Cikobia-i-Lau, or Cirikalia, is an island in the
Lau Islands
The Lau Islands aka little Tonga (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about sixty islands and islets, about thirty a ...
in the north-east of
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
. The island has historically been called Thikombia,
Thimkombia-i-Lau or Farewell Island.
Environment
In the
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
period, Cikobia-i-Lau was one of the most seismically active islands in Fiji.
In 1976
white-tailed tropic birds were using the islands cliffs as nest sites.
The island is forested, has one village, as well as some caves, cliffs and gardens.
In 2016
Cyclone Winston
Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere on record, as well as the strongest to make landfall on record, and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2016. Winston is also the costl ...
damaged the island and its infrastructure, and repairs supported by the Fijian and New Zealand governments began in March.
Society
In 1982 Cikobiai-Lau's islanders rescued a Californian family who had spent 25 days adrift before being stranded on a sand bar close to the island.
Notable people
In 2016 the head man was Ledua Sele.
Gallery
File:Yanuyanu & Cikobia from ridge behind Sawana, Vanua Balavu Fiji 1977.jpg, Patchwork of vegetation in foreground, looking past Yanuyanu Island across the huge lagoon towards Cikobia-i-Lau in the distance
File:Moussonia brodieae (MNHN-IM-2000-27439).jpeg, Holotype specimens of Moussonia bronieae, snails endemic to the island.
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Islands of Fiji
Vanua Levu