Linua is an island in the

Torres Islands The Torres Islands are in the Torba Province of the country of Vanuatu, and is that country’s the northernmost island group. The chain of islands that make up this micro-archipelago straddles the broader cultural boundary between Island Melane ...

archipelago in

Torba Province Torba (or ''TorBa'') is the northernmost and least populous province of Vanuatu. It consists of the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands. The province's name is derived from the initial letters of "''TORres''" and "''BAnks''". Population The ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Geography

Linua has a length of 2.8 km and diameter of 1 km. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is 23 meters. Linua lies about 60 miles (100 km) north of Espiritu Santo Island between islands of Tegua and Lo. The island is surrounded by

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s. There is an airstrip on the island opened in 1983 that provides the only regular transportation flights with the rest of Vanuatu. The island is used mostly in times of plane landing, and is not settled permanently; the people there are based in the neighbouring village of Lungharegi, on Lo island. Linua has a small tourist hamlet, Kamilisa, consisting of four bungalows and a capacity of up to 20 people.

Climate

Linua has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af) with very heavy rainfall year-round.

Name

The island is locally called ''Linue'' in Lo-Toga. The official name ''Linua'' is spelled according to the

Mota language Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. The language (named after the island) is one of the most conservative Torres–Banks languages, and the only one to keep its inherited fiv ...

, which missionaries chose as a reference in the area; the latter form is conservative of the ancient form *''linua'' which can be reconstructed in the ancestral language of the Torres and Banks Islands.

References

Torba Province Islands of Vanuatu Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean {{Island-stub