Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Oceania |
Coordinates | 2°55′S152°01′E / 2.917°S 152.017°E |
Archipelago | Tabar Group |
Area | 110 km2 (42 sq mi) |
Administration | |
Province | New Ireland Province |
Demographics | |
Ethnic groups | Tabar people |
Tabar Island is an island of the Tabar Group of Papua New Guinea, located to the east of New Ireland. It is inhabited by the Tabar people. [1]
Tabar Island is the main island of the Tabar Group and forms part of the New Ireland Province. It is located approximately 900 km north east of Port Moresby and about 24 km northeast of the province's main island New Ireland.
The island is of volcanic origin and has an area of about 110 km2 with a length of about 20 km and about 9 km wide. The highest altitude is approximately 400 m above sea level. Tabar Island is the largest and southernmost island in the archipelago.
The population is mainly divided into a few villages along the coast and the island's interior is covered mostly by rainforest. The main town of Datava is located on the island's northern part at Koko Bay .
The islands can only be reached by ship as they do not have an airport, the neighboring Tatau Island is on the other side of the barely distant canal that separates the islands.
The island has been inhabited by Melanesians since about 1500 BC. It was charted by Dutch captains Jacob Le Maire and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten in June 1616 and then named "Gardner Islands". They were later visited by Abel Tasman who then dubbed the area to the "Visser Islands".
The area came under German sovereignty in 1885 as part of German New Guinea. The area was managed initially by the German New Guinea Company.
After the First World War, the area ended up under Australian control, and Australia later became officially mandated for the entire Bismarck Archipelago by the United Nations.
From 1942 to 1945, the area was occupied by Japan, but returned to the Australian government mandate until Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975.
Carl Emil Pettersson, a Swedish sailor who was shipwrecked and landed on the island in 1904, became its king (nicknamed "Strong Charly") after his marriage to the daughter of a local chief after he died. [2]
New Britain is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel. The main towns of New Britain are Rabaul/Kokopo and Kimbe. The island is roughly the size of Taiwan. While the island was part of German New Guinea, it was named Neupommern . In common with most of the Bismarcks it was largely formed by volcanic processes, and has active volcanoes including Ulawun, Langila, the Garbuna Group, the Sulu Range, and the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan of the Rabaul caldera. A major eruption of Tavurvur in 1994 destroyed the East New Britain provincial capital of Rabaul. Most of the town still lies under metres of ash, and the capital has been moved to nearby Kokopo.
The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island.
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area is 9,300 km2 (3,600 sq mi). The population of the whole province, including nearby islets such as the Carterets, is approximately 300,000. The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at 2,715 m (8,907 ft). The much smaller Buka Island, c. 500 km2 (190 sq mi), lies to the north, across the 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 ft) wide Buka Strait. Even though the strait is narrow, there is no bridge across it, but there is a regular ferry service between the key settlements on either side. The main airport in the north is in the town of Buka.
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km.
German New Guinea consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, became a German protectorate in 1884. Other island groups were added subsequently. The Bismarck Archipelago, and the North Solomon Islands were declared a German protectorate in 1885; in the same year the Marshall Islands were bought from Spain for $4.5 million by the Hispano-German Protocol of Rome; Nauru was annexed to the Marshall Islands protectorate in 1888, and finally the Caroline Islands, Palau, and the Mariana Islands were bought from Spain in 1899. German Samoa, though part of the German colonial empire, was not part of German New Guinea.
New Ireland Province, formerly New Mecklenburg, and Nova Hibernia, is the northeasternmost province of Papua New Guinea.
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810, and since the division of Southern Highlands Province in May 2012 it is the most populous province. It includes the Huon Peninsula, the Markham River, and delta, and coastal territories along the Huon Gulf. The province has nine administrative districts. At least 101 languages are spoken, including Kâte and Yabem language. English and Tok Pisin are common languages in the urban areas, and in some areas pidgin forms of German are mixed with the native language.
Misima is a volcanic island in the northwest of Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea.
The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the name of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. That administrative union was renamed as Papua New Guinea in 1971. Notwithstanding that it was part of an administrative union, the Territory of New Guinea at all times retained a distinct legal status and identity until the advent of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.
The Gazelle Peninsula is a large peninsula in northeastern East New Britain, Papua New Guinea located on the island of New Britain within the Bismarck Archipelago, situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Rabaul caldera is located on the northern tip of the peninsula. Upon the Gazelle Peninsula are the Baining Mountains, of which the highest point is Mount Sinewit at 2,063 m (6,768 ft). The Gazelle Peninsula houses Vulcan Crater and Mount Tavurvur, both of which conducted volcanic activity in the 20th and 21st centuries and have provided extremely fertile soils. The body of the Gazelle Peninsula is about 80 km (50 mi). The southern isthmus upon which the Gazelle Peninsula is connected to the main body of East New Britain is reduced to about 32 km (20 mi).
The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New Guinea in 1949. In December 1971, the name of the Territory changed to "Papua New Guinea" and in 1975 it became the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.
New Ireland, or Latangai, is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km2 (2,859 sq mi) in area with c. 120,000 people. It is named after the island of Ireland. It is the largest island of New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by Saint George's Channel.
The Tabar Group is an island group in Papua New Guinea, located 40 km (25 mi) north of New Ireland. It is a part of the Bismarck Archipelago. The Tabar group consists of a short chain of three main islands - Tabar Island in the south, Tatau Island in the center, and Simberi Island in the north - as well as a number of smaller offshore islets. The highest peak is Mount Beirari at 622 m (2,041 ft).
Simberi Island is a volcanic island in the Tabar Group, in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland Province.
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east.
The Strathord Islands are an uninhabited island group of five islands in the Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Politically they belong to the province of Milne Bay in the southeastern region of Papua New Guinea.
The Engineer Islands are an archipelago in the Solomon Sea belonging to Papua New-Guinea.