300px, Map of the Reef Islands
Pileni is a culturally important island in the
Reef Islands,
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. It consists, essentially, of two chains of islands which run parallel to ...
, in the independent nation of
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
. Despite its location in
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 ...
, the population of the islands is
Polynesian.
Pileni has a population of below 300 inhabitants and is around wide and long. It is vulnerable to tsunamis and the sea level rising.
History
The first church in Pileni was set up in the 1930s. The island was hit by cyclones in the 1950s, 1985 and 1993, and a tsunami struck the island in 1990. An extension school was set up on the island in 2002, the classroom of which is the island's only permanent building. From 2000, there has been a reported shortage of fish and shellfish, and some fruit trees have died.
Economy
Per household, the average monthly income is between
SI$51 and SI$200. Some households sell pigs to increase their income.
Language
Pileni once gave its name to the
Samoic-Outlier language spoken there. What used to be called ''Pileni'' is now more commonly referred to under its native name
Vaeakau-Taumako.
References
External links
POLLInet* https://web.archive.org/web/20080120074303/http://solomonislands.com.sb/pileni.html
Islands of the Solomon Islands
Polynesian outliers
{{Solomons-geo-stub