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Mota Lava or Motalava (coordinates ) is the fourth largest island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu, after Gaua, Vanua Lava and Ureparapara, with an area of . It is the largest and highest () of the eastern chain of islands. off its southern coast, attached by high corals that one can wade through at low tide, is the islet of Ra, with an area of . The 2009 census figures〔 〕 give a population of 1640 inhabitants (Mota Lava + Ra), yielding a population density of 67 per km². ==Name and language== In early texts and maps of the 19th century, the island of Mota Lava was designated as ''Saddle Island'', due to the island's distinctive profile seen from a boat. The habit of designating the island as ''Mota Lava'' was then borrowed by 19th-century missionaries from the neighbouring language Mota. The inhabitants of Mota Lava call their own island Mwotlap (). Mwotlap also designates the language spoken by the inhabitants of Mota Lava. It is the most widely spoken of the languages in the Banks Islands, with about 2,100 speakers. An earlier attempt to transcribe the native name, both for the island and the language, yielded a form ''Motlav''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mota Lava」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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