The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands archipelago. The Santa Cruz Islands lie just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu, and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion.
Torba is the northernmost province of Vanuatu. It consists of the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands.
The Torres Islands are in the Torba Province of the country of Vanuatu, and is that country’s the northernmost island group. The chain of islands that make up this micro-archipelago straddles the broader cultural boundary between Island Melanesia and several Polynesian outliers located in the neighbouring Solomon Islands. To the island chain’s north is Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, to its south is Espiritu Santo, and to its southeast are the Banks Islands. To the west, beneath the ocean surface, is the deep Torres Trench, which is the subduction zone between the Australian and Pacific plates.
The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The island group lies about 40 km (25 mi) north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 2009, the islands had a population of 8,533. The island group’s combined land area is 780 km².
Shefa is one of the six provinces of Vanuatu, located in the center of the country and including the islands of Epi and Efate and the Shepherd Islands.
Gaua is the largest and second most populous of the Banks Islands in Torba Province in northern Vanuatu. It covers 342 km².
Vanua Lava is the second largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu, after slightly larger Gaua.
Tegua is an island in Vanuatu's Torres Islands chain, located in Torba Province.
Torres Airport is an airfield serving the Torres Islands in the Torba province in Vanuatu. It is located on Linua island, just north of Lo island.
Ureparapara is the third largest island in the Banks group of northern Vanuatu, after Gaua and Vanua Lava.
Alexandre François is a French linguist specialising in the description and study of the indigenous languages of Melanesia. He belongs to Lattice, a research centre of the CNRS and École Normale Supérieure dedicated to linguistics.
Hiw is the northernmost island in Vanuatu, located in Torba Province.
The North Vanuatu languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in northern Vanuatu.
Lo-Toga is an Oceanic language spoken by about 580 people on the islands of Lo and Toga, in the Torres group of northern Vanuatu. The language has sometimes been called Loh(sic) or Toga, after either of its two dialects.
Hiw is an Oceanic language spoken by about 280 people on the island of Hiw, in the Torres Islands of Vanuatu.
Toga(in Lo-Toga Toge[ˈtɔɣ̞ə]) is an island in the Torres group, within the Torba Province of Vanuatu.
The Torres–Banks languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in the Torres Islands and Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu.
