SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS

volcanic group in the Solomon Islands, southwestern Pacific Ocean, 345 miles (555 km) east of Guadalcanal. The main islands are Nendo (also called Ndeni, or Santa Cruz Island), Utupua, Vanikoro, and Tinakula. The largest island, Nendo, is 25 miles (40 km) long and 14 miles (22 km) wide, with heavily wooded slopes rising to 1,800 feet (550 m). The Spanish navigator lvaro de Mendaa de Neira tried to form a colony there in 1595. In 1942 a U.S.-Japanese sea battle was fought near the islands. From 1923 to 1964 kauri pine timber was cut on the islands and shipped to Australia. Copra is now the chief export. The inhabitants are primarily Melanesian, with a small Polynesian minority. Pop. (1986) 8,308.