Daru Island

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Daru Island
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Daru Island from space
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Daru Island
Daru Island (Papua New Guinea)
Geography
Location Torres Strait
Coordinates 09°05′10″S143°12′27″E / 9.08611°S 143.20750°E / -9.08611; 143.20750
Area14.7 km2 (5.7 sq mi)
Length5.0 km (3.11 mi)
Width3.7 km (2.3 mi)
Highest elevation27 m (89 ft)
Highest pointunnamed
Administration
Papua New Guinea
Province Western Province
District South Fly District
LLG Daru Urban
Largest settlement Daru (pop. 12879)
Demographics
Population12,879 (2000)
Pop. density876/km2 (2269/sq mi)
Ethnic groups Kiwai
Torres Strait Islanders

Daru Island is an island in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands. The eponymous town on the island is the capital of the province, and houses the vast majority of the island's population of 20,524 (2009). Daru Island is elliptical in shape, with dimensions of 5.0 by 3.7 kilometers, an area of 14.7 km², and an elevation of up to 27 m. The island is separated from the mainland in the north, specifically the mouth of Oriomo River, by the 3.5 km wide Daru Roads. The shortest distance to the larger Bristow Island (also called Bobo Island) in the south is 1.3 km.

Daru Island is one of the few Torres Strait Islands that do not belong to Australia, but to Papua New Guinea. It is also the most highly populated of the Torres Strait Islands, although scarcely any original Torres Strait Islanders live on the island. The main industry on the island is fishing although few fisheries are locally owned. The island has an international airport which is mainly used by Australian aircraft chartered by mining companies for customs clearance or to pick up jet fuel. Commercial flights service Daru Airport four days per week.

History

The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Luís Vaez de Torres on 5 September 1606. [1]

The island's airport was used to refuel Allied aircraft during World War II and seaplanes operated from nearby waters. [2]

In 2020 the PNG Government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Company which intends to build a "comprehensive multi-functional fishery industrial park" on the island. [3] Another Chinese company, WYW Holding Limited, reportedly proposed building a city to be called "New Daru City" on the island in a letter to the PNG Government in April 2020. [4] However, the Government has stated that it has not considered such a proposal, and has no plans to designate the island a 'business, commercial and industrial zone' as the letter proposed. [5]

Related Research Articles

Papua New Guinea Country in the western Pacific

Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. It is the world's third largest island country with 462,840 km2 (178,700 sq mi).

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi), measuring around 100 km × 30 km. Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel, 718 metres (2,356 ft) above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene, 8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone.

Torres Strait

The Torres Strait is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is 151 km (94 mi) wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland. To the north is the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the Spanish navigator Luís Vaz de Torres, who sailed through the strait in 1606.

HMAS <i>Ladava</i> (P 92)

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HMAS <i>Lae</i> (P 93)

HMAS Lae was an Attack class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It was named for the city of Lae, capital of Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Completed in 1968, the vessel was one of five assigned to the RAN's Papua New Guinea (PNG) Division. The patrol boat was transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1974 as HMPNGS Lae. She remained in service until 1988.

Torres Strait Islands Group of islands in the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea

The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in Torres Strait, the waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of 48,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi), but their total land area is 566 km2 (219 sq mi).

Daru Town in Western Province, Papua New Guinea

Daru is the capital of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and a former Catholic bishopric. Daru town falls under the jurisdiction of Daru Urban LLG.

PNG Air is an airline based on the grounds of Jacksons International Airport, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It operates scheduled domestic and international flights, as well as contract corporate charter work. Its main base is Jacksons International Airport.

Ok Tedi Mine Papua New Guinean copper and gold mine

The Ok Tedi Mine is an open-pit copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea located near the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River, in the Star Mountains Rural LLG of the North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

Saibai Island Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Saibai Island is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Torres Strait of Queensland, Australia. The island is situated north of the Australian mainland and south of the island of New Guinea. The island is a locality within the Torres Strait Island Region local government area. The town of Saibai is located on the north-west coast of the island. In the 2016 census, Saibai Island had a population of 465 people.

