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. The island group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 2009, the islands had a population of 8,533. The island group's combined land area is .

Geography The largest island is Gaua (formerly called Santa Maria), which has a rugged terrain, rising to Mount Gharat, an active volcano at the centre of the island, at . Gaua's freshwater Lake Letas, in its volcanic crater, is the largest lake in Vanuatu. A slightly smaller island in the group, Vanua Lava, is higher, at ; it too has an active volcano: Mount Suretamate (also spelled Süretimiat or Sere'ama, ). To the east of Vanua Lava are two islets in the groupo, Ravenga and Kwakea (also spelled Qakea). Sola, the provincial capital, is on Vanua Lava. The third largest island in the group, Ureparapara (also known as Parapara), is an old volcanic cone that has been breached by the sea, forming a bay, known as Divers Bay, on its east coast.

To the east of these larger islands lie a number of smaller ones. The furthest north of them, northeast of Ureparapara, is Vet Tagde (also known as Vot Tande or Vat Ganai), which is an extinct volcano that last erupted 3.5 million years ago. Other small islands in this eastern chain in the Banks Island group include the Rowa Islands (also called the Reef Islands), which are a few very small, low islands on a coral atoll. Mota Lava is the largest and highest (411 m) of this eastern chain of islands; off its southern coast, attached by high corals that can be waded through at low tide, is the tiny islet of Ra. The islands of Mota, Merig, and Merelava complete the southeastern part of the archipelago.

Islands Island name Area(km2) Population Capital Peak Height(meter) Municipality Coordinates Vot Tande 0.24 - - ... 76 Mota Lava Ureparapara 39 437 Ley (Lesereplag) Mt Towlap 764 Ureparapara Vanua Lava 330 2623 Sola Mt Suretamate 921 Vanua Lava Mota 9.5 683 Veverao Mt Tawe 411 Mota Mota Lava 31 1451 Lahlap Mt Tuntog 243 Mota Lava Ra (Aya) 0.5 189 Ra ... ... Mota Lava Mere Lava 15 647 Tasmate Mt Teu (Star Peak) 833 Mere Lava Gaua 330 2491 Jolap Mt Gharat 767 Gaua Merig 0.5 12 Levolvol ... 125 Mere Lava Rowa (Reef Islands) 0.1 - - ... 2 Mota Lava Banks Islands 780 8.533 Sola Mt Suretamate 921 6 municipalitiesCitypopulation: Vanuatu: Verwaltungsgliederung

Economy The principal economic activity is subsistence agriculture, although copra, coffee and (on Gaua) cacao are grown for export. The sulphur deposits of Mount Suretamate on Vanua Lava were formerly worked by a French company. Tourism is increasingly important on the islands, which can be reached by airplane.

Transport There are airports on Mota Lava, Vanua Lava and Gaua, served by Air Vanuatu, which operates a few flights each week and Air Taxi Vanuatu as requested. Ships come to these islands, principally to pick up the products being exported, but they will also take passengers.

History

Like the rest of Vanuatu, the Banks Islands were first settled around the by Austronesian navigators belonging to the Lapita culture. Archaeologists have found ancient obsidian in Motalava, Vanua Lava and Gaua, and they have found Lapita pottery on Motalava.

Between 25 and 29 April 1606, the Banks Islands became the first part of Vanuatu to be discovered by a European explorer: A Spanish expedition led by the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós sailed past Merelava and stopped at Gaua before landing on Espiritu Santo and establishing a short-lived colony there. Merelava was charted as San Marcos, Mota Lava as Lágrimas de San Pedro (St. Peter's tears), Vanua Lava as Portal de Belén (Stable at Bethlehem), and Gaua as Santa María.Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627) Cambridge, 1966, p.39, 62.

Captain James Cook explored Vanuatu in 1774, and believed he had seen the whole chain, but he did not see the Banks Islands. They were explored by William Bligh, of the British Navy, and named after his patron, Sir Joseph Banks. They were charted by Matthew Flinders. Vanua Lava was first explored by a New Zealand bishop, George Augustus Selwyn in 1859.

Languages + The 15 languages of the Banks Islands Island Language # speakers Ureparapara Lehali 200 Ureparapara Löyöp 240 Motalava Volow 1 Motalava Mwotlap 2100 Vanua Lava Lemerig 2 Vanua Lava Vera'a 500 Vanua Lava Vurës 2000 Vanua Lava Mwesen 10 Mota Mota 750 Gaua Nume 700 Gaua Dorig 300 Gaua Koro 250 Gaua Olrat 3 Gaua Lakon 800 Merelava Mwerlap 1100

The inhabitants of the Banks Islands speak 15 different languages.See François (2012).Detailed list and map of the Banks and Torres languages. Several are endangered, being spoken by no more than a few hundred — and, in some cases, no more than a handful - of last speakers.

All of these languages belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.See François (2011).

Notes

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