| Ontong Java | |
| Native Name: | Luangiua |
| Location: | Pacific Ocean |
| Archipelago: | Group of three atolls |
| Total Islands: | 122 |
| Major Islands: | Luaniua and Pelau |
| Area Km2: | 1500 |
| Elevation M: | 13 |
| Country Admin Divisions Title: | Province |
| Country Largest City: | Luaniua |
| Country Largest City Population: | 1386 |
| Population: | 2085 |
| Population As Of: | 2006[1] |
| Ethnic Groups: | Polynesian 100% |
| Pushpin Map: | Solomon Islands#Pacific Ocean |
| Pushpin Mark: | Cercle rouge 100%.svg |
| Pushpin Mark Width: | 20 |
Ontong Java Atoll or Luangiua (formerly Lord Howe Atoll, not to be confused with Lord Howe Island) [2] is an atoll in Solomon Islands, and one of the largest atolls on earth.
It is inhabited by a Polynesian community of about people, who speak the Ontong Java language.
Geographically, Ontong Java belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby Nukumanu Atoll and the wholly submerged Roncador Reef located 75km (47miles) to the south.[3]
Administratively Ontong Java belongs to Solomon Islands. As an outlying part of Malaita Province, it forms the northernmost tract of land of this state, over 250km (160miles) north of Santa Isabel Island.The closest land, however, is Nukumanu Atoll, which lies only 38km (24miles) due north of Ontong Java's northern tip and, though historically closely related to Ontong Java, is now under the administration of Papua New Guinea.
Ontong Java is roughly boot-shaped. The entire size of the atoll is 1400km2, but there are only 12km2 of land, spread out over 122 small islands. The islands are mostly low-lying coral formations, the highest elevation being 13m (43feet).
Approximately 2000 people live on the atoll. There are two main villages where the population is concentrated with 1,386 on the island of Luaniua in the eastern end and 689 on Pelau in the northeast.
The islands were first inhabited by Polynesians approximately 2000 years ago. The main cultural and commercial exchanges took place with the inhabitants of neighboring Nukumanu Atoll, with whom Ontong Java people share many cultural affinities.[4]
It is likely that first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña on 1 February 1568. It was charted by them as Bajos de la Candelaria (shoals of Our Lady of Candlemas in Spanish).[5] [6] The following verifiable sighting by Europeans was by Abel Tasman in 1643 who named it Ontong Java; however, it was not until 1791 that Europeans set foot on the islands, when Capt. John Hunter (later Governor of New South Wales) named it Lord Howe Atoll. In 1893 the islands were annexed by Germany and ceded to Great Britain in 1899.
Today the atoll's inhabitants make a subsistence living by means of coconut and taro (root) cultivation, as well as fishing. Until a ban in 2005, the primary source of income was beche de mer and trochus shells, which were shipped to Hong Kong. The inhabitants are also involved in copra production. It also has a prolific number of sea birds, including the black-naped tern, which uses Ontong Java Atoll as a breeding site.
See also: Ontong Java language. Ontong Java is a Polynesian outlier. The inhabitants retain a Polynesian character despite their location in the Melanesian Archipelago of Solomon Islands. In former times both men and women wore elaborate tattoos all over their bodies.[7] Two dialects of one language are spoken in this atoll, Luangiua and Pelau. This language belongs to the Polynesian stock.[8]
Ontong Java was visited by English missionary George Brown in mid 19th century. Brown described the population as Polynesian[9] and referred to the place as Lua Niua. He recorded the existence of a two-class system in Ontong Java and, based on it, inferred that it was probable that exogamous classes formerly existed in Samoa as well.[10]
The first detailed research on Ontong Java's inhabitants, however, was conducted by German ethnographers Ernst Sarfert and Hans Damm, during a German scientific expedition of the Southern Seas that took place in 1908–1910. This expedition visited both Ontong Java and neighboring Nukumanu Atoll, where they also carried out their research. Their work, "Luangiua und Nukumanu" was published in 1931. Sarfert and Damm claimed that both names of the atoll, Lord Howe and Ontong Java, were incorrect and called this atoll Luangiua in their works.
Jack London first called this atoll "Oolong".[11] Later he would write in one of his novels:
Ontong Java was later visited by Sydney University anthropologist Herbert Ian Hogbin in 1927.[12] Hogbin's study of Ontong Java was published in 1934.
In religious terms, Ontong Java is part of the Anglican Church of Melanesia Diocese of Malaita.