Rah or Ra is a small coral islet of , located in the
Banks group 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 ...
. The same name also refers to the single village which is situated within this islet.
There is a massive rock tower on the island, which is a popular hiking spot for locals as well as tourists.
It is named ''Tavalya'' in
Mwotlap (meaning "the other side of Ra"), and sometimes labelled 'the Rock of Rah' in English.
The islet of Rah is situated off the larger island of
Mota Lava. Access to Rah is done in two ways: at low tide, by wading across the narrow strait from the mainland;and at high tide, by outrigger canoe.
Name
The islet is known in
English, and
Bislama, as ''Rah'' (where the letter ''h'' does not represent anything in the actual name). ''Rah'' reflects a shortened version of the form ''Rao'' , which is the way the islet is called in the neighbouring language
Mota. The island has also been calle
''Ara'' presumably an older variant of the current Mwotlap name.
In the islanders' own language
Mwotlap, the islet is called ''Aya'' (with a locative prefix ''a-'').
The name can be reconstructed, based on the Mota and Mwotlap forms, to
Proto-Torres-Banks *''Rao''.
Population
The 2009 census figures give a population of 189 inhabitants. A 2015 estimate puts the population of the island at 224 people, with 42 households.
[Vanuatu National Statistics Office. (17–18 March 2015)]
"2015 Vanuatu National Population and Households Projections by Province and islands"
Retrieved 12 October 2020.
References
Islands of Vanuatu
Torba Province
Banks Islands
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