Ouvéa Island or Uvea Island is one of the
Loyalty Islands
The Loyalty Islands Province ( French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast of ...
, in the
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
of
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, an overseas territory of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. The island is part of the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
(municipality) of
Ouvéa
Ouvéa () or Uvea is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from t ...
, in the
Loyalty Islands Province
The Loyalty Islands Province ( French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast of ...
of New Caledonia.
Geography
The crescent-shaped island, which belongs to a larger
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
, is long and wide. It lies north east of ''Grande Terre'', New Caledonia's mainland.
History
Ouvéa is a
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 su ...
originally settled by
Polynesian navigators
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 ...
who named it for their home island,
Uvea Island. Some of their descendants still speak the
West Uvean language
West Uvean (also Uvean or Faga Ouvéa; ''Fagauvea'' in the vernacular) is a Polynesian outlier language spoken on the island of Ouvéa, in the Loyalty island group of New Caledonia, and in the capital of Nouméa. It has long been in contact ...
.
Demographics
Ouvéa is home to around 3,016 people who are organized into tribes divided into Polynesians and Melanesians by ethnic descent. The
Iaai language
Iaai (Iaai pronunciation: ) is a language of Ouvéa Island (New Caledonia). It shares the island of Ouvéa with Fagauvea, a Polynesian outlier language.
Iaai is the sixth-most-spoken language of New Caledonia, with 4078 speakers as of 2009. It ...
is spoken on the island.
Flora and fauna
Ouvéa has rich marine resources and is home to many sea turtles, species of fish, coral as well as a native parrot, the
Uvea parakeet
The Ouvea parakeet (''Eunymphicus uvaeensis'') or Uvea parakeet, is a species of parrot in the genus ''Eunymphicus'', in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to the island of Uvea in the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia. The species was once c ...
, that can only be found on the island of Ouvéa.
A large
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
called the
coconut crab
The coconut crab (''Birgus latro'') is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with a weight of up to . It can grow to up to in width from the tip ...
or ' can also be found on the islands. The large blue crabs live in palm tree plantations and can grow to several kilos in size. They are a land based species and do not venture into the ocean.
Ouvéa is also home to trophy
bonefish
The bonefish (''Albula vulpes'') is the type species of the bonefish family (Albulidae), the only family in order Albuliformes.
History
Bonefish were once believed to be a single species with a global distribution, however 9 different species ...
that inhabit the nutrient rich "flats" of the atoll.
External links
Islands of New Caledonia
Loyalty Islands
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