The Capital Cities of Oceania – Etymologically Speaking

Last time I examined the origins of the nations of the continent of Oceania and, as promised, here look at the names of the capital cities. As the nations are much better known than the cities, as previously I have kept the alphabetical order of the countries.

Australia – the capital is Canberra and, although only founded as recently as 1913, the origin of this name is uncertain. However this has not prevented a great deal of speculation and the most common suggestion refers to the old Ngunnawal language in which the name meant ‘woman’s breasts’. This would refer to the nearby Black Mountain and Ainslie Mountain, although a second written account maintains the correct translation is ‘hollow between a woman’s breasts’ and thus referring to the settlement being between the two mountains where Sullivans Creek flows. A third suggestion, and perhaps the most contrived, gives the origin as European. It seems the Australian cranberry proliferated in this area, although locally it was known as the ‘canberry’. It should be noted the only proven original source of the name of the settlement as ‘Canberry’ also happens to be the source of this definition.

Fiji – where the capital has been Suva since 1882. Whilst much has been written about the place there is absolutely no record of the etymology of the name to be found anywhere – unless you know otherwise!

Kiribati – where the capital of South Tarawa derives its name from Kiribati mythology. It seems Nareau the spider created the earth, sea and sky. In doing so he named the sky ‘karawa’ and the ocean ‘marawa’ and then as the god Riiki, also created by Nareau, lifted the sky he noted Riiki was stand on a piece of land which he decided should be known as ‘tarawa’. Nareau then sidled off (assuming spiders ‘sidle’) to create the other islands of Kiribati and those of Samoa.

Marshall Islands – and the capital of Majuro, an Anglicised version of the local name of Majro and one which has evaded all attempts to define it.

Micronesia – where the capital city is Palikir, yet a third name where the origin is unrecorded.

Nauru – where there is no capital city, nor indeed any cities. The centre of government is in the district of Yaren, yet another where the origin is unknown.

New Zealand – and the capital is Wellington, named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington whose name will forever be associated with the victory over Napoleon at Waterloo. However the place was not known as such until November 1840 and there had been humans here for centuries. Prior to this and, according to the Maori, to this day Wellington has three names: Te Whangi-nui-a-Tara refers specifically to the harbour and means ‘the great harbour of Tara’; Poneke is the Maori translation of Port Nick or Port Nicholson, the central marae or central religious place of the Maori tribe; and thirdly Te Upoko-o-te-lka-a-Maui meaning ‘the head of the fish of the Maui’, which correctly refers to the entire southernmost region of the North Island. Having failed miserably to define an unacceptable number of capital cities, I did think it appropriate to include as much information on the others as humanly possible. Hence I delight in revealing that New Zealand sign language uses the first three fingers of either hand raised, palm facing, and spread to effectively form the three points of a capital letter ‘W’. The hand is then shaken a little from side to side twice. As always the words are said at the same time as signing to aid those also reading lips.

Palau – Ngerulmud is often said to be the modern capital, this name of one of several villages which comprise the place name of Melekeok. This was the name of the second child of the creator god in local mythology and derived from tekeok ‘openly-boastful’ or ‘stubborn’ or even ‘self-congratulatory’. One would hope no parent would name their child in the hope it would turn out to be an arrogant, egotistical brat but that he earned this name in later life, however here the story is from a creation myth and thus representative and an explanation of human traits.

Papua New Guinea – has the capital city of Port Moresby, where the harbour was explored by the British Captain John Moresby in 1873. Whilst it was named by John, he did not for a moment think of himself but named it in honour of his father, Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby.

Samoa – and its capital of Apia, a name which has never been defined.

Solomon Islands – has the capital city of Honiara, an Anglicised version of the original local name of Nagoniara, itself meaning ‘in front of the wind’.

Tonga – where the capital city of Nuku’alofa comes from the Tongan for ‘residence and love’. Just one in fourteen marriages in Tonga end in divorce, compare this to approach half of all marriages in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and perhaps the name is more than suitable. However the real reason is mythological and dates from the time when the Tongan King Mo’ungatonga sent his youngest son Ngata to govern the notorious troubled region of Hihifo. The lad did not travel alone but was accompanied by his uncle Nuku and older cousin Niukapu. None of the three were overjoyed by the task the king had set them and were on the point of abandoning their journey and heading off for Samoa before landing halfway in order to formulate a plan. Eventually the three leaders decided to wrap themselves in a single large mat thus giving the impression of an exceedingly large and fearsome individual having three heads and avoided any confrontation.

Tuvalu – has Funafuti as its capital city, itself named after the founding ancestor from Samoa. One island is named Funafala, a name meaning ‘the pandanus of Funa’, he the chieftain, with the atoll being named Funafuti.

Vanuatu – and Port Vila, a Portuguese name simply meaning ‘port town’.

