page_title: Vanikoro
section_title: Population and languages
hierarchical_section_title: Vanikoro / Population and languages
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Alexandre François, Toponymie traditionnelle de Vanikoro, expédition Lapérouse 2005.
context_page_description: Vanikoro is an island in the Santa Cruz group, located 118 kilometres to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It is part of the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands.
  The name Vanikoro is always used as though it referred to a single island, due to both its geophysical and cultural unity. However, technically it is a group of several nearby islands surrounded by a single belt of coral reef. Only the two major islands are inhabited: the bigger one Banie, and the smaller one Teanu. Other, uninhabited islets in the Vanikoro group include Manieve, Nomianu and Nanunga. The total area of the Vanikoro group is 173 square kilometres.
context_section_description: The 1300 inhabitants of Vanikoro consist of two different populations, who tend to live separately. The Melanesian majority, about 800 people, are the descendants of the original population of Vanikoro. A minority of about 500 individuals are of Polynesian descent; for the last few centuries they have established settlements on the southern coast of Banie, even though they still preserve close links with Tikopia, an island lying 200 kilometres (124 miles) eastwards, which they identify as their origin.
  The three languages spoken by the Melanesian population of Vanikoro are all Oceanic, of the Temotu subgroup: 
  Teanu or Buma (800 speakers)
  Lovono or Vano (4 speakers)
  Tanema (1 speaker)
  The Tikopian settlers speak a Polynesian language, Tikopian or fakatikopia.
caption: Detailed toponymic map of Vanikoro I., showing the historical territories of the three tribes of Lovono, Tanema and Teanu.[1]
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