Luangiua Atoll

Luangiua is one of the inhabited islets of Ontong Java, a vast low atoll north of the Solomon Islands. Its Polynesian-speaking inhabitants cultivated the coral islets and maintained ties with neighbouring Nukumanu. Abel Tasman named the atoll in 1643; John Hunter visited it in 1791, and whaling vessels began calling in the early nineteenth century. The lagoon and its surrounding reefs remained central to island life.