Banks Islands
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195160360
2008-03-01T18:53:45Z
Womtelo
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 195160161 by [[Special:Contributions/67.85.115.105|67.85.115.105]] ([[User talk:67.85.115.105|talk]])
The '''Banks Islands''' (or '''Îles Banks''') are a group of islands in northern [[Vanuatu]]. Together with the [[Torres Islands]] to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of [[Torba Province|Torba]]. The group lies about 40 km north of [[Maewo]], and includes [[Gaua]] and [[Vanua Lava]], two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 1979 the islands supported a population of 4,614.
==Geography==
[[Image:BanksAndRowa_Islands_Map.png|thumb|250px|Banks Islands]]
The largest island is [[Gaua]] (also called Santa Maria), which has a rugged terrain, rising to [[Mount Gharat]], an active volcano at the center of the island, at 797 m. The freshwater [[Lake Letas]] in the crater is the largest lake in Vanuatu. The slightly smaller Vanua Lava, is actually higher at 946 m; it also has an active volcano at [[Mount Suretamate]] (also spelled Sürétimiat or Sere Ama, 921 m). To its east are two islets, [[Ravenga]] and [[Kwakea]]. [[Sola, Vanuatu|Sola]], the provincial capital, is on this island. The third largest island, [[Ureparapara]] (also known as Parapara), is an old volcanic cone that has been breached by the sea, forming Divers Bay on its east coast.
To the east of these larger islands lie a number of much smaller ones. The furthest north, 50 km northeast of Ureparapara, is [[Vet Tagde]] (Vot Tande or Vot Ganai), an extinct [[volcano]] that last erupted 3.5 million years ago. The [[Rowa Islands]] (or Reef Islands) are a few very small, low islands on a coral [[atoll]]. [[Mota Lava]] is the largest and highest (411 m) of this eastern chain of islands; off its southern coast, attached by high corals that one can wade through at low tide, is the tiny islet of [[Ra (island)|Ra]]. [[Mota (island)|Mota]], [[Merig]], and [[Merelava]] complete the southeastern part of the archipelago.
==Language and Culture==
The islanders are of [[Austronesian people|Austronesian]] ancestry, and speak [[East Vanuatu languages]], which form part of the [[Oceanic]] language group. Among the fifteen languages spoken in the Banks Islands, most are severely endangered, being spoken by no more than a few hundred, and sometimes just a handful of last speakers. The language with the most speakers is [[Mwotlap]], with 1800 speakers.
The principal economic activity is [[subsistence agriculture]], though [[copra]], [[coffee]], and (on Santa Maria) [[cacao]] are grown for export. The sulfur deposits of Mount Suretamate on Vanua Lava were formerly worked by a French company. Tourism is increasingly important, on the islands with easy transport by airplane.
==History==
The Banks Islands were the first part of Vanuatu discovered by a European explorer, in 1606 when Portuguese explorer [[Pedro Fernández de Quirós]] sailed past Mere Lava and stopped at Gaua, before landing on [[Espiritu Santo]] and establishing a short-lived colony there. They were later overlooked in 1774 when Captain [[James Cook]] explored Vanuatu and believed he saw the whole chain. They were first explored by [[William Bligh]] of the British Navy, and named after his patron [[Joseph Banks|Sir Joseph Banks]]. They were charted by [[Matthew Flinders]]. Vanua Lava was first explored by the New Zealand Bishop [[George Augustus Selwyn]] in 1859.
==Transport==
There are airports on Mota Lava, Vanua Lava, and Gaua, which have a few flights a week with [[Air Vanuatu]]. Ships come principally for the exports, but will also take passengers.
==External links==
* [http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-field.htm Detailed list and map of the Banks and Torres languages]
{{Vanuatu}}
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[[Category:Islands of Vanuatu]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes]]
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[[gl:Illas Banks]]
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