Nanumanga

Nanumanga is a reef island and a district of Tuvalu, an Oceanian island republic. It has a population of 491 people and a surface area of around 3 km2 (2017 Census). It one of the most beautiful historical sites in Tuvalu.

A French government mission led by Captain Louis Isidore Duperrey of the frigate La Coquille saw Nanumaga on May 9, 1824. Between 1860 and 1900, the population of Nanumaga was estimated to be between 300 and 335 persons. From early April 1880 until the trading-station was devastated by a storm later that year, Louis Becke, who subsequently became a writer, was the resident trader for the Liverpool business of John S. de Wolf & Co. on Nanumaga. Becke went on to write The Rangers of the Tia Kau, which details a shark assault on the Tia Kau reef between Nanumea and Nanumaga.

When Pacific researchers discovered the submerged Caves of Nanumanga in 1986, they claimed to have unearthed the remnants of fire made by prehistoric humans.

Location: Oceanian island