Coconut Island (Queensland) Town in Queensland, Australia

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Daru Airport Airport in Daru, Papua New Guinea

Daru Airport is an airport serving Daru, the capital of the Western Province in Papua New Guinea.

Mining in Papua New Guinea

Mining in Papua New Guinea is an important part of the Papua New Guinea economy.

Australia–Papua New Guinea relations Diplomatic relations between Australia and Independent State of Papua New Guinea

Australia–Papua New Guinea relations are the foreign relations between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest neighbour and a former colony of Australia. Both nations share the same continent. Papua New Guinea has developed much closer relations with Australia than with Indonesia, the only country with which it shares a land border. The two countries are Commonwealth realms. In contemporary times, Papua New Guinea is one of the largest recipients of Australian aid. Critics have pointed to instances where this has led to an outsized Australian influence on Papua New Guinea politics.

Torres Strait Regional Authority

The Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) is an Australian Government body established in 1994 to administer the Torres Strait Islands. It consists of 20 elected representatives. The primary function of the Authority is to strengthen the economic, social and cultural development of the peoples of the Torres Strait area.

Bramble Cay

Bramble Cay, also called Maizab Kaur, Massaramcoer or Baramaki, and located at the northeastern edge of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands of Queensland and at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef, is the northernmost point of land of Australia. It is 55 kilometres (34 mi) southeast of the mouth of the Fly River of Papua New Guinea.

Parama Island

Parama Island is an island close off the south coast of Papua New Guinea. It is located 17 km east of Daru, the provincial capital of Western Province, at the southernmost extreme of the Fly River delta, and at the northeastern corner of the Torres Strait. It is the northernmost of the Torres Strait Islands, and at the same time the southernmost of the Fly River delta. Bampton Point, its southernmost point, marks the southwestern corner of the Gulf of Papua. The Coral Sea is southeast. Torres Strait is south and southwest, specifically the Great Northeast Channel, which separates Parama Island from the closest Australian (Queensland) island, Bramble Cay, 48 km ESE.

China–Papua New Guinea relations Diplomatic relations between the Peoples Republic of China and Independent State of Papua New Guinea

The Independent State of Papua New Guinea and China (PRC) established official diplomatic relations in 1976, soon after Papua New Guinea became independent. The two countries currently maintain diplomatic, economic and, to a lesser degree, military relations. Relations are cordial; China is a significant provider of both investments and development aid to Papua New Guinea.

Dauan Island Town in Queensland, Australia

Dauan Island is an island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia; it is also known as Cornwallis Island. Dauan Island is also a town and locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Dauan Island had a population of 191 people.

Crime in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is officially known as the Independent State of Papua New Guinea after gaining absolute independence from Australia on September 16, 1975. PNG is the largest country in the South Pacific region and comprises the eastern side of New Guinea including its islands. Crime in Papua New Guinea, both violent and non-violent have contributed to the developing country's crime rate being one of the highest in the world.

References

  1. Hilder, Brett (1980). The Voyage of Torres. St Lucia, Qld: U. Queensland P. pp. 67, 73.
  2. "Daru Airfield Western Province (Fly) Papua New Guinea (PNG)". Pacific Wrecks. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. Cluff, Renee (15 December 2020). "China's plan to build a fish processing facility in the Torres Strait raises alarm over fishing, border security". ABC News. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  4. Whiting, Natalie (5 February 2021). "Chinese company's multi-billion-dollar plan to build a city on Papua New Guinean island near Australian border". ABC News. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  5. Kuku, Rebecca (6 February 2021). "PNG says it has not seen proposal for Chinese-built city on island 50km from Australian territory". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

Coordinates: 9°05′10″S143°12′27″E / 9.08611°S 143.20750°E / -9.08611; 143.20750