Rah or Ra is a small coral islet of , located in the

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

group of northern

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 ...

. The same name also refers to the single village which is situated within this islet. There are massive rocks on the island. The islet of Rah is situated off the larger island of

Mota Lava Mota Lava or Motalava is an island of the Banks Islands, Banks group, in the north of Vanuatu. It forms a single coral system with the Ra Island, small island of Ra. The 2009 Vanuatu Census, 2009 census figures give a population of 1640 inhabitan ...

. Access to Rah is done in two ways: at low tide, by wading across the narrow strait from the mainland; at high tide, by outrigger canoe.

Name

The islet is known in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and

Bislama Bislama (; ; also known by its earlier French name, ) is an English-based creole language and one of the official languages of Vanuatu. It is the first language of many of the "Urban ni-Vanuatu" (citizens who live in Port Vila and Luganville) ...

, as ''Rah'' (where the letter ''h'' does not represent anything in the actual name). ''Rah'' reflects a shortened version of the form ''Rao'' , which is the way the islet is called in the neighbouring language

Mota Mota, MOTA or variations thereof may refer to: Geography * Mota (island), Vanuatu * Mota, Ethiopia, a town * Mota, Gujarat, India, a town * Mota, Ljutomer, Slovenia, a village Music * ''M.O.T.A.'' (album), a 2005 album by Cultura Profética * "M ...

. The island has also been calle
''Ara''
In the islanders' own language

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 ...

, the islet is called ''Aya'' (with a locative prefix ''a-''). The name can be reconstructed, based on the Mota and Mwotlap forms, to Proto-Torres-Banks *''Rao''.

Population

The 2009 census figures give a population of 189 inhabitants. A 2015 estimate puts the population of the island at 224 people, with 42 households.Vanuatu National Statistics Office. (17–18 March 2015)
"2015 Vanuatu National Population and Households Projections by Province and islands"
Retrieved 12 October 2020.

References

Islands of Vanuatu Torba Province {{Vanuatu-geo-stub