Malaita Malaita Malaita is the largest island of the Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. South Malaita Island, also known as "Small Malaita" and "Maramasike" for Areare speakers and Malamweimwei known to more than 80% of the islanders, is the island at the southern tip of the larger island of Malaita. A tropical and mountainous island, Malaita's pristine river systems and tropical forests have not been exploited. Malaita is the second most populous island (after Guadalcanal) of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 140,000, or more than a third of the entire national population. The largest city and provincial capital is
Malaita Malaita Island (also called Small Malaita or Maramasike), separated by the narrow Maramasike Passage. Beyond that is Makira, the southernmost large island in the Solomon archipelago. Malaita's climate is extremely wet. It is located in the Intertropical Convergence Zone ("Doldrums"), with its fickle weather patterns. The sun is at zenith over Malaita, and thus the effect is most pronounced, in November and February. Trade winds come during the southern hemisphere's winter, and from about April to August they blow from the southeast fairly steadily. During the summer, fringes of monsoon blow over the island. Because of the surrounding sea, air