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| Lau Islands
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| Islands of Fiji
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Coordinates: 17°26′S 179°9′W / 17.433°S 179.15°W
Mago Island (pronounced [maŋo]) is a volcanic island that lies in the northwest sector of Fiji's northern Lau Group of islands. One of the largest private islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the pristine island consists of 22 square kilometres (8.4 square miles) of land.
Mago is located 166 statute miles ENE of the Fiji capital of Suva and 14 miles (23 km) SW of the tiny island of Namalata, near Vanua Balavu, where descendants of original Mago inhabitants still reside. Mago Island is relatively undeveloped at present and inhabited only by a few caretakers of Indo-Fijian descent. During the 1860s a cotton plantation established by the Ryder brothers of Australia flourished there. The Ryders were succeeded by the Borron family who ran a successful copra plantation on the island for many years and donated Borron House, an historic mansion in the Fiji capital city Suva, to the Fiji Government.
In early 2005 Mago Island was purchased by Hollywood actor/director Mel Gibson for $15 million from Japan's Tokyu Corporation. Descendants of original native inhabitants of Mago, who were displaced in the 1860s, have protested Gibson's purchase.
Satellite images of the island dating from 2008 show an airstrip of 1100 metres under construction. There is no port on the island, a short stone pier is located on the island's north side. There is only one village on the island, which is loosely arranged, more like a resort than a village. Agriculture consists of only a few small areas of fields.
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