Tuvuca (pronounced ) is a small island off

Vanua Balavu Vanua Balavu (pronounced ) is the third largest island in Fiji's Lau archipelago, and the main island of the Northern Lau Group. Geography and infrastructure This coral and volcanic island has a land area of . Its maximum elevation is . The isl ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

's Lau archipelago. It is a densely wooded and inhabited island and rises above sea level at the highest point. There is only one village on the island, which has a population of around 180 people. There is a primary school. Tuvuca has untapped deposits of phosphate.

Chiefly titles

Tuvuca is part of the Tikina of

Lomaloma Lomaloma (; officially ''Lomaloma Tikina'', ) is a village at the south of the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau Islands, Lau archipelago of Republic of Fiji, Fiji. The settlement is part of the tribal district of Tikina, Lomaloma and consist ...

and the chiefly title of this island is held by the Tui Tuvuca, which is generally held in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

by the reigning Turaga na Rasau.Ai Vola Ni Kawa Bula The Village Chief of Tuvuca holds the title of Ramasi, it was this chiefs ancestors who gave the title to the Rasau of Lomaloma because he brought peace to Tuvuca and stopped a long-standing feud.Lau Islands, by A.Hocart, P226-227

Notes

Bibliography

* ''The Fiji Islands: A Geographical Handbook'' - Page 308, by Ronald Albert Derrick - 1951, ''reference to Tuvuca Island also a sketch of the Island''. * ''Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi'', Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology and Natural History - Page 240, by Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum - 1949. *
The Pacific Way: A Memoir
' - Page 9 and 69, by Kamisese Mara - 1997, ''references to Tuvuca Island''. * Desperate Voyage by John Caldwell page 269 to 311 Islands of Fiji Lau Islands {{Fiji-geo-stub