Manua Islands

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Manua Islands
Ofu-Olosega (north coast)
Ofu-Olosega (north coast)
Waters Pacific Ocean
archipelago Samoa Islands
Geographical location 14 ° 13 ′  S , 169 ° 33 ′  W Coordinates: 14 ° 13 ′  S , 169 ° 33 ′  W
Manua Islands (American Samoa)
Manua Islands
Number of islands 4th
Main island Dew
Total land area 59 km²
Residents 1143 (2010)
Map of the Manua Islands
Map of the Manua Islands

The Manu'ainseln ( English Manu'a Islands Group , samoan. Manu'a tele , old name Baumann Islands ) are a to American Samoa belongs archipelago .

geography

They include the second, third and fourth largest island of the territory: Taʻū (45.7 km² ), Ofu (7.5 km²) and Olosega (5.4 km²), as well as Nuʻutele Island (0.18 km², an uninhabited side island 200 meters west of Ofu) and are about 100 km east of Tutuila , the main island of American Samoas. Ofu and Olosega are connected by a sandbar to form a double island ( Ofu-Olosega ). The main town of the Manu'a Islands is Ta'u on the island of the same name.

The four islands are of volcanic origin and famous for their spectacular, lush mountain landscape and sandy beaches. The mountain Lata on Taʻū is with 969 m (in other sources: 995 m) the highest point in American Samoa. The island's cliffs reach heights of over 350 m.

history

The archipelago was on 14./15. Discovered for Europe on June 16 , 1722 by Jakob Roggeveen , who named them the Baumann Islands, after the captain of his escort ship Thienhoven .

A total of around 5,000 people, almost all of whom are Polynesians , live in small villages on the Manu Islands . In 1904 the islands came under US rule. The islands of Taʻū and Ofu have airfields; there are regular flight connections to Pago Pago , the capital of American Samoa. Large parts of the archipelago have been part of the American Samoa National Park since 1988 .

The American anthropologist and ethnologist Margaret Mead lived as a young researcher for some time in the village of Lumā on Taʻū and studied traditional Samoan society there.

In February 2005 the Manu Islands were badly hit by a tropical cyclone . In the villages of Taʻū and Faleāsao in particular, there was great damage to property.

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