Editing Atafu

{{Short description|Atoll in Tokelau}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox islands
|archipelago=[[Tokelau]]
|name=Atafu
|image= File:Atafu.jpg
|population=541
|country_largest_city=
|area_km2=2.5
|image_map=
|image_map_caption=
|pushpin_map=Tokelau#Oceania#Pacific Ocean
|total_islands=52
|major_islands=
| country          = [[New Zealand]]
| country_admin_divisions_title = [[Realm of New Zealand|Dependent territory]]
| country_admin_divisions       = [[Tokelau]]
| country_leader_title = {{lang|tkl|Faipule}} (leader)
| country_leader_name = [[Kelihiano Kalolo]]<ref name="2023 election">{{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=[[Radio New Zealand|RNZ]] |access-date=7 February 2023 |language=en-nz |date=30 January 2023}}</ref>
| country1_leader_title = {{lang|tkl|Pulenuku}} ([[mayor]])
| country1_leader_name = Nofo Iupati<ref name="2023 election"/>
|languages = [[Tokelauan]], [[English language|English]]
}}
'''Atafu''', formerly known as the '''Duke of York Group''', is a group of 52 coral [[islet]]s within [[Tokelau]] in the south [[Pacific Ocean]], {{convert|500|km|mi|abbr=off}} north of [[Samoa]].<ref>[http://www.tokelau.org.nz/ Tokelau Government]</ref> With a land area of {{convert|2.5|km2|sqmi|1|abbr=off}}, it is the smallest of the three islands that constitute Tokelau. It is an [[atoll]] and surrounds a central lagoon, which covers some {{convert|15|km2|abbr=on}}. The atoll lies {{convert|800|km|mi|abbr=off}} south of the equator at 8° 35' South, 172° 30' West. Atafu is the northernmost area under New Zealand sovereignty.

==Population{{anchor|Atafu Village}}==
According to the 2016 census, 541 people officially live on Atafu (although only 413 were present the night the census was taken).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tokelau.org.nz/site/tokelau/files/TokelauNSO/2016Census/Atafu%20atoll%20profile%202016%20Census.pdf|title=2016 Tokelau Census atoll profiles|website=tokelau.org.nz}}</ref> Of those present, 78% belong to the [[Congregational church|Congregational Church]].<ref name="Census 2006">"[http://www.tokelau.org.nz/Tokelau+Government/Government+Departments/Office+of+the+Council+for+the+Ongoing+Government+OCOG/Tokelau+National+Statistics+Office/census.html 2016 Final data tables]" Retrieved 13-07-2017</ref> The main settlement on the atoll is located on Atafu Island in its northwestern corner. The [[Presbyterian]] church was established on the island in 1858, but today almost all of the residents belong to the Congregational Christian Church.<ref name="Census 2006"/> The first village on Atafu was established at its southern end: Residents built houses along the lagoon shore to take best advantage of the cooling [[trade wind]]s.

Fishing is traditionally done by the men on Atafu, and they are highly skilled at it. They use many traditional methods that are passed on from fathers to sons. They create very effective lures, fish traps, nets, and seines. They commonly use the technique called "noose fishing", in which a circle of rope, tied with a noose knot, is dangled in the water; a large fish swims into the rope circle, lured by bait, and the noose is then tightened around its body, holding it fast.<ref name="Council Staff">{{cite web|url=http://www.tokelau.org.nz/faq/atafu.htm |title=Atafu |publisher=Council for the Ongoing Government for Tokelau |accessdate=2008-04-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070815182738/http://www.tokelau.org.nz/faq/atafu.htm |archive-date=15 August 2007 }}</ref> They also make well-crafted canoes, which they use for their fishing expeditions.

==Geography==
[[File:Atafu street dawn 20070715.jpg|300px|thumb|Dawn in the main street]]
Atafu lies in the Pacific hurricane belt. In January 1914, a massive storm demolished the church and most of the houses on the islands, and wiped out many of the coconut palms.<ref name="janeresture">[http://www.janeresture.com/tokelau_islands/atafu.htm Atafu Island] on janeresture.com</ref>

The atoll is roughly triangular in shape and encloses a lagoon some {{convert|5|km|mi|spell=in|abbr=off}} north to south by {{convert|4|km|mi|spell=in|abbr=off}} east to west at its widest point. It is low-lying, reaching a maximum altitude of only some {{convert|5|m|ft|spell=in|abbr=off}}, and is heavily vegetated with [[coconut]] palms and other trees, with undergrowth similar to that found on many small central Pacific islands. Lizards, rats, and seabirds are common on Atafu island.<ref name="janeresture" /> The atoll attracts a wide variety of fish in large numbers.

