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Aneityum
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Aneityum, also known as Anatom or Keamu, and also spelt Aneitum is the southernmost island of Vanuatu, in the province of Tafea.
Key Information
History
[edit]Indigenous population
[edit]The population of the island is believed to have been between 9,000 and 20,000 prior to the arrival of the Europeans[1] in 1793. However, introduced diseases and blackbirding played a major role in Aneityum's massive depopulation, which left the island with fewer than 200 inhabitants in 1930.[citation needed]
Traditional chiefdoms
[edit]
At the time of first contact with Europeans (around 1830) the island was subdivided into seven chiefdoms (nelcau) that each were presided by a natimarid (high chief) (clockwise, starting in Northwest:):
- Anau-Unse (Annaunse)
- Ijipdav (Epege)
- Anetcho (Aneitio)
- Anau-Unjai (Aname)
- Anumej-Anekro (Annuantchai)
- Umej (Umetch)
- Anelcauhat
The chiefdoms were further subdivided into more than 50 districts that were presided by minor chiefs (natimi alupas). The power of the chiefs was mainly of ritual nature.[2]
European contact
[edit]The Royal Navy vessel HMS Havannah visited the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) in late 1850, stopping at "Aneitum", along with the islands of Tanna, Erromango, Efate, Malakula (also with variant spellings) and other islands in the South Pacific Ocean.[3][4] A second visit was made by the same ship, for the purpose of transporting missionaries to the islands, in May 1851.[5][6][7]
Geography
[edit]Aneityum is the southernmost island of Vanuatu, in the province of Tafea.[8] The Matthew and Hunter Islands, to the south, are disputed with New Caledonia, but considered by the people of Aneityum Island part of their customary ownership.[citation needed]
Its southeastern cape, Nétchan Néganneaing, is the southernmost point of land in Vanuatu, more southerly than the southern satellite islet Inyeug. The latter, however, is surrounded by Intao Reef, that extends even further south, albeit submerged, thus being the southernmost feature of Vanuatu.[citation needed]
The island is 159.2 km2 (61.5 sq mi) in size. It rises to an elevation of 852 m (2,795 feet) in Mount Inrerow Atamein.
The larger of its two villages is Anelcauhat (a.k.a. Anelghowhat), on the south side.
Population
[edit]Aneityum had a population of 915 in 2009.[9]
The main language of Aneityum island is also called Aneityum, or Anejom̃ in the local orthography.
Transport
[edit]The island is served by Anatom Airport, not on the main island itself, but on the tiny island to its south, Iñec (or Inyeug, also known as "Mystery Island"), across the main village, which has three weekly flights from Port Vila via Tanna.
References
[edit]- ^ John (Ed.), Lynch (2015). A grammar of Anejom (PDF). CRCL, CRCL, Pacific Linguistics And/Or The Author(S). Pacific Linguistics. p. 3. doi:10.15144/pl-507. ISBN 978-0-85883-484-2.
- ^ Matthew Spriggs: Population in a Vegetable Kingdom. Aneityum Island (Vanuatu) at European Contact in 1830. Kapitel 14 in Patrick V. Kirch und Jean-Louis Rallou (Hrsg.): The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies. Archaeological and Demographic Perspectives. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu 2007, S. 278–305.
- ^ "SHIPPING NEWS". The Courier (Hobart). Vol. XXIII, no. 1634. Tasmania, Australia. 7 December 1850. p. 2. Retrieved 3 August 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "NEW ZEALAND". The Shipping Gazette and Sydney General Trade List. Vol. VIII, no. 381. New South Wales, Australia. 12 July 1851. p. 199. Retrieved 3 August 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Inglis, John. "REPORT of a MISSIONARY TOUR in the NEW HEBRIDES, &c., on board H. M. S. "Havannah," by the Rev. John Inglis, Reformed Presbyterian Missionary, New Zealand.— Continued from our last". Papers Past. National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
From the Government Gazette. New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 531, 17 May 1851, Page 3
- ^ Inglis, John. "Report of a Missionary Tour in the New Hebrides". Journal of the Ethnological Society of London (1848-1856) 3 (1854): 53–85.
- ^ "MISSIONARY TOUR". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. XXX, no. 4380. New South Wales, Australia. 30 May 1851. p. 3. Retrieved 3 August 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Mystery Island Cruise & Aneityum Island". Vanuatu Travel. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ 2009 Census Summary release final Archived 2013-12-21 at the Wayback Machine - Government of Vanuatu
External links
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