{{Infobox settlement
, name = Sola
, other_name =
, native_name =
, settlement_type = Village
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, pushpin_map = Vanuatu
, pushpin_label_position = right
, pushpin_map_caption = Location in Vanuatu
, subdivision_type =
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
, subdivision_name1 =
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 ...
, subdivision_type2 =
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
, subdivision_name2 =
Vanua Lava
Vanua Lava is the second largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu, after slightly larger Gaua.
It is located about 120 km north-northeast of Espiritu Santo and north of Gaua.
Name
The name ''Vanua Lava'' comes from the Mota ...
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
of
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 ...
in
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 ...
. It is on the island of
Vanua Lava
Vanua Lava is the second largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu, after slightly larger Gaua.
It is located about 120 km north-northeast of Espiritu Santo and north of Gaua.
Name
The name ''Vanua Lava'' comes from the Mota ...
.
Near the village of Sola is the volcano Mount Suretamate (also called Sürétimiat or Sere'ama). The
Selva
Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...
Fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
include
saltwater crocodiles
The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed ...
introduced by
Steve Irwin
Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 19624 September 2006), known as "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, wildlife educator, and environmentalist.
Irwin grew up around crocodiles and ot ...
, and an
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
,
fire ant
Fire ants are several species of ants in the genus ''Solenopsis'', which includes over 200 species. ''Solenopsis'' are stinging ants, and most of their common names reflect this, for example, ginger ants and tropical fire ants. Many of the nam ...
.
Transportation
The village is served by
Vanua Lava Airport
Vanua Lava Airport , also known as Sola Airport, is an airport near Sola on the island of Vanua Lava, one of the Banks Islands in the Torba province in Vanuatu.
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one ...
.
Name
The name ''Sola'' comes from the
Mota language
Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. The language (named after the island) is one of the most conservative Torres–Banks languages, and the only one to keep its inherited five-v ...
, which was used as the primary language of the
Melanesian Mission The Melanesian Mission is an Anglican missionary agency supporting the work of local Anglican churches in Melanesia. It was founded in 1849 by George Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand.
History
Bishop Selwyn's see was focused on New Zealand. ...
. Locally, the island is called ''Sol'' in Vurës, and ''Asol'' (with locative prefix ''a-'') in the immigrant Mwotlap language. All of these terms come from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *''Sola''.