of megabat in the Pteropodidae family. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands.-References:* Chiroptera Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 30 July 2007....

, Long-tongued Nectar Bat, Woodford's Fruit Bat

Woodford's Fruit Bat

Woodford's Fruit Bat is a species of megabat in the Pteropodidae family. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands. The Orange Fruit Bat has now been equated with this species....

, Island Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

Island Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

The Island Tube-nosed Fruit Bat is a species of megabat in the Pteropodidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands....

, Dwarf Flying Fox

Dwarf Flying Fox

The Dwarf Flying Fox, Least Flying-fox, or Least Fruit Bat is a species of megabat in the Pteropodidae family. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands.-References:...

, Geoffroy's Rousette

Geoffroy's Rousette

The Geoffroy's Rousette, , is a species of megabat or old world fruit bats.- Distribution :The Geoffroy's Rousette occurs throughout the whole of Southeast Asia: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the island of Borneo, East Timor, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands...

, Dark Sheath-tailed Bat

Dark Sheath-tailed Bat

The Dark Sheath-tailed Bat is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae. It is the only species in the genus Mosia.It is found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.-References:...

, Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat, Great Bent-winged Bat

Great Bent-winged Bat

The Great Bent-Winged Bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family.It can be found in the following countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.-References:...

. The Black Rat

Black Rat

The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...

is introduced.