Rennell Island

Rennell

Native name: Muvaba
Current map of the Rennell Islands
Rennell
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	11°40′S 160°10′E / 11.667°S 160.167°E / -11.667; 160.167Coordinates: 11°40′S 160°10′E / 11.667°S 160.167°E / -11.667; 160.167
Archipelago	Solomon Islands
Area	660.1 km2 (254.9 sq mi)
Length	80 km (50 mi)
Width	14 km (8.7 mi)
Administration
Solomon Islands
Province	Rennell and Bellona Province
Largest settlement	Tigoa
Demographics
Population	1,500 (2000)
Pop. density	2.2 /km2 (5.7 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Polynesian 100%

Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of 660 square kilometres (250 sq mi) that is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) long and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide. It is the second largest raised coral atoll in the world with the largest lake in the insular Pacific (Lake Tegano) that is listed as a World Heritage Site. Rennell Island has a population of about 1840 persons of Polynesian descent who primarily speak Rennellese, Pijin and some English. Rennell and Bellona Islands are two of the few islands in the Melanesian Solomon Island archipelago classified as a Polynesian outlier (others being Sikaiana, Ontong Java, Tikopia, Anuta, Duff Islands, and some Reef Islands).

The island lies 236 kilometres (147 mi) south of Honiara and 1,900 kilometres (1,200 mi) north-east of Brisbane. The provincial capital, Tigoa, is at the western end of the island.

Between 2000 and 1600 BC, people belonging to the Lapita Culture made their appearance. Then by Lapita people about 1000 BC. The next settlement occurred on both Rennell and Bellona around 130 BC, with another major occupation in about 1000 AD.

Later settlement of Renbel occurred prior to 1400 AD by Polynesians from Uvea (now Wallis Island). Captain Butler of HMS Walpole discovered the islands in 1801, after discovering and naming Walpole Island in New Caledonia. In 1933 the Templeton Crocker Expedition discovered several endemic species on the islands. During the Pacific campaign of World War II Japanese Rufe floatplanes operated from Lake Tegano until American Catalinas used the lake as a base after 1943. The Battle of Rennell Island was the last major naval battle of the Guadacanal Campaign which occurred between 29 January 1943 and 30 January 1943. At the end of the war, eight Catalinas were scuttled in the lake and can be seen from the lake surface. The island was later visited by a series of Danish scientific expeditions.