Nassau (Cook Islands)

Nassau is an island of the northern group of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. It is located about 90 km south-east of the island of Pukapuka.

The flat sandy island has an oval shape of about 1 km long and 700 m wide. The highest elevation is 9 m. It is surrounded by a zone of shallow water with a coral reef of max. 130 m wide. The island is densely covered with coconut palms and has 71 inhabitants ( 2006 census ) living in the only settlement in the northwest. There is no runway, but irregular ferry services to Pukapuka.

History

According to legend, Nassau was (presumably in the 17th century), populated by Pukapuka, whose residents considered it their possessions from. The Pukapukaner called the island Te Nuku -o- Ngalewu (Land of Ngalewu ), after a chief who defended against an attack of a warrior named Tima from Aitutaki. After this turn, the Tema reef between Nassau and Pukapuka is named. However, the contact between the two islands broke off "at the time when the great battle between the gods made ​​the sea voyage dangerous." The population died out or left the island, and she was given the name Te Motu - ngaongao ( deserted island ).

For the European world Nassau was discovered on 12 May 1804 by the French captain Louis R. Coutance, who named the island after his ship Adèle. 20 years later was renamed Nassau in Lydra Iceland, then in Ranger Iceland after the London whalers Ranger. Captain Elihu Coffin by American whalers Mary Mitchell of Nantucket in 1834 gave her the name Mitchell Iceland. Captain Joseph Paddack from whalers Audley Clark from Newport (Rhode Iceland ) sighted the island on December 28, 1836 and named it New Port Iceland. He described it as thickly wooded and uninhabited.

Its current name, the island whose captain John D. Sampson they sighted the American whaling ship Nassau from New Bedford (Massachusetts ) in March 1835. Nassau was annexed in 1892 by the United Kingdom. The island was devastated in February 2005 by the cyclone " Percy ".