Malo Island

This article is about the island in Vanuatu. For the island in the Solomon Islands, see Malo (Solomon Islands).

Malo (formerly known as St. Bartholomew) is an island in Vanuatu, 3 km (1.9 mi) off the southern coast of the larger Espiritu Santo in Sanma Province. It has a circumference of 55 km (34 mi) and an area of 180 km² (69 sq mi).

In 1979 the island had a population of 2,312. The 1999 census found a population of 3,532. By the 2009 census, the total population had grown to 4,273, an increase of 21% since 1999. Avunatari (Abnetare), the main center on the northwest coast, had 600 people in 1999.^{[citation needed]}

Like most of Vanuatu, the island is of volcanic origin. The highest point on the island is Malo Peak, at 326 m (1,070 ft) above sea level.^{[citation needed]}

The main products of the island are copra and cocoa grown on plantations.

There are two main cultural groups on the island of Malo, the cultural group of Auta that inhabits the western part of the island as well as the cultural group of Tinjivo that inhabits the eastern portion of the island. Both these cultural group speak a variant of the Malo language. Malo is also the name of the Austronesian language spoken on the island.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation in Vanuatu is from a site on Malo that was settled circa 1400 BC. Artifacts from this early settlement are characteristic of the Lapita culture.