Kokopo is the capital of
East New Britain Province
East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely d ...
in
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 ...
. It is administered under
Kokopo-Vunamami Urban LLG. The capital was moved from
Rabaul in 1994 when the
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
es
Tavurvur
Tavurvur is an active stratovolcano near Rabaul, on the island of New Britain, in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the eastern rim of the larger feature. An eruption of the volcano largely destroyed the nearby ...
and
Vulcan
Vulcan may refer to:
Mythology
* Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
erupted. As a result, the population of the town increased more than sixfold from 3,150 in 1990 to 20,262 in 2000.
Kokopo was known as Herbertshöhe (''Herbert's Heights''), named in honour of Herbert, eldest son of German Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck, during the
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-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 , ...
administration, which controlled the area between 1884 and formally until 1919. Until 1910, it was the capital of German New Guinea.
On Sunday, March 29, 2015, a strong earthquake, of a preliminary magnitude of at least 7.5, which at that time was the largest
earthquake of 2015, was recorded near Kokopo, and a tsunami warning was issued. This was surpassed a month later by the
April 2015 Nepal earthquake
The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...
, which measured a magnitude 7.8.
In 2015, a research and conservation project was suggested to study and protect
spinner dolphin
The spinner dolphin (''Stenella longirostris'') is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a ...
s living around Kokopo beach, as this population may be threatened if construction of a new port for larger shipping lanes is initiated.
Communication links
The remains of the former capital Rabaul are located some to the north-west of Kokopo, when using the Kokopo-Rabaul Highway. There are around 4,000 inhabitants in Rabaul, down from over 17,000 before the latest volcanic eruption.
Rabaul Airport (also called "Tokua Airport"), one of Papua New Guinea's largest domestic airports, is located a few kilometres east of Kokopo.
Climate
Kokopo has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Af'') with heavy rainfall and hot temperatures year-round.
PNG Hunters
The
Papua New Guinea Hunters
The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and currently compete in the Queensland Rugby League, currently called the Hostplus Cup, a sec ...
(PNG Hunters) are a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
football club based in Kokopo. They were established in 2013 and currently compete in the
QRL's
Intrust Super Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...
. The Hunters' home ground is
Kalabond Oval
Kalabond Oval is a sporting oval in Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. It is home to rugby league team Agmark Gurias and has a capacity of just over 5,000 spectators. The stadium sits on the foot of an active volcano, Tavurvur.
...
in Kokopo and their team colours are red, black and gold.
See also
*
References
{{PNG Provincial Capitals
Populated places in East New Britain Province