Malaita the days of the labour trade. There are villages of Malaitans in many provinces, including eight "squatter" settlements that make up about 15 percent of the population of Honiara, on Guadalcanal. Malaitans who had emigrated to Guadalcanal became a focus of the civil war which broke out in 1999, and the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) was formed to protect their interest, both on Guadalcanal and on their home island. The organization of Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has contributed to the infrastructure development of the island. Malaita is a thin island, about 102 miles (164 km) long and
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal mission that Abe's force had failed to carry out—the bombardment of Henderson Field. The battleship "Kirishima", after abandoning its rescue effort of "Hiei" on the morning of 13 November, steamed north between Santa Isabel and Malaita Islands with her accompanying warships to rendezvous with Kondo's Second Fleet, inbound from Truk, to form the new bombardment unit. The 8th Fleet cruiser force, under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, included the heavy cruisers , , , and , the light cruisers and , and six destroyers. Mikawa's force was able to slip into the Guadalcanal area uncontested, the battered U.S.