Matthew and Hunter Islands
| Matthew and Hunter Islands | ||
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 22 ° 21 ′ S , 171 ° 20 ′ E | |
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| Number of islands | 2 | |
| Main island | Matthew Island | |
| Total land area | 1.3 km² | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
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The Matthew and Hunter Islands are small, uninhabited volcanic islands in Melanesia . They are claimed by both France for New Caledonia and Vanuatu .
geography
The islands of Matthew and Hunter are located in the South Pacific east of the main island of the French overseas territory New Caledonia and 279 km (Matthew) and 329 km (Hunter) southeast of the southernmost Vanuatu island of Anatom . The distances to New Caledonia are 444 km (Matthew) and 518 km (Hunter).
Matthew Island (0.7 km²) is 22 ° 21 ′ S , 171 ° 20 ′ E , while the smaller Hunter Island (0.55 km²) is 72.6 km further east at 22 ° 24 ′ S , 172 ° 3 ′ O .
Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap
history
Matthew was discovered in 1788 by the Englishman Thomas Gilbert , who named the island after the owner of the ship. There were eruptions in the 1940s that tripled the size of the island by 1950.
Hunter, the southeastern island of the group, was discovered in 1798 by John Fearn , the captain of the British merchant ship Hunter on the voyage from Sydney to Hawaii and named after his ship. The last lava eruption occurred here in 1903.
literature
- Andrew Sharp: The discovery of the Pacific Islands. Oxford 1960.
- John Dunmore: Who's who in Pacific navigation. Univ. of Hawaii Pr., Honolulu 1991, ISBN 0-8248-1350-2 .
Web links
- Historical maps and history of the islands
- Matthew Iceland in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
- Hunter Island in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)