- Fulaga
Fulaga (pronounced|fulaŋa) (proper name: Vulaga) is a crescent-shaped reef-
limestone island inFiji 's Southern Lau Group.Geography
Situated at 19.17° South and 178.65° West [New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, P250] , it covers an area of 18.5 square kilometres. It has a maximum elevation of 79 metres. The limestone belongs to the Koroqara Limestone (Tokalau Limestone Group) and is probably Late Miocene in age. In form it is a basin which has been breached in the north, flooding the interior, which has many islets and rocks. The island thus has this unique, beautiful lagoon [The Fiji IslandsBy Ronald Albert Derrick, P318] [New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, P249] that adequately supplies the inhabitants with different varieties of fish and sea shells. There are three terrace levels, two with maximum elevations 55 m and 40 m, the third being lower. There is an elevated notch 2 m above mean sea level.
Demographics
There are three villages, Muanaicake, Muanaira and Naividamu. Total population was almost 600 in the middle 20th century but is now less than 400, due to migration to the mainland for secondary school education for children, and employment for parents.
In Tradition
The people are traditional carvers, skilled in the making of outrigger canoes and 'tanoa' (or 'kumete' in their dialect) which are wooden bowls carved out of local hardwood and used in formal and informal Yaqona Ceremonies and social gatherings across Fiji.
Footnotes
References
*The Fiji Islands: A Geographical Handbook, By Ronald Albert Derrick,Published 1951, Govt. Print. Dept, Fiji.
*Fiji by Casey Mahaney, Astrid Witte Mahaney, Published 2000 by Lonely Planet, ISBN 0864427719
*New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics; Published by The Royal Society of New Zealand
*The Cyclopedia of Fiji: A Complete Historical and Commercial Review of Fiji, Published 1984, By R. McMillan, Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized 3 Apr 2007.External links
* A Map of [http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/page_804.shtml Fulaga]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
