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Motalava
Mota Lava or Motalava is an island of the Banks group, in the north of Vanuatu. It forms a single coral system with the small island of Ra. The 2009 census figures give a population of 1640 inhabitants (Mota Lava + Ra), which amounts to a population density of 67 people per km². Geography Geography and geology With an area of 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi), Mota Lava is the fourth largest island in the Banks Islands, after Gaua, Vanua Lava and Ureparapara. It is the highest () of the eastern chain of islands, as well as the largest. Ra, a small island of , is located off the southern coast of Mota Lava. It is attached to it by high corals that one can wade through at low tide. The climate on Mota Lava is humid tropical. The average annual rainfall exceeds 4000 mm. The island is subject to frequent earthquakes and cyclones. The island is served by Mota Lava Airport. Geology Mota Lava is composed of at least five basaltic stratovolcanoes. Two of the cones, Vetman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motalava
Mota Lava or Motalava is an island of the Banks group, in the north of Vanuatu. It forms a single coral system with the small island of Ra. The 2009 census figures give a population of 1640 inhabitants (Mota Lava + Ra), which amounts to a population density of 67 people per km². Geography Geography and geology With an area of 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi), Mota Lava is the fourth largest island in the Banks Islands, after Gaua, Vanua Lava and Ureparapara. It is the highest () of the eastern chain of islands, as well as the largest. Ra, a small island of , is located off the southern coast of Mota Lava. It is attached to it by high corals that one can wade through at low tide. The climate on Mota Lava is humid tropical. The average annual rainfall exceeds 4000 mm. The island is subject to frequent earthquakes and cyclones. The island is served by Mota Lava Airport. Geology Mota Lava is composed of at least five basaltic stratovolcanoes. Two of the cones, Vetman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banks Islands
The Banks Islands (in Bislama ''Bankis'') 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 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. Geography The largest island is Gaua (formerly called Santa Maria), which has a rugged terrain, rising to Mount Gharat, an active volcano at the centre of the island, at . Gaua's freshwater Lake Letas, in its volcanic crater, is the largest lake in Vanuatu. A slightly smaller island in the group, Vanua Lava, is higher, at ; it too has an active volcano: Mount Suretamate (also spelled Süretimiat or Sere'ama, ). To the east of Vanua Lava are two islets in the groupo, Ravenga and Kwakea (also spelled Qakea). Sola, the provincial capital, is on Vanua Lava. The third largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwotlap
Mwotlap (pronounced ; formerly known as ''Motlav'') is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra (or ''Aya'') and Vanua Lava, as well as migrant groups in the two main cities of the country, Santo and Port Vila. Mwotlap was first described in any detail in 2001, by the linguist Alexandre François. Volow, which used to be spoken on the same island, may be considered a dialect or a separate language. The language Name The language is named after the island. Geographic distribution Mwotlap is spoken by about 2,100 people in the Banks Islands, in the North of Vanuatu. Among them, 1,640 live on the island of Mota Lava and its neighbor island, Ra. It is also spoken by a few hundred people living elsewhere in Vanuatu: * Vanua Lava, particularly in the northeast * Several other northern Vanuatu islands including Ureparapara, Gaua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volow Language
Volow (formerly known as ''Valuwa'' or ''Valuga'') is an Oceanic language variety which used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, in Vanuatu. Name The name ''Volow'' is originally a placename: it corresponds to the area known as Aplow, but in the local language Volow rather than in Mwotlap. This form, pronounced , is derived from Proto-Torres-Banks *''βaluwa''. In neighboring Mwotlap, the same area is called ''Aplow'' (with locative prefix ''a-''), and in Mota, it is called ''Valuwa'' . Both of these are nowadays used as alternative names for the area. Sociolinguistics Volow has receded historically in favour of the now dominant language Mwotlap. It is now only remembered by a single passive speaker, who lives in the village of Aplow — the new name of what was previously known as Volow. The similarity of Volow with Mwotlap is such that the two communalects may be considered dialects of a single language. Phonology Volo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torba Province
Torba (or ''TorBa'') is the northernmost and least populous province of Vanuatu. It consists of the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands. The province's name is derived from the initial letters of "''TORres''" and "''BAnks''". Population The province has a population of 9,359 and an area of . Its capital is Sola on Vanua Lava. Islands These are the main islands of Torba Province, excluding smaller and uninhabited islets. ;Banks Islands ;Torres Islands Languages The Torba province has seventeen languages, all Oceanic — from north to south: Hiw, Lo-Toga, Lehali, Löyöp, Volow, Mwotlap, Lemerig, Vera'a, Vurës, Mwesen, Mota, Nume, Dorig, Koro Koro may refer to: Geography *Koro Island, a Fijian island * Koro Sea, in the Pacific Ocean * Koro, Ivory Coast *Koro, Mali * Koro, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community Languages *Koro language (India), an endangered language spo ..., Olrat, Lakon, Mwerlap. François ''et al.'' (2015). With 550 spea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mota Lava Airport
