Bellona Island

Bellona Polynesian, Mu Ngiki, is a small island in the Western Pacific island nation of Solomon Islands. It is located 175 km south of Guadalcanal and 220 km southwest of San Cristobal ( Makira ).

Bellona is 11.5 km long and 3 km wide. With its 25 km southeast to the larger neighboring island of Rennell it forms the group of Rennell Islands and also the province of Rennell and Bellona Solomonic.

The island was discovered in 1793 by English sailors on board the merchant ship " Bellona " to the Western world.

In the ten villages on Bellona today live about 1,250 people, mainly Polynesians who live outside of the Polynesian Triangle in a so-called Polynesian enclave.

Structure

Historically Bellona was divided into three districts:

  • Sa'aiho (West) (2.72 km ²)
  • Ghongau (central ) ( 10.76 km ²)
  • Matangi ( East) ( 3.68 km ²).

Today, Bellona includes four of the 10 provincial wards of the province of Rennell and Bellona:

  • Ward 7 ( Matangi )
  • Ward 8 (East Ghongau )
  • Ward 9 (West Ghongau )
  • Ward 10 (West Bellona )

Villages

The ten towns are:

  • Matahenua / Matamoana ( in the west)
  • Honga'ubea
  • Tongomainge
  • Ngotokanaba
  • Pauta
  • Ngongona
  • Gongau
  • Ahenoa
  • Matangi
  • NukuTonga (in the east )
Polynesian outlier
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