Nukunonu#Islands

{{Infobox islands

| archipelago = Tokelau

| name = Nukunonu

| image = File:Nukunonu.jpg

| pushpin_map = Tokelau#Oceania#Pacific Ocean

| image_caption = Satellite image of Nukunonu

| total_islands = 30

| image_blank_emblem =

| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Nukunonu Atoll

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|country_largest_city = Nokunonu Village

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| area_km2 = 5.5

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| population = 531

| country = New Zealand

| country_admin_divisions_title = Dependent territory

| country_admin_divisions = Tokelau

| country_leader_title = {{lang|tkl|Faipule}} (leader)

| country_leader_name = Alapati Tavite{{cite web |title=Results are in for the 2023 Tokelau national election |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/483227/results-are-in-for-the-2023-tokelau-national-election |website=www.rnz.co.nz |publisher=RNZ |access-date=7 February 2023 |language=en-nz |date=30 January 2023}}

| country1_leader_title = {{lang|tkl|Pulenuku}} (mayor)

| country1_leader_name = Petelo Patelesio

|languages = Tokelauan, English

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Nukunonu, formerly known as Duke of Clarence Island, is the largest atoll within Tokelau, a dependency of New Zealand in the south Pacific Ocean. It comprises 30 islets surrounding a central lagoon,{{Britannica|703309}} with about {{convert|5.5|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} of land area and a lagoon surface area of {{convert|109|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Motuhaga is the only islet that has inhabitants.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} It has an estimated population of 531.

History

Ioane Kolopa Luka

File:Tokelau Nukuono Church 20070716.jpg

The first European vessel known to have come upon Nukunonu was the Royal Navy ship {{HMS|Pandora|1779|6}}, in 1791, whose captain, Edward Edwards, named Duke of Clarence Island{{cite book | last = Quanchi | first = Max| year = 2005 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands | publisher = The Scarecrow Press | isbn = 0810853957}} in honour of Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews (1765-1837), the third son of King George III and later king himself, as William IV. At the time, the Pandora was searching for mutineers from {{HMS|Bounty}}. During the early 19th century, Nukunonu's inhabitants were converted to Roman Catholicism by Samoan missionaries.

In 1859, the U.S. Guano Company claimed Duke of Clarance along with a number of other Tokelauan atolls under the U.S. Guano Islands Act. The U.S. State Department bonded the claim in 1860. However, many of these islands were not worked by the company and in 1889 they were claimed by Great Britain as part of the Union Islands.{{cite book |title=The Great Guano Rush: Entrepreneurs and American Overseas Expansion |year=1994 |last=Skaggs |first=Jimmy M. |isbn=9780312103163 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |pages=135–136, 236}} In 1916, the Union Islands were annexed to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony and then, in 1925, reassigned to the Dominion of New Zealand under the administration of Territory of Western Samoa.{{cite report|title=The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Pacific Ocean|last=Rogers|first=E.S.|date=January 9, 1933|publisher=Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/b3266546-ba11-41ea-b0ad-df1b40106580/content |pages=226–228}} In 1979, as part of the Treaty of Tokehega, the U.S. formally renounced its prior claim on Nukunonu and the other Tokelauan islands now under New Zealand sovereignty, and a maritime boundary between Tokelau and American Samoa was established.[https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201643/v1643.pdf Treaty on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Tokelau and the United States of America (with map)], United Nations Treaty Series, 1998.

Demography

File:Tokelau Nukuono Luana Liki Hotel 20070716.jpg

File:Nukunonu Lagoon20070716.jpg

The main settlement on the atoll is located on Nukunonu Island at the southwestern edge of the lagoon with a concrete bridge joining the two areas of settlement. The island's residents depend upon coconuts, pandanus, and marine life for subsistence. Fresh water is scarce; concrete water tanks are incorporated into the bases of newly built houses to collect rainwater from the roofs. Shipping is hampered by the lack of an adequate anchorage. Satellite TV dishes are beginning to appear on some houses in the village.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Tokelau has one hotel, the Luana Liki Hotel, and one resort, Falefa Resort, both situated on Nukunonu. Few tourists visit the country and tourism is not widely promoted. There is ambivalence about tourism, with some Tokelauans wanting to keep the country unaffected by the outside world. Despite this, visitors are greeted with traditional Polynesian hospitality. The Luana Liki Hotel functions mainly to accommodate official visitors, which have included the New Zealand Prime Minister and Governor General. There is one main shop in Nukunonu which sells a limited range of products. Due to the vagaries of shipping schedules, it is at times short of goods.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Local administration consists of a Taupulega (Council of Elders), made up of heads of family groups and two elected members. According to the 2006 census 426 people live on Nukunonu, of which more than 95% belong to the Catholic Church.{{cite web|url=http://www.spc.int/prism/country/tk/stats/Reports/2006censusrpts/2006%20Census%20Tabular%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf|title=2006 Census Tabular Report|access-date=2008-04-05}}

The most recent population count of 2019 found the population at 531.{{cite web|url=https://www.tokelau.org.nz/site/tokelau/2019%20Tokelau%20Population%20Count.pdf|title=Final Count: 2019 Tokelau Population Count|date=2020-01-20|access-date=2023-12-19}}

Environment

=Important Bird Area=

Some 60 ha of the eastern side of the atoll has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because the site supports breeding colonies of brown and black noddies and common white terns, with about 20,000 breeding pairs estimated in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/nukunonu-iba-tokelau-(to-new-zealand)|title= Nukunonu|author= |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 7 March 2021}}

Economy

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is an important food source here. The Black Rat (Rattus rattus) arrived with European exploration and can take 50% of the yield, but the native Polynesian Rat (R. exulans) will do the same amount of damage anywhere the Black Rat has not become dominant. Rodent control and research on rodent control are important to deal with the problem.

{{Unbulleted list citebundle

|{{cite book | pages=x+422 | date=2015 | publication-place=Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK | last1=Buckle | first1=A. P. | last2=Smith | first2=Robert H. | title=Rodent Pests and Their Control | isbn=978-1-78064-129-4 | oclc=909425458 | id={{isbn|9781845938178}}}}{{rp|page=59}}

|{{cite journal | year=2003 | issue=3 | volume=22 | pages=445–461| last1=Wood | first1=B.J. | last2=Fee | first2=Chung Gait | title=A critical review of the development of rat control in Malaysian agriculture since the 1960s | journal=Crop Protection | issn=0261-2194 | publisher=International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (Elsevier) | doi=10.1016/s0261-2194(02)00207-7 | s2cid=54674521 | citeseerx=10.1.1.1057.5230}}

|{{cite journal | volume=3 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | date=September 1973 | issue=1–4 | pages=405–453 | last1=Brooks | journal=CRC Critical Reviews in Environmental Control | first1=Joe E. | last2=Jackson | first2=William B. | title=A review of commensal rodents and their control | issn=0007-8999 | doi=10.1080/10643387309381607}}

|{{cite journal | date=1972 | first=K. | issue=27 | pages=309–314 | last=Wodzicki | journal=Oleagineux | id=CABI ISC: [http://www.cabi.org/isc/abstract/19720303207 19720303207]. AGRIS: id [http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201302312753 US201302312753]. GS cluster: [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=8860962206915520733 8860962206915520733] | title=Effect of rat damage on coconut production on Nukunonu Atoll, Tokelau Islands | s2cid=83175332}}

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