Vanikoro
 Vanikoro from space. CourtesyNASA | |
  | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Archipelago | Santa Cruz Islands |
| Area | 173 km2(67 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
Solomon Islands | |
| Province | Temotu |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 1293 (2009) |
| Ethnic groups | Melanesian,Polynesian |
Vanikoro(sometimes wrongly namedVanikolo) is an island in theSanta Cruz group,located 118 kilometres (73 miles) to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It is part of theTemotu ProvinceofSolomon Islands.
The nameVanikorois always used as though it referred to a single island, due to both its geophysical and cultural unity. However, technically it is a group of several nearby islands surrounded by a single belt ofcoral reef.Only the two major islands are inhabited: the bigger oneBanie,and the smaller oneTeanu(or Tevai). Other, uninhabited islets in the Vanikoro group includeManieve,NomianuandNanunga.The total area of the Vanikoro group is 173 square kilometres (66.8 square miles).
Population and languages[edit]
The1,293 inhabitantsof Vanikoro[2]consist of two different populations, who tend to live separately.
TheMelanesianmajority, about 800 people, are the descendants of the original population of Vanikoro. As far as we know, they have been present on the island sinceLapitatimes – about 3,200 years ago.
A minority of about 500 individuals are ofPolynesiandescent: they have migrated from the island ofTikopia,an island lying 200 kilometres (124 miles) eastwards, which they identify as their origin. They established their first settlements on Vanikoro about 400 years ago on the southern coast of Banie. In 1893, many Tikopians returned to Tikopia as a result of the Solomon Islands having been declared a British protectorate.[further explanation needed];but several Tikopians returned to Vanikoro in the 1900s. The two major villages are Murivai and Taumako Bay.
The three languages spoken by the Melanesian population of Vanikoro are allOceanic,of theTemotu subgroup:[3]
The Tikopian settlers speak a Polynesian language,Tikopianorfakatikopia.
History[edit]
The first sighting of Vanikoro by Europeans was in September 1595, by the second Spanish expedition ofÁlvaro de Mendaña.It was sighted byLorenzo Barreto,while in command of one of the smaller vessels on a voyage around the thenSanta Cruz,which is today'sNendo Island.[4][5]
The French explorerJean-François de La Pérousewas stranded on Vanikoro after both his vessels,La Boussoleand theAstrolabe,struck the then unknown reefs of the island in 1788. It is reported[6]that some of the men were killed by the local inhabitants, while the surviving sailors built a smaller vessel and left the island, but were never seen again. Those that remained on the island died before search parties arrived in 1826.Jules Vernededicates a chapter of his novelTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seasto this event.[7]Author Naomi Williams' novelLandfallsexplores the Lapérouse expedition in depth.[8]
Chapter 1,Coral Sea,ofJames Michener's novel,Tales of the South Pacific,is set on the island of Vanicoro.
Environment[edit]
Vanikoro is largely forested, with an annual rainfall of5,000 mm.Most of its human population is engaged insubsistence farming.It has been identified byBirdLife Internationalas anImportant Bird Area(IBA) because it supports populations ofendemicVanikoro monarchsandVanikoro white-eyes,as well as ofred-bellied fruit doves,pied goshawks,palm lorikeets,cardinal myzomelas,Polynesian trillersandrusty-winged starlings.[9]TheVanikoro flying foxis endemic to the island.Saltwater crocodilesare present in the island's mangroves, as they are on all of the major islands ofTemotu Province.The island represents the easternmost range of the species within the Solomon Islands (and the second easternmost population overall, behind onlyVanua LavainVanuatu,which may no longer have a breeding population).
Notes[edit]
- ^Source:Maps of Vanikoro (languages, place names)by linguistA. François.
- ^"Vanikoro (Ward, Solomon Islands) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".www.citypopulation.de.Archived fromthe originalon 2021-07-09.Retrieved2021-07-09.
- ^François, Alexandre(2009),"The languages of Vanikoro: Three lexicons and one grammar"(PDF),in Evans, Bethwyn (ed.),Discovering history through language: Papers in honour of Malcolm Ross,Pacific Linguistics 605, Canberra: Australian National University, pp. 103–126.
- ^Sharp, AndrewThe discovery of the Pacific IslandsOxford, 1960, pp.52-55.
- ^Brand, Donald D.The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical ExplorationsThe American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.
- ^Seesummary article inThe Times,May 13, 2005.
- ^Verne, Jules (1992).Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Classics. pp. 81–85.
- ^Naomi, Williams (19 December 2014)."Landfalls".naomijwilliams.com.Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Retrieved27 April2017.
- ^"Vanikoro".BirdLife Data Zone.BirdLife International.Retrieved8 October2020.
References[edit]
- Vanikoro Island(archived link)
- Resources on the languages of Vanikoro(introduction to the dictionary ofTeanu), by linguistA. François.
