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Scattered over 645,000 sq. km (250,000 sq. miles), the Solomons archipelago has several hundred islands, but most people live on the six largest – Guadalcanal, Malaita, New Georgia, Makira, Santa Isabel, and Choiseul. The Solomons have been settled since at least 1000 BCE; the Spanish arrived in 1568. Since 1998 ethnic conflict between rival islanders has destabilized the country. Most of the Solomons are coral reefs. Just 1% of the land area is cultivable.