Reef Islands (Solomon Islands)
Reef Islands | ||
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NASA austronaut picture of the Reef Islands (Note: North is on the right in the picture.) |
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Waters | South pacific | |
archipelago | Santa Cruz Islands | |
Geographical location | 10 ° 15 ′ S , 166 ° 10 ′ E | |
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Number of islands | 16 | |
Main island | Lomlom | |
Total land area | 29 km² | |
Residents | 5521 (2009) | |
Map of the Reef Islands |
The Reef Islands are a group of 16 islands in the north of the Santa Cruz Islands in the southeast of the island state of the Solomon Islands . The islands are also known by their historical name Swallow Islands or Matema Islands . In 2009, around 5521 people lived on the Reef Islands.
The islands are about 80 km north of Nendo , the largest of the Santa Cruz Islands .
Islands
The main group with the islands belongs to the Reef Islands:
- Lomlom
- Nifiloli
- Fenualoa
- Ngalo
- Ngawa (island)
- Ngandeli
- Grimbanga Temoa
- Grimbanga Nende
- Matema Island
- Ngatendo
- Pigeon Island (Reef Islands)
Numa Miombilou or the "Great Reef", a 10 km long shoal located 25 km west of Nifiloli and made up of the four smaller coral reefs:
is formed. Separated from these two groups are the so-called Outer Islands :
- Nalongo and Nupani , 75 km northwest of the main islands
- Nukapu , 35 km northwest of the main islands
- Makalom , 17 km northwest of the main islands
- Pileni , 9 km northwest of the main islands
- Patteson Shoal , 100 km from the main islands
Most of the inhabitants of the groups speak the Polynesian dialect Aiwoo . In Pileni, Matema, Nupani, Nukapu, the residents speak the sub-dialect Pileni .