Honiara began as a small development in the vicinity of Henderson Field, a landing strip partially constructed by Japanese forces. The struggle for control of Henderson Field became the focal point in the Battle of Guadalcanal, a battle lasting from August 1942 until February 1943. The Allied forces prevailed and the air field was completed; it now serves as the main airport for the Solomon Islands.
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Jakarta was established as a trading center for the Sunda Kingdom, a state existing from 669 to 1579. In 1619, the city began serving as the administrative headquarters for the Dutch East Indies Company; the Dutch had renamed the city “Batavia.” Jakarta survived Dutch colonial rule, Japanese occupation, and a war of liberation to become, with over 30 million people, one of the world’s most populated metropolitan areas.
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Manila has been associated with several Asian kingdoms, but its longest foreign relationship was with Spain. The Spanish, under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan, arrived in 1521. Although the first European encounter resulted in Magellan’s death, Spain succeeded in establishing a successful colony in the Philippines; Manila became one of the leading cities in Spain’s colonial empire.
