Banks Islands

The Banks Islands (or Îles Banks) are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The group lies about 40 km north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 1979 the islands supported a population of 4,614.

Geography

The largest island is Gaua (also called Santa Maria), which has a rugged terrain, rising to Mount Gharat, an active volcano at the center of the island, at 797 m. The freshwater Lake Letas in the crater is the largest lake in Vanuatu. The slightly smaller Vanua Lava, is actually higher at 946 m; it also has an active volcano at Mount Suretamate (also spelled Sürétimiat or Sere Ama, 921 m). To its east are two islets, Ravenga and Kwakea. Sola, the provincial capital, is on this island. The third largest island, Ureparapara (also known as Parapara), is an old volcanic cone that has been breached by the sea, forming Divers Bay on its east coast.

To the east of these larger islands lie a number of much smaller ones. The furthest north, 50 km northeast of Ureparapara, is Vet Tagde (Vot Tande or Vot Ganai), an extinct volcano that last erupted 3.5 million years ago. The Rowa Islands (or Reef Islands) are a few very small, low islands on a coral atoll. Mota Lava is the largest and highest (411 m) of this eastern chain of islands; off its southern coast, attached by high corals that one can wade through at low tide, is the tiny islet of Ra. Mota, Merig, and Merelava complete the southeastern part of the archipelago.

Language and Culture

The islanders are of Austronesian ancestry, and speak East Vanuatu languages, which form part of the Oceanic language group. Among the fifteen languages spoken in the Banks Islands, most are severely endangered, being spoken by no more than a few hundred, and sometimes just a handful of last speakers. The language with the most speakers is Mwotlap, with 1800 speakers.

The principal economic activity is subsistence agriculture, though copra, coffee, and (on Santa Maria) cacao are grown for export. The sulfur deposits of Mount Suretamate on Vanua Lava were formerly worked by a French company. Tourism is increasingly important, on the islands with easy transport by airplane.

History

The Banks Islands were the first part of Vanuatu discovered by a European explorer, in 1606 when Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós sailed past Mere Lava and stopped at Gaua, before landing on Espiritu Santo and establishing a short-lived colony there. They were later overlooked in 1774 when Captain James Cook explored Vanuatu and believed he saw the whole chain. They were first explored by William Bligh of the British Navy, and named after his patron Sir Joseph Banks. They were charted by Matthew Flinders. Vanua Lava was first explored by the New Zealand Bishop George Augustus Selwyn in 1859.

Transport

There are airports on Mota Lava, Vanua Lava, and Gaua, which have a few flights a week with Air Vanuatu. Ships come principally for the exports, but will also take passengers.

External links

* [http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-field.htm Detailed list and map of the Banks and Torres languages]