Temotu Province

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Temotu Province
Temotu province flag.svg
Map of the Santa Cruz Islands (Solomon Islands).png
Map of the Temotu province
Solomon Islands-Temotu.png
Coordinates: 10°45′S167°0′E / 10.750°S 167.000°E / -10.750; 167.000
CountryFlag of the Solomon Islands.svg  Solomon Islands
Capital Lata
Government
  Premier Clay Forau [1]
Area
  Total895 km2 (346 sq mi)
Population
 (2009 [2] )
  Total21,362
  Density23.9/km2 (62/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+11 (+11)

Temotu (or Te Motu, literally "the island" in Polynesian) is the easternmost province of Solomon Islands. The province was formerly known as Santa Cruz Islands Province. It consists, essentially, of two chains of islands which run parallel to each other from the northwest to the southeast. Its area is 895 square kilometres (346 square miles).

Contents

Administrative divisions

Temotu Province is sub-divided into the following wards:

Temotu Province (pop 21,362)

Islands

The islands or island groups which make up the province are:

The provincial capital is Lata, located on Nendö, the largest and most important of the Santa Cruz islands.

Population

Tepukei (ocean-going outrigger canoe) from the Santa Cruz Islands, held in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. Sudseeabteilung in Ethnological Museum Berlin 11d.jpg
Tepukei (ocean-going outrigger canoe) from the Santa Cruz Islands, held in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.

The population of 21,362 (2009) [2] is quite diverse for the small land area encompassed. The Santa Cruz Islanders are predominantly Melanesian, although the inhabitants of Tikopia, Anuta, the Duff Islands and some of the Reef Islands are Polynesians.

Languages

The province has given its name to the Temotu languages , a putative linguistic subgroup within the broader Oceanic family of languages.

The languages spoken in the province include all nine Temotu languages proper, plus two Polynesian outlier languages: Vaeakau-Taumako and Tikopia.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanuatu rain forests</span>

The Vanuatu rain forests are tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion which includes the islands of Vanuatu, as well as the Santa Cruz Islands group of the neighboring Solomon Islands. It is part of the Australasian realm, which includes neighboring New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, as well as Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Cruz Islands</span> Island group in the Solomon Islands

The Santa Cruz Islands form an archipelago in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles to the southeast of the Solomon Islands archipelago, just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion. The term Santa Cruz Islands is sometimes used to encompass all the islands of Temotu Province, Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polynesian outlier</span> Polynesian societies outside the main region

Polynesian outliers are a number of culturally Polynesian societies that geographically lie outside the main region of Polynesian influence, known as the Polynesian Triangle; instead, Polynesian outliers are scattered in the two other Pacific subregions: Melanesia and Micronesia. Based on archaeological and linguistic analysis, these islands are considered to have been colonized by seafaring Polynesians, mostly from the area of Tonga, Samoa and Tuvalu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatutaka</span>

Fatutaka, Fatu Taka or Patu Taka is a small volcanic island in Temotu Province, in the nation of Solomon Islands, south-west Pacific Ocean. The easternmost island in Solomon Islands, Fatutaka is located c. 32 km (20 mi) southeast of Anuta and can be seen from there in clear weather. Fatutaka and Anuta were discovered for Europeans by Admiral Edward Edwards in 1791.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duff Islands</span> Island group

The Duff Islands are a small island group lying to the northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands in province of Temotu Province, in the nation of Solomon Islands. They are also sometimes known as the Wilson Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taumako</span> Island in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands

Taumako is the largest of the Duff Islands, in the nation of Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. This 5.7-kilometre-long (3.5-mile) island has steep sides and rises to a height of 400 metres above sea level. It is composed of basaltic lavas and pyroclastics like the other islands in the Duffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anuta</span>

Anuta is a small volcanic island in the province of Temotu in the southeastern part of Solomon Islands. It is one of the smallest permanently inhabited Polynesian islands. It is one of the Polynesian Outlier communities in Melanesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reef Islands</span> Island group in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands

The Reef Islands are a loose collection of 16 islands in the in Temotu Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands. These islands have historically also been known by the names of Swallow Islands and Matema Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tikopia</span> Island in the far southern Solomon Islands

Tikopia is a volcanic island in Temotu Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Although most of Solomon Islands is Melanesian, Tikopia is culturally Polynesian. The first Europeans arrived on 22 April 1606 as part of the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic languages</span> Subgroup of the Austronesian language family

The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages are spoken by only two million people. The largest individual Oceanic languages are Eastern Fijian with over 600,000 speakers, and Samoan with an estimated 400,000 speakers. The Gilbertese (Kiribati), Tongan, Tahitian, Māori and Tolai languages each have over 100,000 speakers. The common ancestor which is reconstructed for this group of languages is called Proto-Oceanic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of the Solomon Islands</span>

The culture of the Solomon Islands reflects the extent of the differentiation and diversity among the groups living within the Solomon Islands archipelago, which lies within Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, with the peoples distinguished by island, language, topography, and geography. The cultural area includes the nation state of Solomon Islands and the Bougainville Island, which is a part of Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utupua</span> Island in the Solomon Islands

Utupua is an island in the Santa Cruz Islands, located 66 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group, between Vanikoro and Santa Cruz proper (Nendö). This island belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanikoro</span> One of the Solomon Islands of the south-west Pacific

Vanikoro is an island in the Santa Cruz group, located 118 kilometres to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It is part of the Temotu Province of Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temotu languages</span> Group of Oceanic languages of the eastern Solomon Islands

The Temotu languages, named after Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, are a branch of Oceanic languages proposed in Ross & Næss (2007) to unify the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages with Utupua and Vanikoro, each a group of three related languages.

Matema Island or Matema is of one of the Reef Islands in Temotu Province, of the independent nation of Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nendö (island)</span> One of the Solomon Islands of the south-west Pacific

Nendö is the largest of the Santa Cruz Islands, located in the Temotu province of Solomon Islands. The island is also known as Santa Cruz, Nendo, Ndeni, Nitendi or Ndende. The name Santa Cruz was given to the island in 1595 by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña, who started a colony there. Historically, the island has also been called New Guernsey and Lord Egmont's Island, after John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty.

The Diocese of Temotu is one of the nine current dioceses of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, founded in 1981. Three of the diocese's six bishops have gone on to become archbishops of the province.

Tahua is one of the Duff Islands, of Temotu Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is some 23 metres. The island is inhabited.

Proto-Temotu is the reconstructed ancestor of the Temotu languages of Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. It belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian languages.

References

10°45′S167°00′E / 10.750°S 167.000°E / -10.750; 167.000