Normanby Island is a volcanic , L-shaped island, the southernmost island in the
D'Entrecasteaux Islands
D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...
group. It is part of
Milne Bay Province,
Papua New Guinea.
Normanby Island is north-east of East Cape, on the island of New Guinea, separated by Goschen Strait, and is separated by the Dawson Strait (Dobu Passage) from
Fergusson Island. The island rises to in the Prevost Range in the southeast. The terrain includes low coastal plains and swamplands, high mountains and steep coastal slopes. Sewa Bay provides shelter on the west coast and Awaiara (Sewataitai) Bay on the east coast. The largest settlement, and district headquarters, is Esa’ala at the island's northern end.
In 1873, the island was visited by British Captain
John Moresby
Rear Admiral John Moresby (15 March 1830 – 12 July 1922) was a British naval officer who explored the coast of New Guinea and was the first European to discover the site of Port Moresby.
Life and career
Moresby was born in Allerford, Somerset, ...
, commanding
''HMS Basilisk'', who named it after the
Marquess of Normanby,
George Augustus Constantine Phipps, a governor of
Queensland,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Once known to produce gold, Normanby now exports copra and some timber. Recent discoveries of gold deposits are beginning to be exploited.
D'Entrecasteaux Islands
Islands of Milne Bay Province
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