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Wikipedia / Torba Province

Torba (or TorBa) is the northernmost and least populous province of Vanuatu.

It consists of the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands. It has an area of . Its capital is Sola on Vanua Lava.

The province's name is derived from the initial letters of TORres and BAnks.

Administrative divisions

Torba Province are subdivided into nine area councils, which are further subdivided into populated places (i.e.: villages, communities, etc.). These area councils are, in geographical order (from NW to SE):

Islands

These are the main islands of Torba Province, excluding smaller and uninhabited islets.

  1. Banks Islands

Name

Population

Area in km2

Gaua

2,491

342

Kwakéa

26

1.2

Merelava

647

18

Merig

12

0.5

Mota

683

9.5

Motalava

1,451

24

Ra

189

0.5

Ureparapara

437

39

Vanua Lava

2,597

314

  1. Torres Islands

Name

Population

Area in km2

Hiw

269

51

Linua

0

2.5

Lo

210

11.9

Metoma

13

3

Tegua

58

30.8

Toga

276

18.8

Population

The province had a population of 9,359 in 2009, 10,161 in 2016, and 11,002 in 2020.

Languages

The Torba province has seventeen languages, which are all Oceanic. From north to south, they are: Hiw, Lo-Toga, Lehali, Löyöp, Volow, Mwotlap, Lemerig, Vera'a, Vurës, Mwesen, Mota, Nume, Dorig, Koro, Olrat, Lakon, and Mwerlap. With an average of 550 speakers per language, Torba is one of the most linguistically dense areas of Vanuatu, which is itself the country with the highest density of languages per capita in the world.

References

Bibliography

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