The eastern side of the lagoon is a nearly continuous thin strip of land with one small break halfway along its length. In contrast, the western side is composed of reef and several distinct islands, notably the inverted V shape of Atafu Island in the north, Alofi, which extends into the lagoon from the western reef, and the L-shaped Fenualoa in the southwest. The smaller Tamaseko Island lies in the lagoon close to Alofi.

The reef which connects the islands of the atoll is shallow enough that it is possible to walk between the islands at low tide. This also means that there is no boat passage to the lagoon, although the ocean becomes deep very close to the reef. This allows for good anchorage, but also makes for rough seas close to the reef. The flatness of the atoll and its location within the [[tropical cyclone]] belt has led to damage to island properties on occasion.

===Important Bird Area===
Some 70&nbsp;ha of the southern and south-western parts of the atoll have been designated an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because the site supports [[bird colony|breeding colonies]] of [[brown noddy|brown]] and [[black noddy|black noddies]]s and [[common white tern]]s, with about 30,000 breeding pairs estimated in 2011.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/atafu-iba-tokelau-(to-new-zealand)|title= Atafu|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 7 March 2021}}</ref>

=== Islets ===

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
# Fogalaki i Lalo
# Fogalaki-Matangi (Fogalaki i Matagi)
# Te Oki
# Te Hepu
# Laualalava
# Te Kapi
# Na Utua
# Motu Atea
# Motu Fakalalo
# Tama Hakea
# Hakea Lahi ki Matagi
# Hakea O Himi
# Malatea
# Kenakena
# Malo o Futa
# Motu o Te Lakia
# Komulo
# Hakea o Apelamo
# Na Hapiti
# Niuefa
# Fenualoa
# Te Puka 
# Tamaheko
# Te Alofi
# Tulua a Kovi
# Tagi a Kuli
# Hakea o Himi
# Tulua a Kava
# Motu o te Niu
# Malatea
# Hakea o Hoi
# Hakea o Fata
# Kenakena
# Matu o Tenumi
# Matu o te Lakia
# Motu Fakaka kai
# Malo o Futa
# Malo o Futa
# Motu o te Fala
# Tafega
# Komulo
# Hakela Lahi i Lalo
# Hotoma
# Hakea o Apelamo
# Na Hapiti
# Niuefa
# Fenualoa
# Te Puka
# Tamaheko
# Te Alofi
# Ulugagie
# Atafu Village
{{div col end}}

==History==
[[File:Tokelau Atafu vaka canoe. 20070715.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A traditional canoe or vaka]]
It is likely that [[Polynesians]] visited the island in ancient times, but they may not have settled there. The European discovery of the atoll came on 21 June 1765; it was made by [[John Byron]], of {{HMS|Dolphin|1751|6}}. Byron found no one living on the island at that time.<ref name="Council Staff"/> He named the island "Duke of York's island".<ref>*{{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}}</ref> According to Tokelauan oral tradition, Atafu was established by a man named Tonuia and his wife named Lagimaina, along with their seven children.<ref>[https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-MacToke-t1-body-d1-d3-d2-d3.html Ethnology of the Tokelau Islands], Gordon MacGregor, 1937</ref>

In 1859, the U.S. Guano Company claimed Duke of York 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 1979, as part of the [[Treaty of Tokehega]], the U.S. formally renounced its prior claim on Atafu and the other Tokelauan islands now under New Zealand sovereignty, and a [[maritime boundary]] between Tokelau and [[American Samoa]] was established.

On 26 August 2007, [[Ralph Tuijn]], who was attempting to row a boat from South America to Australia, crash-landed on Atafu.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.zeemanoceanchallenge.com/news.php?id=1903&language=EN |title=Zeeman Ocean Challenge |access-date=1 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208094633/http://www.zeemanoceanchallenge.com/news.php?id=1903&language=EN |archive-date=8 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 26 November 2010, three teenage boys from Atafu were rescued after having drifted {{convert|1300|km|mi|-2|abbr=on}} for 50 days in the Pacific.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_4396549">{{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4396549/Boozy-teens-midnight-trip-goes-1300km-astray |title=Boozy teens' midnight trip goes 1300km astray |author=Field, Michael |date=27 November 2010 |work=[[The Dominion Post (Wellington)|The Dominion Post]] |accessdate=17 September 2011}}</ref><ref name=rnzi>{{cite news|title=Joy in Tokelau over rescue of missing teenagers
 |url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=57266|work=[[Radio New Zealand International]] |date=27 November 2010 |accessdate=2010-11-27}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Guano Island claims]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Atafu}}
*[http://www.janeresture.com/tokelau_islands/atafu.htm History and map]
*[http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/html/image_1586.html Satellite image]

{{Tokelau}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|8|33|26|S|172|28|15|W|region:TK_type:isle|display=title}}

[[Category:Atafu| ]]
[[Category:Atolls of Tokelau]]
[[Category:Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Former disputed islands]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Tokelau Islands]]
[[Category:Seabird colonies]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Realm of New Zealand]]