Emae is an island in the
Shepherd Islands
The Shepherd Islands (coordinates ) are a group of islands lying between the larger islands of Epi and Éfaté, in the Shefa province of Vanuatu. The aggregate land area is . They were named by Captain Cook after Anthony Shepherd, a British astro ...
,
Shefa,
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
.
[UNEP Islands Directory]
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Geography
Maunga Lasi is the highest peak at 644 m. It forms the northern rim of the (mostly) underwater volcano of Makura, which also covers the nearby islands of Makura
Makura, locally known as Makira, is a small inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Makura is a part of the Shepherds Islands archipelago.
Geography
The estimated terrain elevation above the sea level is some 132 mete ...
and Mataso
Mataso is an island in the Shefa of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. The island is a part of Shepherd Islands archipelago.
Geography
Mataso Island is located south of Makira Island. It is formed by two hills separated by white sandy beaches known ...
. It is long and up to wide, with an area of .
Population
The island supports a population of about 750, growing at 3.1% per year. The main settlement is Makata. The principal economic activity is subsistence agriculture. The GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
of the island is $457 per capita. Unlike the surrounding islands populated by Melanesians
Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in a wide area from Indonesia's New Guinea to as far East as the islands of Vanuatu and Fiji. Most speak either one of the many languages of the Austronesian language f ...
, Emae and Makura are Polynesian outlier
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 s ...
s. The island's language, also called Emae
Emae is an island in the Shepherd Islands, Shefa, Vanuatu.
Geography
Maunga Lasi is the highest peak at 644 m. It forms the northern rim of the (mostly) underwater volcano of Makura, which also covers the nearby islands of Makura and Mataso. I ...
, is in the Futunic language
The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family.
There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austron ...
family, which includes most of the outliers in Vanuatu. North Efate, one of the other languages of the archipelago, is used as a second language. Many of the islanders now live in Port Vila
Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate.
Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...
. The crowning of four Emae chiefs in 2004 occurred there, and many of the tribal chiefs live there.Emae Chiefs
Transportation
The island has an airport,
Aromai Airport, Siwo . The nearby
Cook's Reef is a popular dive site.
See also
*
Polynesian outliers
Polynesian is the adjectival form of Polynesia. It may refer to:
* Polynesians, an ethnic group
* Polynesian culture, the culture of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia
* Polynesian mythology, the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia
* Poly ...
References
External links
UN Earthwatch Island siteEthnologue page for Emae
Islands of Vanuatu
Polynesian outliers
{{Vanuatu-geo-stub