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Dubbed Duke of York Island
by its first European visitor, British commodore John Byron, Atafu is the
smallest and northernmost of Tokelau's three atolls. Its 42 islets measure
a grand total of 3.5 sq km (1.3 sq mi), and the tiny lagoon is 17 sq km
(6.5 sq mi); the population is around 500.
Protestant Atafu is the more
traditional of the three atolls, with rationed alcohol sales and a greater
reliance on old-style dugout canoes.
The island also has more traditional
houses, largely due to its prized supply of building wood, kanava;
these houses are increasingly being replaced by cyclone-proof concrete and
corrugated-roofed housing.
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