Uma was one of the villages in the Banaba Island or Ocean Island. The population is negligible in Uma. According to 1995 census report, the population recorded was merely 269. It further dropped by 2006. The census report of 2006 says that the population of Uma was 135. Uma is sometimes spelled as Ooma as well. Uma is the native village of the Banabans.
The dry land of Uma was known for the resources of fertilizers. The phosphate mining continued in the islands of Banaba from the period of 1900 to 1979. Such a search for phosphate destroyed 90% of the island’s dry surface. The infiltrating forces have created tension times and again in the islands of Banaba. Uma was no exception. The island was occupied by foreign forces during World wars. The Japanese army forces took control of the villages of the Banaba island from August 26, 1942. Such forces continued till the end of the World War II in the year of 1945. The British authorizations displaced the population of Uma and other villages to Rabi Island, Fiji after 1945. Because of the persisting problems in the village of Uma, the migration continued in huge scale.
Uma is rarely visited by the tourists now-a-days. But the tourists with a natural taste for adventure and loneliness, do sometimes pay visit to the village of Uma. The tourists can try to plan an expedition to the land of Uma and feel the romance of a vacation in a lonely island surrounded by waters.
Bonriki