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Mangaia (traditionally known as Auau Enua, which means terraced) is the most southerly of the Cook Islands
Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in Associated state with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres , but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone covers 1.8 million square kilometres of ocean....
 and the second largest, after Rarotonga
Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island in a group of islands known as the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 .Cook Islands' Parliament buildings, as well as the Rarotonga International Airport, are located on Rarotonga....
.

ogists estimate the island is at least 18 million years old, making it the oldest island in the Pacific. It rises 15,600 feet (4750 m) above the ocean floor. It has a central volcanic plateau
Volcanic plateau

A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus....
 and, like many of the southern islands in the Cook Islands, it is surrounded by a high ring of cliffs of fossilised coral, called the makatea
Makatea

Makatea, or Mangaia-te-vai-tamae, is a Tectonic uplift coral island in the northwestern part of the Tuamotus. It is located 79 km southwest from Rangiroa to the west of the Palliser Islands group....
, in this case 200 feet (60 m) high.

The island raises to 169 meters at Rangi-motia near the center of the island.

The capital of Mangaia is the village of Oneroa
Oneroa, Cook Islands

Oneroa is the largest village on Mangaia, one of the Cook Islands.It is located in the west of the island, in the district of Kei'a, and contains over half of the island's population....
, in the west, with about half of the population of the island.






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Mangaia (traditionally known as Auau Enua, which means terraced) is the most southerly of the Cook Islands
Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in Associated state with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres , but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone covers 1.8 million square kilometres of ocean....
 and the second largest, after Rarotonga
Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island in a group of islands known as the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 .Cook Islands' Parliament buildings, as well as the Rarotonga International Airport, are located on Rarotonga....
.

Geography

Geologists estimate the island is at least 18 million years old, making it the oldest island in the Pacific. It rises 15,600 feet (4750 m) above the ocean floor. It has a central volcanic plateau
Volcanic plateau

A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus....
 and, like many of the southern islands in the Cook Islands, it is surrounded by a high ring of cliffs of fossilised coral, called the makatea
Makatea

Makatea, or Mangaia-te-vai-tamae, is a Tectonic uplift coral island in the northwestern part of the Tuamotus. It is located 79 km southwest from Rangiroa to the west of the Palliser Islands group....
, in this case 200 feet (60 m) high.

The island raises to 169 meters at Rangi-motia near the center of the island.

The capital of Mangaia is the village of Oneroa
Oneroa, Cook Islands

Oneroa is the largest village on Mangaia, one of the Cook Islands.It is located in the west of the island, in the district of Kei'a, and contains over half of the island's population....
, in the west, with about half of the population of the island. There are two more villages, Tamarua (south) and Ivirua (east/northeast).

Subdivisions

Traditionally, the island has been subdivided into six districts or puna headed by district chiefs or pava, which are very nearly sectors meeting at the highest point near the center of the island, Rangi-motia. . The districts are, as on some other islands of the Lower Cook Islands, further subdivided into 38 traditional sub-districts called tapere
Tapere

A tapere or sub-district is a low level of traditional land subdivision on some of the Lower Cook Islands. It is a subdivision of a district or puna, which is headed by a district chiefs or pava....
. In the Cook Islands constitution
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
 however, the six districts are listed as tapere. The districts clockwise, starting in the north, with their sub-districts, they are:
  • Tava'enga
    Tava'enga

    Tava'enga is one of the six traditional districts of the Cook Islands of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It is located in the north of the island, to the west of the District of Karanga and east of the District of Kei'a....
     District
    • Tapere of Ta'iti
    • Tapere of Te-rupe
    • Tapere of Maro
    • Tapere of Au-ruia
    • Tapere of Te-mati-o-Pa'eru
    • Tapere of Te-pueu
  • Karanga
    Karanga (district)

    Karanga is the smallest of the six traditional districts of the Cook Islands of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It is located in the northeast of the island, to the east of the District of Tava'enga and northwest of the District of Ivirua....
     District
    • Tapere of Teia-roa
    • Tapere of Teia-poto
    • Tapere of Teia-pini
    • Tapere of Kaau-i-miri
    • Tapere of Kaau-i-uta
  • Ivirua
    Ivirua

    Ivirua is one of the six traditional districts of the Cook Islands of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It is located in the east of the island, to the southeast of the District of Karanga and north of the District of Tamarua....
     District
    • Tapere of Avarari
    • Tapere of Te-i'i-maru
    • Tapere of Te-uturei
    • Tapere of Te-ara-nui-o-Toi
    • Tapere of Te-korokoro
    • Tapere of Te-pauru-o-Rongo
  • Tamarua
    Tamarua

    Tamarua is one of the six traditional districts of the Cook Islands of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It is located in the southeast of the island, to the south of the District of Ivirua and east of the District of Veitatei....
     District
    • Tapere of Maru-kore
    • Tapere of Poutoa-i-uta
    • Tapere of Poutoa-i-miri
    • Tapere of Akaea
    • Tapere of Te-vai-kao
    • Tapere of Angauru
    • Tapere of Vaitangi (Pukuotoi)
    • Tapere of Te-vai-taeta-i-uta
    • Tapere of Te-vai-taeta-i-tai
  • Veitatei
    Veitatei

    Veitatei is one of the six traditional districts of the Cook Islands of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It is located in the south of the island, to the east of the District of Kei'a and west of the District of Tamarua....
     District
    • Tapere of Te-noki
    • Tapere of Te-tuaroa (Te-tukono)
    • Tapere of Te-tuapoto
    • Tapere of Te-tarapiki
    • Tapere of Kaikatu
    • Tapere of Angarinoi
  • Kei'a
    Kei'a

    Kei'a is one of the six traditional districts of the Cook Islands of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It is located in the west of the island, to the southwest of the District of Tava'enga and northwest of the District of Veitatei....
     District
    • Tapere of Akaoro
    • Tapere of Tapuata
    • Tapere of Tongamarama
    • Tapere of Te-inati
    • Tapere of Rupetau-i-miri
    • Tapere of Rupetau-i-uta


Economy

Mangaia is renowned for its shell neckbands or "eis". These are made from the shells of the tiny yellow snail, the pupu, which emerges only after rain. Gathering, piercing and stringing is a very time consuming business. The women of the island often give the highly prized strands away as gifts of friendship to visitors from other islands in the Group. Mangaia is also renowned for its coconuts. The people of the island have long considered them a staple plant of survival. They remain an important crop even today. Coconuts provide food, coconut milk, and also fiber- all in one shell.

History

Before missionary settlement Mangaia was ruled by fierce warriors, in a constant struggle for land and crops.

The first recorded European to arrive to Mangaia was Captain Cook in 1777.

Long ago, during a trip to London, Numangatini, the "king" of Mangaia received from Queen Victoria herself a Union Jack. The flag is still preciously kept at Oneroa.

External links



See also

  • Auraka
    Auraka

    Auraka is a locality in the Keia district, on the western side of the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. The Keia district contains at least two ancient burial caves, Kauvava and Piri Te Umeume, which were accessed by diagonal descents through boulder-strewn roof collapses from the top of the makatea, the limestone cliffs that form a...