Taveuni (island)

Saint Helena / Levelwood /
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, with a total land area of 435 square kilometers. The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometers to the east of Vanua Levu, across the Somosomo Strait, and is part of the Northern Division. The island of Taveuni, about 10.5 kilometers wide and 42 kilometers long, is the top of an elongated shield volcano which erupted from a northeast-southwest trending rift on the ocean floor. About 150 volcanic cones dot the island

It had a population of around 9,000, some 75% of them indigenous Fijians, at the 1996 census.

In 1643, Abel Tasman became the first European to sight Taveuni. Historically, Vuna was considered to be the paramount village on Taveuni, but tribal warfare eventually established the supremacy of Somosomo. In the late 1860s, the Tongan warlord Enele Ma'afu, who had conquered the Lau Islands, was defeated by the Tui Cakau's army in a skirmish at Somosomo. Several islands that sided with Ma'afu were sold by Cakobau to European settlers in punishment, and their inhabitants were moved to Taveuni. The villages of Lovonivonu and Kanacea are populated by their descendants.

Taveuni has abundant flora and is sometimes known as the 'Garden Isle'. It is a popular tourist destination.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taveuni
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   16°50'34"S   214°44'54"E

Comments

  • Photo 1 picture: NASA (c), 2 picture: Doron (c).
  • Due to the mapping fault line, it would appear impossible to create a proper polygon. I have tried, but at the divide the polygon cannot continue, and the line from the other side appears.
  •  471 km
  •  471 km
  •  1606 km
  •  2872 km
  •  2873 km
  •  2965 km
  •  3187 km
  •  3854 km
  •  4738 km
  •  6277 km
This article was last modified 15 years ago