Nomuka is a small island in the southern part of the Haapai group of islands in

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. It is part of the Nomuka Group of islands, also called the Otu Muomua. Among neighboring islands are Kelefesia, Nukutula, Tonumea, Fonoifua, Telekitonga.

Geography

Nomuka is 7 square kilometres in area. It has a large brackish lake (Ano Lahi) in the middle, and three smaller lakes—Ano Ha'amea, Ano Fungalei, and Molou. There are approximately 400–500 inhabitants. They subsist on fishing, farming, and

remittances A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes ...

from family members abroad. The island has a secondary school, two primary schools, and a kindergarten. It has seven churches. The island is accessible by boat only. Boats leave weekly from Nukualofa and

Lifuka Lifuka is an island in the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located within the Haʻapai group in the centre of the country, to northeast of the national capital of Nukuʻalofa. It is the administrative centre of the Haʻapai group of islands with Pangai ...

, Haapai. There is one guesthouse on the island, and three or four small ''fale koloa'', or convenience stores. It is home to the Royal Nomuka Yacht Club

History

Notable historic visitors include

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

, Captain Bligh, and William Mariner. The Dutch Abel Tasman made the first European discovery of the island, on 24 January 1643. A party went ashore to get water, and the description they brought back of the huge lake leaves little doubt about the identification. Tasman called it ''Rotterdam'' island, after the city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, a major port in the Netherlands, and noted in his maps the indigenous name of ''Amamocka'', a misspelling of ''a Nomuka'', ''a'' being a subject-indicating article. We also find the name of ''Amorkakij'' for the nearby smaller island of Nomuka Iki.http://image.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/ebindshow.pl?doc=safe1_72/a287;seq=57 Tasman's map Captain Bligh in the ''Bounty'' spent 3 days wooding and watering at Nomuka in April 1789. The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred the day after they left.

Population

Nomuka is known for raising up the greatest number of church leaders for the major Christian denominations in Tonga, such as Rev. Sione Lepa To'a the former president of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, Rev. Seluipepeli Mafi and his son Rev Dr Feke Mafi as both former presidents of the Church of Tonga, and Pastor Tetileti Pahulu, a former president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Apart from these former church presidents, there are also pastors (and former pastors) and Christian workers serving under different denominations and parachurch organisations in Tonga and overseas.

References

{{Authority control Islands of Tonga Haʻapai