My apologies for leaving such a large proportion of the names undefined. I contemplated leaving this post for another time but as I have always followed up the etymologies of the countries with the meanings of their respective capital cities (and had said I would do so last time) I decided to press ahead. My dismal failure to define the names of Suva, Majuro, Palikir, Yaren, and Apia, I have written to the respective administrations in the hope they may be able to shed some light on the matter. Should I receive any response I shall update and this post with the relevant details.

The Nations of Oceania – Etymologically Speaking

Following on from previous weeks here we tie up the loose ends by examining the last of the continents. A comparatively modern term, only coined in the early nineteenth century, Oceania comes from a Greek word for ‘ocean’, an unusual name for a continent. Just what it comprises depends upon the record consulted but, for our purposes, it is everything in and around the Pacific basin not considered a part of Asia, North America, or South America.

Australia – A country originally known as Terra Australis Incognita or ‘unknown southern land’, this strange name because, perhaps uniquely, it appeared on a 2nd century map some 1,500 years before it was first sighted by Europeans.

Fiji – a name of uncertain meaning but one where the origins are well known. The island group is named from the main island, correctly known as Viti Levu and referred to by the inhabitants discovered by Captain James Cook as simply Viti. It was not the Fijians but the Tongans who knew the place as Fisi, in turn Anglicised as Fiji.

Kiribati – first sighted by Europeans in 1788 and later named by the French after the captain of that earlier vessel. That original captain was Thomas Gilbert, hence the Iles Gilbert or Gilbert Islands. The local name is Tungaru, thought to be after a former chieftain. Yet in a highly unusual turn of events the populace decided to use this local pronunciation of Gilberts, ie Kiribati, to show the group now encompasses other islands originally outside of their group. One of the islands in the group, sighted on Christmas Day and thus named Christmas Island, underwent the identical change and is known by the apparent Gilbertese name of Kiritimati, again the local pronunciation of the European name.

Marshall Islands – In the same year as Gilbert spied the Gilbert Islands, Captain John Marshall explored and mapped what are now known as the Marshall Islands. Not that these islands were unknown in the late eighteenth century, indeed they were first recorded by Europeans as early as 1529 when seen by Spanish navigator Alvarez de Saavedra.

Micronesia – the name of Micronesia, like the name of the continent, is derived from the Greek where micros ‘small’ nesos ‘island’ with ia ‘territory’.

Nauru – the first European to visit the island were the crew of Captain John Fearn’s vessel on a whale hunting voyage in 1798. He referred to this as the Pleasant Island and the name stuck until the twentieth century. The local and current name seems to come from the local language where anaoero means ‘I go to the beach’ and a reference to the twelve tribes which inhabited the place having a culture entirely based on fishing and coconuts.

New Zealand – although associated with Captain James Cook, New Zealand was first sighted by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who called them the Staaten Islands. This means ‘the land of the States’, ie the states of the Netherlands. However Dutch authorities were not impressed and changed the name the following year to Nieuw Zeeland ‘new sea land’ and inspired by the Dutch province of Zeeland. Terrains of the two places could not be more different – the Dutch Zeeland is as flat as it can be which the New Zealand is a mountainous volcanic region.

Palau – this name has come to English through a German version of the Spanish name. Just what this means depends upon which local words is the origin. Two very similar words, with very different meanings, have been suggested – hence this is either beluu or ‘village’ or if aibebelau is a reference to creation mythology.

Papua New Guinea – two former areas united in the modern name. The region of Papua is from a local term but of unknown origin and meaning. The ‘new’ of New Guinea came from Ortiz de Rez, a Portuguese explorer who consider the inhabitants similar in appearance to those he met in Guinea, West Africa.

Samoa – French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. However the local name has always been Samoa, a reference to the large, now extinct, flightless birds which once inhabited the islands around here and named as ‘the place of moa’.

Solomon Islands – discovered and named in 1567 by Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mandana de Neyra. Having met the natives and the gold ornaments they wore, he jumped to the conclusion this must be the legendary land of Ophir where, according to the Bible in Kings 1 chapter 9 verse 28, the gold was brought to King Solomon. It does instantly beg the question as to why he did not simply call them the Ophir Islands.

Tonga – in the many dialects and related tongues of Polynesia the word tonga means simply ‘south’, an apt description of these, the southernmost group of these islands.

Tuvalu –a group of nine islands settled by migrating humans some 3,000 years ago. Yet only eight were ever inhabited, hence the local tongue refers to them as ‘eight standing together’, a reference to the separate communities united by constant travel and trade by canoe.

Vanuatu – a local name derived from vanua ‘land’ or perhaps ‘home’ with tu ‘stand’, a reference to this new nation’s independence.

As previously the capital cities of each nation will be examined next time.