In which region of the Pacific Ocean are the Solomon Islands located?

Pacific Islands is a island geographic region of the Pacific Ocean that comprises three ethnogeographic groupings—Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Melanesia is in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and extends from the island of New Guinea in the west to Tonga in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.

The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It also includes the French colonial collectivity of New Caledonia and parts of Indonesia – notably the occupied regions of Maluku Islands and Western New Guinea, which is often referred to as West Papua.

Melanesians were found to have a mysterious third archaic 'Homo species' along with their ¹Denisovan' (3–4%) and 'Neandertha¹ (2%) ancestors in a genetic admixture with their otherwise modern Homo sapiens sapiens genomes. The frequent occurrence of blond hair among these peoples is due to a specific random mutation, different from the mutation that led to blond hair in peoples indigenous to northern regions of the globe. This is evidence that the genotype and phenotype for blond hair arose at least twice in human history.

Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu. It has a land area of 28,400 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi), and a population of 652,858. Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal.