Vanatinai Island (also called Tagula and Sudest, for the names of the extreme capes of the island) is a
volcanic island
Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
in the south-east of the
Louisiade Archipelago
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea.
It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread ...
within
Milne Bay Province
Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km² of land and 252,990 km² of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has a ...
of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. The
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...
-fringed island is approximately south-east of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
and south of
Misima
Misima (formerly called St. Aignan) is a High island, volcanic island in the northwest of Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea.
History
Misima Island was inhabited by Austronesian peoples, Austronesians sinc ...
. With an area of , it is the largest island of the archipelago. Tagula town, the main settlement, is located on the north-west coast. The population was 3628 . The principal export is
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
.
Geography
The island is long, stretching from
Cape Tagula
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. The ...
to
Cape Sudest Cape Sudest is a cape in Papua New Guinea, next to Oro Bay. There was an important U.S military base there in World War II. It was situated in Oro Province
Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal province of P ...
, and up to wide. A wooded mountain range runs through the length of the island, with the summit,
Mount Riu () near the center. The most important peaks of the range are, from west to east:
*Mount Madau ()
*Mount Gangulua ()
*Mount Riu (formerly called Mount Rattlesnake) ()
*Mount Imau ()
*Mount Arumbi ()
Climate
Most of Tagula island has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...
(Af) but the main settlement of Tagula, located in the northernmost and driest part of the island, has a
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
(Am).
History
The first recorded sighting by Europeans of Vanatinai Island was by the Spanish expedition of
Luís Vaez de Torres
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
on 14 July 1606.
The island was the site of a gold rush that began in 1888 and peaked in 1889. Gold was found in nearly all of the island's water courses.
[Pacific Islands Yearbook, 13th ed., Sydney, New York 1972]
Rambuso Village is located on the north coast of the eastern part of the island, where Rambuso Creek flows into the Pacific Ocean. Entry through the reef to the harbour is deep and easy to see during daylight. Many visiting yachts and local trading boats use this protected anchorage. In 2010 the villagers and several visiting yachties rebuilt the wharf and causeway. The villagers new slogan is "Rambuso Creek the gateway to Sudest".
The new wharf helped Rambuso develop and now the busy town has some 500 citizens.
Transportation
The island has an airport, code
(IATA-Code „TGL“) for public transport, near Tagula village.
Biodiversity
Several species are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the island, including the aptly named
Tagula white-eye
The Tagula white-eye or white-throated white-eye (''Zosterops meeki'') is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), ...
,
Tagula honeyeater
The Tagula honeyeater (''Microptilotis vicina'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independ ...
and
Tagula butcherbird
The Tagula butcherbird (''Cracticus louisiadensis'') is a species of bird in the family Artamidae.
It is endemic to Tagula Island in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), off ...
. Among frogs, ''
Cophixalus tagulensis'' is only known from Tagula.
[
]
References
Islands of Milne Bay Province
Louisiade Archipelago
Gold mines in Papua New Guinea
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