Torba (or ''TorBa'') is the northernmost and least populous

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

. It consists of 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 ...

and the

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

. The province's name is derived from the initial letters of "''TORres''" and "''BAnks''".

Population

The province has a population of 9,359 and an area of . Its capital is

Sola Sola may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Saints of Los Angeles'', a 2008 album by Mötley Crüe * ''Sola'', an album by Olga Tañón * ''Sola'', an album by Zayda y los Culpables Songs * Sola (Becky G song), "Sola" (Becky G song ...

on Vanua Lava.

Islands

These are the main islands of Torba Province, excluding smaller and uninhabited islets. ;Banks Islands ;Torres Islands

Languages

The Torba province has seventeen languages, which are all

Oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

. From north to south, they are: Hiw,

Lo-Toga Lo-Toga is an Oceanic language spoken by about 580 people on the islands of Lo and Toga, in the Torres group of northern Vanuatu. The language has sometimes been called ''Loh'' or ''Toga'', after either of its two dialects. Name The languag ...

, Lehali, Löyöp,

Volow Volow (formerly known as ''Valuwa'' or ''Valuga'') is an Oceanic language variety that used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, Vanuatu. Name The name ''Volow'' is originally a placename: it cor ...

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 ...

Lemerig Lemerig is an Oceanic language spoken on Vanua Lava, in Vanuatu. The language is no longer actively spoken. The 2 remaining speakers live on the northern coast of the island. Lemerig has receded in favour of its neighbours Mwotlap and Vera' ...

, Vera'a, Vurës,

Mwesen Mwesen (formerly known by its Mota name ''Mosina'') is an Oceanic language spoken in the southeastern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 10 speakers. François (2012): 88). Mwesen shows many similariti ...

, Mota, Nume, Dorig,

Koro Koro may refer to: Geography *Koro Island, a Fijian island * Koro Sea, in the Pacific Ocean * Koro, Ivory Coast *Koro, Mali *Koro, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community Languages *Koro language (India), an endangered language spok ...

, Olrat, Lakon, and

Mwerlap Mwerlap is an Oceanic language spoken in the south of the Banks Islands in Vanuatu. Its 1,100 speakers live mostly in Merelava and Merig, but a fair proportion have also settled on the east coast of Gaua island. Besides, a number of Mwerlap spe ...

. François ''et al.'' (2015). With an average of 550 speakers per language, Torba is one of the most linguistically dense areas of Vanuatu, which is itself the country with the highest density of languages per capita in the world.

References

Bibliography

* * . Provinces of Vanuatu States and territories established in 1994 {{Vanuatu-geo-stub