Mota Lava

Motalava

Native name: Mwotlap
Mota Lava, viewed from space. On the southwest point one may see the islet of Ra.
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	13°42′S 167°39′E / 13.7°S 167.65°E / -13.7; 167.65Coordinates: 13°42′S 167°39′E / 13.7°S 167.65°E / -13.7; 167.65
Archipelago	Vanuatu, Banks Islands
Area	24 km2 (9.3 sq mi)
Administration
Vanuatu
Province	Torba Province
Largest settlement	Lahlap
Demographics
Population	1640 (2009)
Pop. density	67 /km2 (174 /sq mi)

Mota Lava or Motalava (coordinates 13°42′S 167°39′E / 13.7°S 167.65°E / -13.7; 167.65) is the fourth largest island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu, after Gaua, Vanua Lava and Ureparapara, with an area of 24 km² (9.3 sq mi).

It is the largest and highest (411 m or 1,348 ft) of the eastern chain of islands. 270 meters (886 ft) off its southern coast, attached by high corals that one can wade through at low tide, is the islet of Ra, with an area of 50 ha (120 acres).

The 2009 census figures give a population of 1640 inhabitants (Mota Lava + Ra), yielding a population density of 67 per km².

In early texts and maps of the 19th century, the island of Mota Lava was designated as Saddle Island, due to the island's distinctive profile seen from a boat.

The habit of designating the island as Mota Lava was then borrowed by 19th-century missionaries from the neighbouring language Mota. The inhabitants of Mota Lava call their own island Mwotlap (pronounced [ŋmʷɔtˈlap]).

Mwotlap also designates the language spoken by the inhabitants of Mota Lava. It is the most widely spoken of the languages in the Banks Islands, with about 2,100 speakers.

An earlier attempt to transcribe the native name, both for the island and the language, yielded a form Motlav.

Mota Lava was first sighted by Europeans during the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós, from 25 to 29 April 1606. The island’s name was then charted as Lágrimas de San Pedro (“St. Peter's Tears”, in Spanish).