Lakeba

Lakeba
Map of Fiji
Geography
LocationFiji
Coordinates18°13′S 178°47′W / 18.217°S 178.783°W / -18.217; -178.783
ArchipelagoLau Islands
Adjacent toKoro Sea
Total islands1
Major islands1
Area59.5 km2 (23.0 sq mi)[1]
Length8.5 km (5.28 mi)
Administration
Fiji
DivisionEastern
ProvinceLau Province
Largest settlementTubou (pop. 500)
Demographics
Population2100 (2014)
Pop. density35.3/km2 (91.4/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsNative Fijians, Indo-Fijians ; other (Asian, Europeans, other Pacific Islander)

Lakeba (pronounced [laˈkemba]) is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers.[2] It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa and Nayau. Separated by deep sea from the latter but only by shallow waters from the former, when sea levels were lower during glacial episodes Lakeba and Aiwa formed one large island.[2]

It has a population of around 2,100 in eight villages, the most important of which is the capital Tubou which lies in the island's south. Near Tubou is the village of Levuka; not to be confused with its namesake – Fiji's old capital – Levuka on Lakeba is home to a fishing tribe whose ancestors came from Bau Island. Another significant village is Nasaqalau, located in the northern part of Lakeba.

The wattled honeyeaters on Lakeba belong to the large-wattled eastern subspecies Foulehaio carunculatus carunculatus, also found on Samoa, Tonga and Wallis and Futuna
Sulphur-breasted myzomela (Myzomela jugularis)
Collared lory (Phigys solitarius) from Lakeba
  1. ^ Gillespie, Rosemary G.; D. A. Clague (2009). Encyclopedia of Islands. University of California Press. p. 299. ISBN 0520256492.
  2. ^ a b Steadman (2006)

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