Eua is an island in the kingdom of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. It is close to

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the natio ...

, but forms a separate

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

. It has an area of , and a population in 2021 of 4,903 people.

Geography

Eua is a hilly island, the highest peaks are the ''Teemoa'' (chicken manure) 312 m, and the ''Vaiangina'' (watersprings) 305 m. The island is not volcanic, but was shaped by the rubbing of the Tonga Plate against the

Pacific Plate The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At , it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate first came into existence 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Iza ...

, pushing Eua up and leaving the Tonga Trench on the bottom of the ocean, a short distance towards the east. The soil of Eua is volcanic, as is that of Tongatapu, but only the top layer, deposited by eruptions of nearby volcanoes ten thousands years ago. Under it are the solid rocks of pushed-up coral. Eua counts many huge caves and holes, not all of which have yet been explored. Eua and Niuatoputapu are the only islands in Tonga that have

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

s, and ʿEua had the only bridge in the kingdom until Vavau also built one. The stream drains into the harbour near the capital of the island, Ohonua. A unique feature is the shore between Ohonua and Tufuvai. It is coral reef still close to the sea level. Many small tidal pools are found, named the otumatafena. It is served by ʻEua Airport, which has an unsealed coral runway.

Myths

Together with Ata, Eua was the first island to be created by Tangaloa, see ''Tangaloa And The Story Of How ‘Eua Island Was Created''.

History

Eua was put on the European maps by

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach New ...

who reached it and

on 21 January 1643. He called it ''Middelburg Island'', after the Dutch city of

Middelburg, Zeeland Middelburg () is a city and municipality in the south-western Netherlands serving as the capital of the province of Zeeland. Situated on the central peninsula of the Zeeland province, ''Midden-Zeeland'' (consisting of former islands Walcheren, Noor ...

. He did not go on land, but proceeded to the Hihifo district of Tongatapu, which he named ''Amsterdam Island'' after the capital of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

. 'Eua was considered by early Missionaries as heathen as it was the rendezvous for whalers, a place that you can trade goods for guns, knives, axes and gunpowder. aka arsenal, or armory of Tonga, as well as its granary.

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

visited the island in 1773 and 1777. On his map, it is named ''Eaoowe''.

Administration

ʻEua is divided into two districts * 'Eua Motu'a (Old 'Eua), in the north, with six villages and population of 2,771. * 'Eua Fo'ou (New 'Eua), in the south, with 2,132 inhabitants in nine villages. The nine villages of the southern district 'Eua Niuafo'ou (or 'Eua Fo'ou for short) were founded by people who had to leave their island of Niuafo'ou in 1946 due to a volcanic eruption; they are all named after villages of Niuafo'ou. The northern district in contrast is Old 'Eua. The southern village of Kolomaile's inhabitants however are descendants of the former inhabitants of the island of Ata, Tonga's southernmost island, evacuated after the island was targeted by slavers. south-west of the southern tip of 'Eua (Lakufaanga) is the 35-acre island Kalau.

Demography

The villages of the original inhabitants of Eua are all in the north Houma, Taanga, Ohonua, Pangai,

Tufuvai Tufuvai is a village on the island of ʻEua in Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. ...

. Haatua and Kolomaile are from the original inhabitants from Ata, who were resettled there in 1863. The villages just north of that up to Angahā, are from the inhabitants of Niuafoou who were resettled there in 1946.

Ecology

ʻEua is the only habitat of the koki (''Prosopeia tabuensis'') in Tonga. It supports 12 species of birds, nine of lizards, and two bats, the

Insular flying fox The insular flying fox or Pacific flying fox (''Pteropus tonganus'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is geographically widespread, the most widespread flying fox in the Pacific: it is found in American Samoa, the Cook I ...

and

Pacific sheath-tailed bat The Pacific sheath-tailed bat or Polynesian sheath-tailed bat (''Emballonura semicaudata'') is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae found in American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Micronesia, Palau, Samoa (where it is called ''pe'a va ...

Culture

The 2014 film '' When the Man Went South'' was mostly filmed on ʻEua.

Gallery

References

External links

eua-island-tonga.comArchived
2009-04-18) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eua History of Tonga Islands of Tonga Tongan mythology Divisions of Tonga