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The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of the nation of the Solomon Islands, although the Santa Cruz Islands lie to the southeast of the Solomon Islands Chain. The Santa Cruz Islands lie just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu, and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion.
The largest island in the group is Nendo (505.5 sq km, highest point 549 m, population over 5000), followed by Vanikoro (173.2 sq km, population 800, and is actually two islands, Banie and its small neighbor Tevai) and Utupua (69.0 sq km, highest point 380 m, population 300). Lata, located on Nendo, is the largest town, and is the capital of the Temotu province, which includes the Santa Cruz Islands and the atolls of Tikopia, Anuta, and Fatutaka just west of the Santa Cruz chain.
The Santa Cruz Islands are less than five million years old, and were pushed upward by the subduction of the northward-moving Indo-Australian Plate under the Pacific Plate. The islands are mostly composed of limestone and volcanic ash over limestone. The highest point in the Santa Cruz Islands is on Vanikoro, 924 m.
Tikopia is 5 sq km, and is an extinct volcano (Mt. Reani) with a summit elevation 380 m; population 400.
Anuta is a small volcanic island with a fringing reef. Its highest point is 65 m, and it is only 400 m in diameter; population 200.
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