Nendo Island

Nendo is the largest and most important of the Santa Cruz Islands, located in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands. The island is also known as Santa Cruz, Ndeni, Nitendi or Ndende. The name Santa Cruz was given to the island in 1595 by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, who unsuccessfully started a colony there.

Located at (10°25'12" S. lat., 165°30' E. long.), Nendo is 40 km (25 mi.) long and 22 km (14 mi.) wide. Its land area is 505.5 km² (195 sq. mi.). The highest point on the island is 549 m (1,801 ft.) above sea level.

Nendo's population is somewhat over 5000. Most indigenous Nendo people are speakers of Santa Cruz, but there are also about 200 speakers of the related Nanggu language (both members of the Reef Islands–Santa Cruz family). Speakers of other Temotu province language are also present, for example the other Reef Islands–Santa Cruz language Aiwoo, and the Polynesian outlier language Pileni.

The two small islands of Malo and Nibanga (also called Tomotu Neo and Tomotu Noi), lie about 1 km (0.6 mi.) distant: Malo to the northwest, Nibanga to the southeast.

Lata, located in the northwestern part of the island, is its chief town and the provincial capital.