Avaiki is one of the many names by which the peoples of Polynesia refer to their ancestral and spiritual homelands.
Rennell and Bellona is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands, comprising two inhabited atolls, Rennell and Bellona, or Mu Ngava and Mu Ngiki respectively in Rennellese, as well as the uninhabited Indispensable Reef. Rennell and Bellona are both Polynesian-inhabited islands within the predominantly Melanesian Solomons. They are thus considered Polynesian outliers. The first known European to sight the islands was Mathew Boyd of Camberwell, London, commander of the merchant ship, Bellona, in 1793. The province has a combined population of 3,041. The Samoic language of the islands is, in English texts, called Rennellese. The province's capital is Tigoa, on Rennell Island.
Bellona Island is an island of the Rennell and Bellona Province, in the Solomon Islands. Its length is about 10 km (6.2 mi) and its average width 2.5 km (1.6 mi). Its area is about 17 km2 (6.6 sq mi). It is almost totally surrounded by 30–70 m (100–230 ft) high cliffs, consisting primarily of raised coral limestone.
Solomon Islands is divided into nine provinces. The national capital, Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, is separately governed as the islands' Capital Territory.
The people of the Solomon Islands observe these holidays nationally.
Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of 660 square kilometres (250 sq mi) that is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) long and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide. It is the second largest raised coral atoll in the world with the largest lake in the insular Pacific, Lake Tegano, a lake that is listed as a World Heritage Site. Rennell Island has a population of about 1,840 persons of Polynesian descent who primarily speak Rennellese, Pijin and some English. Rennell and Bellona Islands are two of the few islands in the Melanesian Solomon Island archipelago classified as a Polynesian outlier; others being Sikaiana, Ontong Java, Tikopia, Anuta, Duff Islands, and some Reef Islands.
The Northern Solomons were the more northerly group of islands in the Solomon Islands archipelago over which Germany declared a protectorate in 1885. Initially the German Solomon Islands Protectorate included in the south-east Choiseul, Santa Isabel and the Shortlands with highly northern, vast, mainly water Ontong Java Atoll that in 1900 were conferred to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Greatest of the region, Bougainville, continued under German administration until World War I when it fell to Australia, and after the war, it formally passed to Australian jurisdiction under a League of Nations mandate.
East Rennell is the southern portion of Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands which is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rennell is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and the area in East Rennell surrounding Lake Tegano contains many endemic species.
Rennell/Tingoa Airport is an airport in Tigoa on Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands.
Rennell-Bellona, or Rennellese, is a Polynesian language spoken in the Rennell and Bellona Province of the Solomon Islands. A dictionary of the language has been published.
The Rennell flying fox is a species of flying fox found in the Solomon Islands. It is an endangered species risking extinction.
Tahanuku is a village in the Solomon Islands, on Rennell Island in the Rennell and Bellona province. The province is the only province in the Solomon Islands where all the inhabitants are Polynesians.
Niupani is a village in the Solomon Islands, on Rennell Island in the Rennell and Bellona province.
Abatai is a village in the Solomon Islands, on Rennell Island in the Rennell and Bellona province. Immediate neighboring villages include Tesauma, Magino, Matamoana and Nukumatangi. Joshua Na'siu is the chief of Aba'tai village.
Moreno is a village in the Solomon Islands, on Rennell Island in the Rennell and Bellona province.
Rennellese Sign Language is an extinct form of home sign documented from Rennell Island in 1974. It was developed about 1915 by a deaf person named Kagobai and used by his hearing family and friends, but apparently died with him; he was the only deaf person on the island, and there never was an established, self-replicating community of signers. Accordingly, in January 2017 its ISO 639-3 code [rsi] was retired. Kuschel, the only source of information about this communication system, cites no evidence to suggest that there was any contact with any sign language.
The Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation, or SIRUF, is the governing body for rugby union in Solomon Islands. It was established in the 1960s, but only became fully affiliated to the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1999.
Ajilon Jasper Nasiu is from Rennell Islands - the largest of the two Islands of the Rennell Bellona Province. He is a public servant in Solomon Islands who served as the sixth Speaker of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands since 17 December 2014. He served four years, and was replaced by veteran politician, Patterson Oti.
Before assuming this post, he had been a Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), and was elected Provincial Premier for Rennell and Bellona Province.
Solomon Islands 