The Reef Islands are a loose collection of 16 islands in the northwestern part of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

province of Temotu. These islands have historically also been known by the names of Swallow Islands and Matema Islands.

Geography

The islands lie about north of Nendo, the largest of the

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands ...

. The center of the group is at approximately 10°12'36" S

lat Lat or LAT may refer to: Places * Lat, Fuman, village in Gilan Province, Iran * Lat, Rasht, village in Gilan Province, Iran * Lat, Mazandaran, village in Iran * Lat-e Disar, village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Lat, Qazvin, village in I ...

., 166°10'12" E.

long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensu ...

. The islands are raised some five metres on the east and tilted west. The islands are subject to tidal surges caused by cyclones and volcanic activity from nearby Tinakula volcano. The island soils are shallow yet fertile. Map of the Reef Islands

The islands or

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gro ...

s of the group are: * Lomlom * Nifiloli * Fenualoa * Ngalo * Ngawa * Ngandeli * Nibanga Temau *

Nibanga Nendi Nibanga Nendi is of one of the Reef Islands located in Temotu Province Temotu (or Te Motu, literally "the island" in Polynesian) is the easternmost province of Solomon Islands. The province was formerly known as Santa Cruz Islands Province. I ...

Matema Island Matema Island or Matema is of one of the Reef Islands, of the independent nation of the Solomon Islands; it is located in Temotu Province. The language spoken on Matema Island is Pileni, which is a member of the Polynesian language family. Pileni ...

* Ngatendo * Pigeon Island. ''Numa Miombilou'' or "Great Reef" is one continuous shoal, extending about west of Nifiloli. About to the south of this shoal are 4 small

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

s: *Malani *Malim *Manuwa *Matumbi. Separated from these groups are what are called the "outer islands": * Nalongo and Nupani at 10°6'36" S.

., 165°19'12" E.

., located at about 75 km (45 mi.) northwest of the main group * Nukapu located about 35 km (21 mi.) to the northwest of the main group *

Makalom Makalom is a small uninhabited island in the Reef Islands, in the Solomon Islands province of Temotu. The island is 350 m long and 60 m wide, and is located on the south-west side of an oval-shaped atoll 2.5 km long and 1.5 km wide, some ...

about 17 km (10 mi.) to the northwest of the main group * Pileni about 9 km (5.5 mi.) to the northwest of the main group * Patteson Shoal about 100 km (60 mi.) away from the main group

Population and languages

The total population of the Reef Islands is about 5,600, according to 2003 estimates. This includes a Polynesian community, believed to be descendants of people from northern

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

. Two very different languages are spoken in the Reef Islands, both Oceanic, yet genealogically and typologically very different. The inhabitants of Pileni, Matema, Nupani and Nukapu, speak Vaeakau-Taumako (a.k.a. ''Pileni''), a Polynesian outlier language. The remaining Melanesian (non-Polynesian) population speaks Äiwoo, a member of the Reefs–Santa Cruz group of Oceanic.Boerger, Brenda; Næss, Åshild; Vaa, Anders; Emerine, Rachel; Hoover, Angela. 2012
Sociological factors in Reefs-Santa Cruz language vitality: a 40 year retrospective
'' International Journal of the Sociology of Language''. Volume 2012, Issue 214, Pages 111–152, ISSN (Online) 1613-3668, ISSN (Print) 0165-2516, DOI: 10.1515/ijsl-2012-0023.

Notes

References

Santa Cruz and the Reef Islands
1908 account by W. C. O'Ferrall, Anglican missionary from 1897 to 1904. Bodies of water of the Solomon Islands Islands of the Solomon Islands Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean {{Solomons-geo-stub

Geography

Population and languages

See also

Notes

References