Formerly called the Eastern Outer Islands, Temotu Province with a total land surface of only 926 sq km scattered over a huge 150,000 sq km of ocean, lies at the Solomon's most easterly point.  It is a widely dispersed archipelago separated from the main mass of the country by the 600m deep Torres Trench. Made up of three island groups, the volcanically derived Santa Cruz Islands of Tinakula, Utupua, and Vanikoro are contrasted by low coral terraces and sandy atolls of the nearby Reef Islands and further east by the isolated extinct volcanoes of the Duff Islands, Tikopia and Anua islands. Traditionally there were extensive trade networks throughout the province, where Santa Cruz exported food, pigs and crafts in every direction, and red feather money to the Reefs and Duffs.

Settlement of Santa Cruz first took place around 1500 and 1400bc and the first European contact was made in 1595 by Spanish explorer Alvaro-de Mendana, after several skirmishes with the natives. The people of Santa Cruz Islands and the majority of the Reef Islanders are non Austronesian Papuan speaking like the people of Papua New Guinea, and differ linguistically from most other Solomon Islanders.