Maskelyne Islands
archipelago in Malampa Province, Vanuatu
The Maskelyne Islands, often abbreviated as the Maskelynes, are a small chain of low islands that forms part of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Among the islands are Awei, Avock, Leumanang, Uluveo, and Vulai. Uluveo (also called Maskelyne) is the main island in the group and has three villages.
The islands lie at the southeastern end of Malakula, which is the second-largest island in the nation of Vanuatu. They were named by Captain Cook after the Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne as he sailed north from Port Resolution on Tanna in HMS Resolution in late 1774.
Population
The Maskelyne islands are relatively well-inhabited, (1,022 by 2009). which is considered to have historical reasons in part that life on the islands provided protection from attacks by mainland tribes which were not good seafarers, and thus had trouble reaching the island chain. However, the island chain also went through a variety of cycles of population and depopulation (causes not given in reference).
Economy and services
The area is rich with fish and sharks, and Lonely Planet describes the Maskelynes as 'just gorgeous' and recommends them for snorkelling and diving opportunities—though warning of strong currents between the islands. However, as of the late 2000s, there was little tourism in the area, being a very remote part of Vanuatu.
The public source identifies “Maskelyne Islands” as archipelago in Malampa Province, Vanuatu. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Maskelyne, Islands and archipelago.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4283856. Authority coordinates are -16.533, 167.817. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1774 and 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “Maskelyne Islands” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.