Bagabag is an island in the Madang Province of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

having a dormant volcano. Bagabag is 43 km east-north-east from Cape Croilles on the northern coast of the

mainland, and is the closest island to Karkar Island which is 18 km to the north-west. The island is approximately circular in shape, with a diameter of about 7 km. It has an area of 37 km². The prominent feature of the coast is New Year Bay, that cuts into the south-eastern side of the island. Volcanic in origin, terrain on Bagabaga consists of steep, thickly vegetated slopes that rise to over 600 m above sea level. Much of the northern, eastern and southern coasts are fringed by a barrier-type reef some 2 km offshore; the reef is narrow, and mostly submerged. People from

Karkar Karkar may refer to: *Karkar, Selseleh, a village in Iran *Karkar Island, an island in Papua New Guinea *Karkar language, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea *Karkar Rural LLG, a local-level government in Papua New Guinea *Karkar Morghi Deli Baja ...

visit Bagabag by canoe. The island is rich in betel-nut, local pigs and garden food. The island supports four villages with a total population of about 3,000. The first recorded sighting by Europeans of Karkar Island was by the Spanish navigator Iñigo Órtiz de Retes on 10 August 1545 when on board of the

carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...

''San Juan'' tried to return from Tidore to

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

.Coello, Francisco "Conflicto hispano-alemán" ''Boletín de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid'', t.XIX. 2º semestre 1885, Madrid, p.317.

References

Islands of Papua New Guinea Stratovolcanoes of Papua New Guinea New Ireland Province Pleistocene stratovolcanoes {{NewIrelandProvince-geo-stub