Rennell
| Rennell (Mu Nggava) | ||
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| Waters | Solomon Lake | |
| Geographical location | 11 ° 39 ′ S , 160 ° 17 ′ E | |
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| length | 86 km | |
| width | 15 km | |
| surface | 654 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 150 m | |
| Residents | 2013 (2009) 3.1 inhabitants / km² |
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| main place | Tigoa | |
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Rennell , Polynesian Mu Nggava , is an upscale atoll in the west Pacific island state of Solomon Islands .
The densely forested island is outside the Solomon Islands , about 200 km south of Guadalcanal and 180 km southwest of San Cristobal (Makira) . It is 86 km long and up to 15 km wide, and has an area of 654 km².
With the island of Bellona 24 km to the northeast and three atolls ( Indispensable Reefs ) located about 70 km to the south, Rennell forms the Solomonic province of Rennell and Bellona , with a total of approximately 3200 inhabitants.
history
Both islands were only discovered for the western world in 1793 by English sailors on board the merchant ship “ Bellona ”. The Samoan language of the islands is also called "Rennell" in English texts. It belongs to the Samoan branch of the Polynesian languages . Rennell is culturally therefore part of the outside of the Polynesian triangle lying Exklaven Polynesia .
particularities
Rennell is the largest coral atoll in the world raised from the sea ; H. In contrast to other coral islands, which only rise slightly above sea level, the atoll was raised to 1,000 m above sea level by geological processes.
The former lagoon in the southeast of the island now forms the Te Nggano , the largest lake in the island world of the Pacific with 15,500 hectares . The water is brackish , the lake contains numerous small, rugged inland islets made of coral limestone and many endemic animal and plant species.
Therefore, since 1998 the southern third of the island is (better than East Rennell known) with an area of 37,000 hectares and a three-mile-wide zone in the surrounding sea on the List of World Heritage of UNESCO .
literature
- Kaj Birket-Smith : Ethnology and Ethnography: An Ethnological Sketch of Rennell Island: A Polynesian Outlier in Melanesia. 2nd edition, Copenhagen 1969 ( PDF online )
Web links
- UNESCO site about East Rennell (English)
map
Map sketch from 1968 with the names of more than 150 villages and some chieftainships :
