Provinces of Solomon Islands figures for Guadalcanal Province do not include the separately-administered Capital Territory of Honiara; if included, that province would have had a total population of 109,382 in 1999, when it was the second largest province by population; by 2009, the combined estimate for Guadalcanal and the Capital Territory would be 157,745, which would make it the most populous province. [1] excluding the Capital Territory of Honiara Provinces of Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is divided into nine provinces. The national capital, Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, is separately governed as the islands' Capital Territory. Under the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, there
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara Archdiocese also hosts the provincial seminary, Holy Name of Mary Seminary Tenaru, which was founded in 1995. Holy Cross Cathedral, Honiara, stands on the site where it is thought that the Spanish explorer Mendaña erected a cross when he arrived in 1568. Thus had the explorer given Honiara its first name, Santa Cruz. A large church intended to be used for episcopal ceremonial was erected at Visale in 1923, but it and the remains of the murdered Bishop Épalle which had been interred there were lost to earthquake in 1930. From that time Bishop Aubin based his operations at Tanagai.