13°45′S 167°30′E / 13.750°S 167.500°E / -13.750; 167.500

Torba in Vanuatu
Flag of Torba Province

Torba (or TorBa) is the northernmost and least populous province of Vanuatu. It consists of the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands.

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

Population

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Detailed map of Torba province (Torres-Banks)

The province has a population of 9,359[1] and an area of 882 square kilometres (341 square miles). Its capital is Sola on Vanua Lava.

Islands

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

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
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

Languages

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The Torba province has seventeen languages, which are all Oceanic.[2][3] 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.[4] 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

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  1. ^ "2009 National Census of Population and Housing: Summary Release" (PDF). Vanuatu National Statistics Office. 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ François (2012).
  3. ^ List and map of the 17 languages of Torba province.
  4. ^ François et al. (2015).

Bibliography

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  • François, Alexandre; Franjieh, Michael; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Schnell, Stefan (2015), "The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu" (PDF), in François, Alexandre; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Franjieh, Michael; Schnell, Stefan (eds.), The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity, Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia, Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access, pp. 1–21, hdl:1885/14819, ISBN 9781922185235.