- Atiu
Atiu, also known as Enuamanu (meaning "land of the birds"), is an island lying at 187 km to the northeast of
Rarotonga , in the Southern Islands group of the Cook Islands Archipelago.Geography
Atiu is a raised
volcanic island surrounded by a reef from which rises 6-m cliffs of fossilizedcoral ("makatea"). This coral cliff forms a mile-wide ring round the island, forming a virtual plateau.Erosion at the innerside of the ring has formed dip of about 30-m into fertile land, which gradually rises again to a central 70-m flat-topped hill.Administratively,
Takutea is considered part of Atiu. [http://www.adb.org/Documents/Assessments/Other-Assessments/COO/Preventive-Infrastructure-Master-Plan.pdf]History
The first recorded European to arrive to Atiu was
Captain Cook in 1777.Human settlements
It is on the central hill that most human settlements are concentrated. On the
12 March 2003 , the population of Atiu was 571. They live in 5 villages radiating out from the island center that give the appearance of a human figure. The villages have essentially grown together into one, since 1823. They represent thetapere subdivisions prior to European contact. [http://books.google.com/books?id=RGBY9yvybVgC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=Atiu+mataiapo&source=web&ots=gnwvI8ddnY&sig=FJm3GTBHIP3Ign1QDcTxSQW6uKU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA168,M1] The villages are:
#Teenui Village
#Mapumai Village (residence of the Mayor)
#Ngatiarua Village
#Areora Village
#Tengatangi VillageOf special interest to tourists could be the Kopeka caves situated deep in the makatea, the Atiuan 'jungle'. It is within Anatakitaki cave that theAtiu Swiftlet makes its nests.References
* [http://www.atiu.info/atiuisland/index.php Atiu Island's website]
External links
* [http://www.cookislands.org.uk/atiu.hmtl Information and pictures]
* [http://www.ck/atiu.htm Atiu on the Cook Islands website]
* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/pacific_islands_1943_1945/atiu_plan_section.jpgisland map]
* [http://www.seacology.org/projects/individualprojects/COOKISLANDS_atiu2007.htm Seacology Atiu Island Project]Seacology Literature
Atiu, an Island Community: An Island Community. By Ngatupuna Kautai. Published by editorips@usp.ac.fj, 1984.
ISBN-10 9820201632,ISBN-13 9789820201637, 207 pages [http://books.google.com/books?id=RGBY9yvybVgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Atiu,+an+Island+Community&sig=ACfU3U2u_StyPzdH6Sj57x5lQE0MxnE-7Q]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
