Gaua (formerly known as ''Santa Maria Island'') is the largest and second most populous of the
Banks Islands in
Torba Province in northern
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 ...
. It covers .
Geography

Gaua is subject to frequent earthquakes and cyclones. The climate is humid tropical; the average annual rainfall exceeds 3500 mm. It has rugged terrain, reaching up to
Mount Gharat (797 m), the peak of the active
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...
which lies at the center of the island. Its most recent eruption was in 2013. The volcano has a 6 × 9 km
caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
, within which lies a
crater lake, known as
Lake Letas, which is the largest lake in Vanuatu. To the east of the lake is
Siri Waterfall (120 m drop).
Natural History
Geology
Gaua's geology is fairly typical of an immature
volcanic island arc. The oldest part of the island is the southwestern corner, which consists largely of primitive
basalts and
ankaramites. Most of the island is covered by the Santa Maria Pyroclastic Series, a
mafic ignimbrite
Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...
unit that was produced by the eruption that formed the caldera.
Gaua is rare in hosting a mafic ignimbrite, as most similarly
explosive eruptions are more
silicic; other examples include
Masaya in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, and on
Ambrym, and
Tanna, also in Vanuatu. The eruption of the SMPS was also associated with the activation of
ring faults, and the production of
parasitic volcanic cones around the upper slopes of the volcano.
Wildlife
The upper slopes of the island have been recognised as an
Important Bird Area (IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
, because they support populations of
Vanuatu megapodes,
Vanuatu imperial pigeons,
Tanna fruit doves,
red-bellied fruit doves,
palm lorikeets,
cardinal myzomelas,
fan-tailed gerygones,
long-tailed trillers,
streaked fantails,
Melanesian flycatchers,
southern shrikebills,
Vanuatu white-eyes, and
red-headed parrotfinches. Other animals found there include
long-tailed fruit bats,
Vanuatu flying foxes, and
coconut crabs.
Population and languages
In 2009, the island had a population of 2,491, and an annual growth rate of 2.0 percent.
The inhabitants are scattered among various coastal villages on the western, southern and northeastern sides of the island. The eastern side has a few hamlets with an immigrant community, the members of which have come from the two smaller islands
Merig
Merig is a small island located east of Gaua, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu.
The island is about wide, and has a circumference of .
Name
The name ''Merig'' comes from the Mota language. It comes from a Proto-Torres-Banks form * ...
and
Merelava, that lie southeast of Gaua. The largest village on Gaua is ''Jolap'' , on the west coast.
In addition to
Mwerlap (the language of the immigrant population), there are five languages traditionally spoken on Gaua:
Lakon (also called Vuré),
Olrat,
Koro,
Dorig, and
Nume.
Economy
The livelihood of the people of Gaua is based on the agricultural economy that is traditional throughout of
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...
: a combination of fishing and horticulture.
Their principal exports are
copra and
cacao.
The island is served by
Gaua Airport, which is located in the northeast corner of the island.
Names
The modern name ''Gaua'' is pronounced in
Bislama, the ''lingua franca'' of Vanuatu, and in
French or
English.
In the local
Banks languages, the island was traditionally known not by one name, but two. One name reconstructs in
Proto-Torres–Banks as a form ''*ɣaua'' , the other one as ''*laᵑgona''. These respectively referred to the northeast half of the island, and its southwestern half (where one finds ''Lakona Bay'', and also where the
Lakon language is spoken).
Thus the
Mota language, which
missionaries used when naming most places in the
Banks Islands, has the forms ''Gaua'' and ''Lakona'' ;
Olrat and
Lakon have ''Gaō'' and ''Lakon'' ; and the immigrant language
Mwerlap has ''Gō'' and ''Lakon'' . Other
Torres-Banks languages that have reflexes of the two etyma include
Mwotlap ''Agō'' and ''Alkon'' ; and
Vurës ''Gō'' and ''Lokon'' .
Some modern languages have generalized one of these two etyma to refer to the whole island. Thus it is called ''Gog'' in
Nume, ''Gō'' in
Koro (both < ''*ɣaua''), and ''Lkon'' in
Dorig (< ''*laᵑgona''). Other
Torres-Banks languages that have only one reflex of the two etyma include
Hiw and
Lo-Toga ''Gawe'' (< ''*ɣaua''),
Vera'a ''Lōkōno'' (< ''*laᵑgona'') and
Mwesen ''Gō'' (< ''*ɣaua'').
History
Gaua was first sighted by Europeans during the Spanish expedition of
Pedro Fernández de Quirós
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...
, from 25 to 29 April 1606. The island’s name was then charted as ''Santa María''.
[Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. ''La Austrialia del Espíritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627)'' Cambridge, 1966, p.39, 62.]
Gallery
File:Mount Gharat and Lake Letas.jpg, Mount Gharat and Lake Letas
File:Siri Falls Gaua Vanuatu.jpg, Siri Waterfall
File:Mbaravit Beach.jpg, Baravit Beach (east coast)
File:Gaua People.jpg, Local people
File:Gaua.jpg, Gaua as seen from space
References
External links
*
Our Forest our Future; Managing Biodiversity in the South Pacific, Gaua Island, Vanuatu, Rudolf Hahn, CTA FAO 2013, youtube video
{{Authority control
Islands of Vanuatu
Volcanoes of Vanuatu
Calderas of Oceania
Volcanic crater lakes
Torba Province
Stratovolcanoes
Important Bird Areas of Vanuatu
Banks Islands