Nanumanga
| Nanumanga | |
|---|---|
| Reef Island | |
|
|
 Nanumanga
|
|
| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country | Tuvalu |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3 km2 (1 sq mi) |
| Population (2002) | |
| • Total | 589 |
| • Density | 200/km2 (510/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Nanumangan |
| ISO 3166 code | TV-NMG |
Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu.[1][2] It has a surface area of about 3 km² with a population of almost 600.
Contents
History
On 9 May 1824 a French government expedition under Captain Louis Isidore Duperrey of the ship La Coquille sighted Nanumaga.[3]
Louis Becke, who later became a writer, became the resident trader for the Liverpool firm of John S. de Wolf and Co. on Nanumaga from about April 1880 until the trading-station was destroyed later that year in a cyclone.[4] Becke later wrote The Rangers of the Tia Kau[5] that describes a shark attack at the Tia Kau reef between Nanumea and Nanumaga.
The population of Nanumaga from 1860–1900 is estimated to be between 300[6] to 335 people.[7]
Nanumaga Post Office opened around 1925.[8]
In 1986 it became a centre of debate when Pacific archaeologists discovered the submerged Caves of Nanumanga, and found what they argued was the remains of fire created by pre-historic inhabitants.
Geography
There are three lagoons, the largest, Vaiatoa, having four islands. There are mangrove trees, native broadleaf forest and coconut palms. The island has an oval outline, with the longer axis oriented north-south. A fringing reef surrounds the whole island, which makes local fishing and transport into and out of the island difficult.
In March 2015 Nanumaga suffered damage to houses, crops and infrastructure as the result of storm surges caused by Cyclone Pam; 60-100 houses were flooded and the health facility suffered damage.[9][10]
Capes
- Cape on the north: Te Kaupapa
- Cape on the south: Te Papa
Population
At the 2002 census the population of the atoll was 589.
Villages
The two villages are Toga, also spelled Tonga (population 308) and Tokelau (pop. 281), at the western side of the island. The junior school is Lotohoni Primary School.
Transportation
There are a few paths.
Politics
Nanumanga is one of the eight constituencies in Tuvalu, and elects two Members of Parliament. Following the 2015 general election, Monise Lafai and Otinielu Tausi were returned to parliament. In the previous parliament Tausi had been elected as the speaker of the parliament on 3 March 2014.[11] He had returned to parliament as a result of the Nanumaga by-election, 2014.[12]
2015 election results
The Tuvaluan general election, 2015 was held on 31 March.[13][14]
| Nanumaga constituency results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Non-partisan | Monise Lafai*  |
315 | 36 | |
| Non-partisan | Otinielu Tausi* |
327 | 37 | |
| Non-partisan | Lutelu Faavae | 242 | 27 | |
Notable local people
Otinielu Tausi served as the speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu from 2003 until 2006, then again from March 2014 onward, and been the deputy prime minister of Tuvalu.
Tuau Lapua Lapua is an Tuvaluan Olympic weightlifter. At the 2013 Pacific Mini Games, Tuau Lapua Lapua won Tuvalu's first ever gold medal in major sporting competition in the men's 62 kilogram snatch. (He also won bronze in the clean and jerk, and obtained the silver medal overall for the combined event.)
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Keith S. Chambers & Doug Munro, The Mystery of Gran Cocal: European Discovery and Mis-Discovery in Tuvalu, 89(2) (1980) The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 167–198
- ↑ 'Louis Beck, Adventurer and Writer', Chapter 8, Rascals in Paradise, James A. Michener and Arthur Grove Day, Secker and Warburg (1957)
- ↑ http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/22486/
- ↑ Richard Bedford, Barrie Macdonald & Doug Monro, Population Estimates for Kiribati and Tuvalu (1980) 89(1) J. of the Polynesian Society 199
- ↑ W.F. Newton, The Early Population of the Ellice Islands, 76(2) (1967) The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 197–204.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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