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Ambae
Ambae, also known as Aoba, Omba, Oba, or Opa and formerly Lepers’ Island, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, approximately 310 kilometres (165 nautical miles) north-northwest of Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila. It is also Vanuatu's largest active volcano.
The various names of Ambae come from the indigenous Oceanic languages spoken within Vanuatu. The forms with a- reflect a locative marker added to the proper name of the island, spelled Oba or Omba, both reflecting a pronunciation of [oᵐba] in the local dialects spoken there. In Mota, once the lingua franca of the Melanesian Mission, it is called Opa [opa]. All of these terms come from a Proto-North-Central Vanuatu form *oᵐba.
The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós in the spring of 1606.
The misty sight of Ambae from neighboring Espiritu Santo, which served as a major World War II airbase, inspired the mythical Bali Ha'i in James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific.
Rough, black basalt stones compose its shoreline and surface in many places, though the soils (where present) are rich. The island appears to be covered in nearly unbroken vegetation; inhabited areas feature large gardens and managed forests above, with coconut and cacao plantations usually closer to shore. There are no reliable sources of surface water (rivers, streams, or lakes), save the crater lakes which are inaccessible. Water for all human uses comes from cement-lined wells or water tanks filled with rainwater.
There are no permanent rivers on the island, but the population rarely suffers from water shortages.
The climate is both humid tropical with slight seasonal variations. The average annual temperature on the coast is 30 °C, on the caldera - 23 °C. The average annual rainfall varies from 2500 to 3500 mm of rain. The rainy season lasts from November to April.
The upper slopes of the island have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of Tanna fruit doves, red-bellied fruit doves, palm lorikeets, cardinal myzomelas, Vanuatu honeyeaters, fan-tailed gerygones, Polynesian trillers, long-tailed trillers, streaked fantails, Melanesian flycatchers, buff-bellied monarchs, southern shrikebills, Vanuatu white-eyes and rusty-winged starlings.
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Ambae
Ambae, also known as Aoba, Omba, Oba, or Opa and formerly Lepers’ Island, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, approximately 310 kilometres (165 nautical miles) north-northwest of Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila. It is also Vanuatu's largest active volcano.
The various names of Ambae come from the indigenous Oceanic languages spoken within Vanuatu. The forms with a- reflect a locative marker added to the proper name of the island, spelled Oba or Omba, both reflecting a pronunciation of [oᵐba] in the local dialects spoken there. In Mota, once the lingua franca of the Melanesian Mission, it is called Opa [opa]. All of these terms come from a Proto-North-Central Vanuatu form *oᵐba.
The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós in the spring of 1606.
The misty sight of Ambae from neighboring Espiritu Santo, which served as a major World War II airbase, inspired the mythical Bali Ha'i in James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific.
Rough, black basalt stones compose its shoreline and surface in many places, though the soils (where present) are rich. The island appears to be covered in nearly unbroken vegetation; inhabited areas feature large gardens and managed forests above, with coconut and cacao plantations usually closer to shore. There are no reliable sources of surface water (rivers, streams, or lakes), save the crater lakes which are inaccessible. Water for all human uses comes from cement-lined wells or water tanks filled with rainwater.
There are no permanent rivers on the island, but the population rarely suffers from water shortages.
The climate is both humid tropical with slight seasonal variations. The average annual temperature on the coast is 30 °C, on the caldera - 23 °C. The average annual rainfall varies from 2500 to 3500 mm of rain. The rainy season lasts from November to April.
The upper slopes of the island have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of Tanna fruit doves, red-bellied fruit doves, palm lorikeets, cardinal myzomelas, Vanuatu honeyeaters, fan-tailed gerygones, Polynesian trillers, long-tailed trillers, streaked fantails, Melanesian flycatchers, buff-bellied monarchs, southern shrikebills, Vanuatu white-eyes and rusty-winged starlings.