Tegua | |
Native Name: | Tugue |
Settlement Type: | Island |
Pushpin Map: | Vanuatu |
Pushpin Label Position: | right |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Vanuatu |
Coordinates: | -13.2464°N 166.6258°W |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Vanuatu |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | Torba Province |
Seat Type: | Municipality seat |
Unit Pref: | Metric |
Area Total Km2: | 30.8 |
Area Note: | [1] |
Population Total: | 58 |
Population As Of: | 2009 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone: | VUT |
Utc Offset: | +11 |
Tegua is an island in Vanuatu's Torres Islands chain, located in Torba Province.
The island spans 7 km by 6.5 km; on the eastern side of the island is Lateu Bay indented 1.8 km. Ngwel Island is located 600 meters off the west coast of Tegua Island.[2]
The only village is Lateu, with a population of 58.[3] About 100 residents of Tegua were evacuated by the government because rising sea levels were flooding their island.
One geological study found that of four islands in the group, Tegua had the slowest inferred uplift rate at 0.7 mm/yr for southeastern Tegua. A "narrow E-W trending block has been down-dropped relative to the rest of the isle.
The name Tegua pronounced as /teɣua/ comes from the Mota language, which was used as the primary language of the Melanesian Mission. Locally, the island is called Tugue pronounced as /tʉˈɣʉə/ in Lo-Toga, and Töyö pronounced as /tɵˈjɵ/ in Hiw. These names all come from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *Teɣua.