Loyalty Islands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Loyalty Islands.

Provincial flag, showing a flèche faîtière (a spear-like wooden totem monument placed atop Kanak traditional dwellings).

The Loyalty Islands (French: Îles Loyauté) are an archipelago in the Pacific. They are part of the French territory of New Caledonia, whose mainland is 100 km (60 miles) distant. They form the Islands Province, one of the three provinces of New Caledonia. The first Western contact on record is attributed to the British Captain William Raven from the London trading ship 'Britannia', who in 1793 was on his way from Norfolk Island to Batavia. It is very likely however that the discovery and naming of the islands goes back to the London ship 'Loyalty' (also 'Loyalist', J. Daggett Master), being on a South Sea trading voyage from 1789 till 1790.

The archipelago consists of six inhabited islands: Lifou Island, Maré Island, Tiga Island, Ouvéa Island, Mouli Island, and Faiava Island, as well as several smaller uninhabited islands and islets. Their combined land area is 1,981 km² (765 sq. miles). The highest elevation is at 138 m (453 ft) above sea-level on Maré Island.

The Islands Province is divided into three communes (municipalities):

Lifou (comprises Lifou Island, Tiga Island, and several islets)
Maré (comprises Maré Island and Dudun Island)
Ouvéa (comprises Ouvéa Island, Mouli Island, Faiava Island, and several nearby islands and islets)

The people of the Loyalty Islands are of mixed Melanesian and Polynesian heritage, with also a small European minority. They number 22,080 as of 2004 census. Several thousands more natives of the Loyalty Islands live in Nouméa (New Caledonia's capital) and in the mining areas of New Caledonia's mainland.

The chief export of the Loyalty Islands is copra.

The islands are part of the New Caledonia rain forests ecoregion.

[edit] References

Dunbabin, Thomas: William Raven, RN, and his 'Britannia', 1792 - 95; in: The Mariner's mirror, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Nov.); London [u.a.] 1960 (S. 297-303)
Dunmore, John: Who's who in Pacific navigation; Carlton, Vic. 1992
Henze, Dietmar: Enzyklopädie der Entdecker und Erforscher der Erde, Bd. 4; Graz 2000
Jones, A. G. E.: Ships employed in the South Seas trade Vol. 1: 1775 - 1861; Canberra 1986 & Vol. 2: 1775 - 1859; Burwood, Vic. [1992]
Parsons, Vivienne: 'Raven, William (1756 - 1814)'; in: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 2, Melbourne Univ. Press, 1967, S. 364-365
Riesenberg, Saul H.: Six Pacific island discoveries; in: The American neptune, Vol. 34; Salem, Mass. 1974 (S. 249-57)
Sharp, Andrew: The discovery of the Pacific Islands; Oxford 1960