 Map of Vavaʻu. | |
 | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 18°39′05″S173°59′01″W / 18.65139°S 173.98361°W /-18.65139; -173.98361 |
| Archipelago | Tonga Islands |
| Total islands | 55 |
| Major islands | 1 |
| Area | 138 km2 (53 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 131 m (430 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Talau |
| Administration | |
Tonga | |
| Largest settlement | Neiafu (pop. 3,731) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 14,283[1] (2021) |
| Pop. density | 108.1/km2 (280/sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Tongan (majority), European, Chinese, Pacific Islanders. |
Vavaʻu is an island group, consisting of one large island (ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, inTonga. It is part ofVavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, theMaui god created bothTongatapu and Vavaʻu, but put a little more effort into the former. Vavaʻu rises 204 m (669 ft) above sea level atMount Talau. Thecapital isNeiafu, situated at thePort of Refuge (Puatalefusi or Lolo-ʻa-Halaevalu).
InPolynesia, it is said that the islands were created by thegodMaui, who reached into the bottom of the sea with his magic hook, caught something on it, and pulled it up to the sea surface, and it became the islands of Vavaʻu.
DonFrancisco Mourelle de la Rúa, commanding theSpanishfrigatePrincesa, was the firstEuropean to come to Vavaʻu, which he did on 4 March 1781. He charted Vavaʻu asMartín de Mayorga, naming it after the incumbentViceroy ofNew Spain.[2]CaptainJames Cook had known about the islands a decade earlier, but the people inHaʻapai had told him it would be no good for him to go there; they told him there was noharbour. They may have told him this to dissuade him from going there; but Cook heeded their advice.
As it turned out, Mourelle found excellentanchoring, in Vavaʻu, which he desperately needed, because he had failed to find a harbour at the last two places he had tried to land,Fonualei (Bitterness island) andLate. He gave the harbour at Vavaʻu the namePort of Refuge, although his original port of refuge had been the bay on the west coast of the main island, nearLongomapu.
Twelve years later, in 1793, theMalaspina Expedition visited the area for a month, following up on Mourelle's investigations, and formally claiming the islands forSpain.
Whaling vessels were among the first regular Western visitors to the islands. The first on record was theFanny, on 17 June 1823, and the last was theRobert Morrison, from July through September, 1883.[3] These vessels came for water, food, and wood - and sometimes they recruited islanders to serve as crewmen on their ships. They stimulated commerce and were significant agents for change on the islands.
In 1839, theTuʻi Tonga (chief),George Tupou I, instituted theVavaʻu Code in Vavaʻu.
The Vavaʻu island group is spread out across an area that measures about 21 km from east to west and 25 km from north to south. Vavaʻu had 13,738 inhabitants at the 2016 census, 5,251 of whom lived in the capital, Neiafu.[4] The islands inVavaʻu District, outside of theVavaʻu Group, are uninhabited. The main island of’Utu Vava’u, at 97 km2 (37 sq mi), is the second largest island in Tonga.
Vavaʻu is acoral reef with cliffs in the north rising to 200 m (660 ft) above sea level. On the south side, the island group is dispersed into many small, scattered islands and waterways. The largest of the waterways, thefjord-likeAva Pulepulekai channel, extends 11 km (6.8 mi) inland from the harbor of Neiafu (the capital).
The north coast of ’Utu Vava’u island is a raised platform of coral cliffs. The southern coastline is low and irregular, and opens out into a network of channels, bays, and islets, forming one of the best-protected natural harbors in the Pacific.
’Utu Vava’u is also home to theʻEneʻio Botanical Garden, which is Tonga's only botanical garden.
Vavaʻu's climate is by far the warmest in Tonga (apart from theNiuas, which are the northernmost islands in the kingdom). Its warm climate and fertilesoil makes it a haven for growers ofvanilla,pineapple, and othertropical fruits.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 15,068 | — |
| 1986 | 15,175 | +0.7% |
| 1996 | 15,715 | +3.6% |
| 2006 | 15,505 | −1.3% |
| 2011 | 14,922 | −3.8% |
| 2016 | 13,738 | −7.9% |
| 2021 | 14,283 | +4.0% |
| Sources:[8][9][1] | ||
Vavaʻu is popular with sailors and other tourists, because of its scenery. It is one of the most visitedtourism sites in Tonga. From May to October, the Port of’Utu Vava’u attracts sailing boats from elsewhere in the world and arranges for tourists to dive withhumpback whales and explore underwatercaves. The island is served byVavaʻu International Airport.
Tourism,agriculture, and fishing are the main sources of income for the inhabitants. The vanilla beans grown here are considered among the best in the world.[citation needed]Giant clams are farmed, andpearls are cultured.
Vavaʻu is also a sport fishing destination, including forsailfish.[10]
Vavaʻu is home to 262 species of plants, 11 species of lizard, 38 species of bird, and 41 species of terrestrial snail.[11]
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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