Merelava (or ''Mere Lava'') is an island in the

Banks Islands The Banks Islands (in Bislama ''Bankis'') are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba Province, Torba. The island group lies about north of Maew ...

of the

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

of 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 ...

Names

The inhabitants of Merelava call their own island ''Mwerlap'', more accurately ''N̄wërlap'' . The name ''Merelava'' or ''M̄ere Lava'' reflects the way it is called in the neighboring Mota language ‒ phonetically . According to Codrington, the etymology of this name (in Proto-Torres-Banks) is likely to be *''mʷera-i laβa'' > ''*mʷerelaβa'', literally “the big boy”; it contrasts with the neighboring island M̄erig , from *''mʷera riɣi'' “the small boy”. These words refer metaphorically to the islands themselves. Cognates in other Torres-Banks languages include

Mwotlap Mwotlap (pronounced ; formerly known as ''Motlav'') is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of ...

''M̄eylap'' .

Geography

Merelava is situated in the southeastern part of the archipelago near Mota and

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 * ...

. Merelava has also been known as ''Star Island''. It is located about east of

Gaua Gaua (formerly known as ''Santa Maria Island'') is the largest and second most populous of the Banks Islands in Torba Province in northern Vanuatu. It covers . Geography Gaua is subject to frequent earthquakes and cyclones. The climate is ...

. Merelava is a nearly round volcanic island with a diameter of almost 4.5 km and an area of 18 km². It is formed by a basaltic stratovolcano, which reaches in Mount Teu, also called Star Peak, a height of 883 m above the sea level. The main village is Tesmet on the west coast of the island. Other villages, starting clockwise at Tesmet, are Levetmise (northwest), Lekweal (north), Lewetneak (northeast), and Aot (southeast, second largest).

History

Merelava 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 ''San Marcos''. Merelava was reportedly seen smoking when it was first encountered by Quirós.

Population and language

The island has about 650 inhabitants. They all speak an Oceanic language known as '' Mwerlap''.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing location of Merelava
Islands of Vanuatu Volcanoes of Vanuatu Torba Province Banks Islands {{Vanuatu-geo-stub