Банкс аралдарының тобы (Banks araldarynyń toby)

Group of islands in Torba, Vanuatu

The Banks Islands (in Bislama Bankis) are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The island group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 2009, the islands had a population of 8,533. The island group's combined land area is 780 km2.

Island name Area(km2) Population Capital Peak Height(meter) Municipality Coordinates Vot Tande 0.24 76 Mota Lava Ureparapara 39 437 Ley (Lesereplag) Mt Towlap 764 Ureparapara Vanua Lava 330 2623 Sola Mt Suretamate 921 Vanua Lava Mota 9.5 683 Veverao Mt Tawe 411 Mota Mota Lava 31 1451 Lahlap Mt Tuntog 243 Mota Lava Ra (Aya) 0.5 189 Ra Mota Lava Mere Lava 15 647 Tasmate Mt Teu (Star Peak) 833 Mere Lava Gaua 330 2491 Jolap Mt Gharat 767 Gaua Merig 0.5 12 Levolvol 125 Mere Lava Rowa (Reef Islands) 0.1 2 Mota Lava Banks Islands 780 8.533 Sola Mt Suretamate 921 6 municipalities

The principal economic activity is subsistence agriculture, although copra, coffee and (on Gaua) cacao are grown for export. The sulphur deposits of Mount Suretamate on Vanua Lava were formerly worked by a French company. Tourism is increasingly important on the islands, which can be reached by airplane.

There are airports on Mota Lava, Vanua Lava and Gaua, served by Air Vanuatu, which operates a few flights each week and Air Taxi Vanuatu as requested. Ships come to these islands, principally to pick up the products being exported, but they will also take passengers.

Like the rest of Vanuatu, the Banks Islands were first settled around the by Austronesian navigators belonging to the Lapita culture. Archaeologists have found ancient obsidian in Motalava, Vanua Lava and Gaua, and they have found Lapita pottery on Motalava. Between 25 and 29 April 1606, the Banks Islands became the first part of Vanuatu to be discovered by a European explorer: A Spanish expedition led by the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós sailed past Merelava and stopped at Gaua before landing on Espiritu Santo and establishing a short lived colony there. Merelava was charted as San Marcos, Mota Lava as Lágrimas de San Pedro (St. Peter's tears), Vanua Lava as Portal de Belén (Stable at Bethlehem), and Gaua as Santa María. Captain James Cook explored Vanuatu in 1774, and believed he had seen the whole chain, but he did not see the Banks Islands. They were explored by William Bligh, of the British Navy, and named after his patron, Sir Joseph Banks. They were charted by Matthew Flinders. Vanua Lava was first explored by a New Zealand bishop, George Augustus Selwyn in 1859.