Aneityum (also known as Anatom or Keamu) is the southernmost island of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

, in the province of

Tafea Tafea is the southernmost of the six Provinces of Vanuatu, provinces of Vanuatu. The name is an acronym for the five main islands that make up the province: Tanna, Aneityum, Futuna, Erromango and Aniwa. History Unlike the other provinces of V ...

Geography

Aneityum is the southernmost island of Vanuatu (not counting the Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are disputed with

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, but considered by the people of Aneityum Island part of their custom ownership). Its southeastern cape Nétchan Néganneaing is the southernmost point of land in Vanuatu, more southerly than the southern satellite islet Inyeug. The latter, however, is surrounded by Intao Reef, that extends even further south, albeit submerged, thus being the southernmost feature of Vanuatu. The island is in size. It rises to an elevation of in Mount Inrerow Atamein. The larger of its two villages is Anelcauhat ( Anelghowhat), on the south side.

Population

Aneityum had a population of 915 in 2009. This population is believed to have been between 9,000 and 20,000 prior to the arrival of the Europeans, in

1793 The French Republic introduced the French Revolutionary Calendar starting with the year I. Events January–June * January 7 – The Ebel riot occurs in Sweden. * January 9 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to ...

. However, introduced diseases and

blackbirding Blackbirding was the trade in indentured labourers from the Pacific in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often described as a form of slavery, despite the British Slavery Abolition Act 1833 banning slavery throughout the British Empire, ...

played a major role in Aneityum's massive depopulation, which left the island with fewer than 200 inhabitants in 1930. The main language of Aneityum island is also called Aneityum, or ''Anejom̃'' in the local orthography.

Traditional Chiefdoms

At the time of first contact with Europeans (around 1830) the island was subdivided into seven

chiefdom A chiefdom is a political organization of people representation (politics), represented or government, governed by a tribal chief, chief. Chiefdoms have been discussed, depending on their scope, as a stateless society, stateless, state (polity) ...

s () that each were presided by a (high chief) (clockwise, starting in Northwest:): *Anau-Unse (Annaunse) *Ijipdav (Epege) *Anetcho (Aneitio) *Anau-Unjai (Aname) *Anumej-Anekro (Annuantchai) *Umej (Umetch) *Anelcauhat The chiefdoms were further subdivided into more than 50 districts that were presided by minor chiefs (). The power of the chiefs was mainly of ritual nature.Matthew Spriggs: ''Population in a Vegetable Kingdom. Aneityum Island (Vanuatu) at European Contact in 1830.'' Kapitel 14 in Patrick V. Kirch und Jean-Louis Rallou (Hrsg.): The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies. Archaeological and Demographic Perspectives. University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu 2007, S. 278–305.

Maps

Aneiteum.JPG, Map of 1882 04-018b Vanuatu Aneityum Is.tif, Map of the traditional chiefdoms and districts

Transportation

The island is served by Anatom Airport, not on the main island itself, but on the tiny island to its south, Iñec (or Inyeug, also known as "Mystery Island"), across the main village, which has three weekly flights from

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

via Tanna.

References

External links

Vanuatu Tourism Office
Islands of Vanuatu Tafea Province {{Vanuatu-geo-stub