Mota Lava Airport is an airport located on the island of Mota Lava, one of the Banks Islands in the Torba province in Vanuatu. Also known as ''Valua Airport'', it is located on the eastern end of Motalava island, near the village of Aplow (formerly known as ''Valuwa''). Characteristics The airport is situated at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway, in length. Out of the four airports in the Torba province, Valua Airport has the length and reliability advantage. Air Vanuatu Air Vanuatu is an airline with its head office in the Air Vanuatu House, Port Vila, Vanuatu. It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the South Pacific. Its main base is Bauerfiel ... coordinates all maintenance and rehabilitation programs of the building facilities, including the runway. Identical to other island aircraft ports throughout the archipelago, safety and security fencing is still lacking. Valua airport i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islands Of Vanuatu
This is a list of islands of Vanuatu by province, largely from north to south, subdivided by archipelago when appropriate. Vanuatu is usually said to contain 83 islands. Islands *Torba Province **Torres Islands *** Hiw ***Metoma (uninhabited, but formerly inhabited) ***Tegua ***Ngwel (uninhabited) ***Linua *** Lo ***Toga **Banks Islands ***Vet Tagde ***Ureparapara ***Rowa Islands (Reef Islands) **** Enwut (uninhabited) **** Lemeur ***Vanua Lava **** Kwakea ****Leneu ****Nawila ****Ravenga ***Gaua (Santa Maria Island) ***Mota ***Mota Lava (Saddle) ****Ra Island ***Merig ***Mere Lava *Sanma Province **Espiritu Santo *** Dany Island ***Araki Island ***Elephant Island *** Dolphin Island *** Sakao *** Malohu ***Malparavu ***Maltinerava ***Malvapevu ***Malwepe ***Oyster Island *** Tangoa ***Bokissa *** Lataro **Malo ***Asuleka *** Malotina ***Malokilikili **Aore ** Tutuba ** Mavea ** Lathi *Penama Province **Pentecost Island **Ambae (Aoba) **Maewo *Malampa Province **Malakula ***Akha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandre François
Alexandre François is a French linguist specialising in the description and study of the indigenous languages of Melanesia. He belongs t''Lattice'' a research centre of the CNRS and École Normale Supérieure dedicated to linguistics. Research Language description and documentation François has done linguistic fieldwork in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. In 2002, he published a grammatical description of Araki, a language spoken by a handful of speakers on an islet south of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu). Most of his research focuses on the northern islands of Vanuatu, known as the Torres and Banks Islands, an area where sixteen out of seventeen languages are still spoken: Hiw, Lo-Toga, Lehali, Löyöp, Mwotlap, Volow (extinct), Lemerig, Vera'a, Vurës, Mwesen, Mota, Nume, Dorig, Koro, Olrat, Lakon, Mwerlap - all descended from the Proto-Torres–Banks language, which was also reconstructed by him. After describing Mwotlap, the language with most speakers in that area, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanish Language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain. Spanish is the official language of List of countries where Spanish is an official language, 20 countries. It is the world's list of languages by number of native speakers, second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese; the world's list of languages by total number of speakers, fourth-most spoken language overall after English language, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani language, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu); and the world's most widely spoken Romance languages, Romance language. The largest population of native speakers is in Mexico. Spanish is part of the Iberian Romance languages, Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedro Fernández De Quirós
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning "son of Peter" (compare with the English surname Peterson) is Pérez in Spanish, and Peres in Galician and Portuguese, Pires also in Portuguese, and Peiris in coastal area of Sri Lanka (where it originated from the Portuguese version), with all ultimately meaning "son of Pêro". The name Pedro is derived via the Latin word "petra", from the Greek word "η πέτρα" meaning "stone, rock". The name Peter itself is a translation of the Aramaic ''Kephas'' or '' Cephas'' meaning "stone". An alternate archaic spelling is ''Pêro''. Pedro may refer to: Notable people Monarchs, mononymously *Pedro I of Portugal *Pedro II of Portugal *Pedro III of Portugal *Pedro IV of Portugal, also Pedro I of Brazil *Pedro V of Portugal *Pedro II of Bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium. It is commonly found within the margins of rhyolite, rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows. These flows have a high content of silicon dioxide, silica, granting them a high viscosity. The high viscosity inhibits atomic diffusion, diffusion of atoms through the lava, which inhibits the first step (nucleation) in the formation of mineral crystals. Together with rapid cooling, this results in a natural glass forming from the lava. Obsidian is hard, Brittleness, brittle, and amorphous; it therefore Fracture (mineralogy)#Conchoidal fracture, fractures with sharp edges. In the past, it was used to manufacture cutting and piercing tools, and it has been used experimentally as surgic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lapita Culture
The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. They are believed to have originated from the northern Philippines, either directly, via the Mariana Islands, or both. They were notable for their distinctive geometric designs on dentate-stamped pottery, which closely resemble the pottery recovered from the Nagsabaran archaeological site in northern Luzon. The Lapita intermarried with the Papuan populations to various degrees, and are the direct ancestors of the Austronesian peoples of Polynesia, eastern Micronesia, and Island Melanesia. Etymology The term 'Lapita' was coined by archaeologists after mishearing a word in the local Haveke language, ''xapeta'a'', which means 'to dig a hole' or 'the place where one digs', during the 1952 excavation in New Caledonia. The Lapita archaeological culture is named after the type site where it was first unco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
