Nukumanu

Nukumanu

Nukumanu is a medium sized atoll located in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean just 4 degrees south of the equator. Administratively it is part of Papua New Guinea, but it lies quite far away from the closest territory of Papua New Guinea proper, which is the coast of New Ireland at 682 km to the west. The nearest land is Ontong Java Atoll, which lies only 38 km to the south of Nukumanu, but the border between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands runs between these neighboring atolls.

Comprising a ring of more than twenty islets on a reef surrounding a large lagoon, Nukumanu’s sandy islands are located on a strip of coral rising no more than a meter above sea level. The main inhabited islands of Nukumanu are located on the eastern end of the atoll.

The land resources of the Nukumanu people are quite few and they grow a kind of taro and bananas. Coconuts are an integral part of the islanders’ diet with the soft inside being a staple food and coconut flesh being consumed with raw fish and clams. They are also competent fishermen who dive for bêche-de-mer in the lagoon. This is exported mainly to Asia and along with trochus shells which are used to make mother-of-pearl, they comprise the backbone of the Nukumanu economy.

Nukumanu’s most recent claim to fame, is that it was the last place on the path of Amelia Earhart before she and her co-pilot disappeared forever into the vast Pacific Ocean.

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Nukumanu Anthropological studies

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