The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. Its area is about .

History

The first inhabitants of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

arrived around 30,000–40,000 years ago. They may have traveled from New Guinea, by boat across the

Bismarck Sea The Bismarck Sea (, ) lies in the south-western Pacific Ocean within the Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinean exclusive economic zone. It is located north-east of the island of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Archipelago. It has coastlines i ...

or via a temporary

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...

, created by an uplift in the Earth's crust. Later arrivals included the

Lapita The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their distinct material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. The Lapita people are believed to have originated fro ...

people, the direct ancestors of the

Austronesian peoples The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

, eastern

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

, and Island

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

. The first European to visit these islands was Dutch explorer Willem Schouten in 1616. The islands remained unsettled by western Europeans until they were annexed as part of the German

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

German New Guinea German New Guinea () consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups, and was part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , became a German protectorate in 188 ...

in 1884. The area was named in honour of the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

. On 13 March 1888, a

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

erupted on Ritter Island causing a megatsunami. Almost the entire volcano fell into the ocean, leaving a small rim of the east side of the original island. First Wave at Admiralty Islands

Following the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force seized the islands in 1914 and Australia later received a

League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate represented a legal status under international law for specific territories following World War I, involving the transfer of control from one nation to another. These mandates served as legal documents establishing th ...

for the islands. They remained under Australian administration—interrupted only by Japanese occupation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

—until Papua New Guinea became independent in September 1975.

Geography

The Bismarck Archipelago includes mostly

volcanic island Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

s with a total land area of . The archipelago surrounds the

and sits upon the North Bismarck Plate, the Manus Plate and the South Bismarck Plate. Islands are grouped here according to administrative province: * Manus Province (''see 9 on the map'') ** Admiralty Islands, group of 18 islands including: *** Manus Island, main island *** Los Negros Island *** Lou Island *** Ndrova Island *** Tong Island *** Baluan Island *** Pak Island *** Purdy Islands *** Rambutyo Island *** St. Andrews Islands ** Western Islands, with: *** Aua Island *** Hermit Islands *** Kaniet Islands (Anchorite) **** Sae Island *** Ninigo Islands *** Wuvulu Island * New Ireland Province (12) ** New Ireland or also Niu Ailan, main island ** New Hanover or Lavongai ** St Matthias Islands ** Tabar Group ** Lihir Group ** Tanga Group ** Feni Islands ** Dyaul Island *

East New Britain East New Britain is a Provinces of Papua New Guinea, 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 ...

Province (4) **

New Britain 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 (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

or also Niu Briten, main island ** Duke of York Islands *** Duke of York Island *** Kabakon *** Kerawara *** Makada *** Mioko *** Mualim *** Ulu * West New Britain Province (18) **

or also Niu Briten, main island ** Vitu Islands *

Morobe Province Morobe 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 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands Province ...

(11) ** Umboi Island ** Tolokiwa Island ** Sakar Island ** Ritter Island ** Malai Island ** Tuam Island *

Madang Province Madang is a Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province of Papua New Guinea. The province is on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea and has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages. The capi ...

(8) **

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

** Crown Island **

Karkar Island Karkar Island is an oval-shaped volcanic island located in the Bismarck Sea, about off the north coast of mainland Papua New Guinea in Madang Province, from which it is separated by the Isumrud Strait. The island is about in length and in widt ...

** Bagabag Island ** Manam * East Sepik Province (5) ** Schouten Islands The passage of water between the islands of New Britain and New Ireland is called ''St. George's Channel'' after St. George's Channel in the British Isles between Wales and Ireland.

Notes

Bibliography

* Firth, Stewart (1983). ''New Guinea Under the Germans''. Carlton, Australia: Melbourne University Press. . * Howe, K. R., Robert C. Kiste, Brij V. Lal, eds. (1994). ''Tides of History: The Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. . * King, David ''et al.'' (1982). ''Papua New Guinea Atlas: A Nation in Transition''. Bathurst, Australia: R. Brown and the University of Papua New Guinea. . * Moore, Clive (2003). ''New Guinea: Crossing Boundaries and History''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. . * Ryan, Peter, ed. (1972). ''Encyclopedia of Papua New Guinea''. 3 volumes; Vol I: A – K, maps, black and white illustrations, xv + 588pp. Vol II: l – Z, maps, black and white illustrations, 589–1231pp. Vol III: Index, folding colour map in rear pocket, map, colour illustration, v + 83pp. Carlton, Australia: Melbourne University Press. .

External links

* * {{Authority control Archipelagoes of Papua New Guinea Islands Region (Papua New Guinea) Bismarck Sea Archipelagoes of Oceania Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Lists of islands of Papua New Guinea 1884 establishments in German New Guinea 1914 disestablishments in German New Guinea 1914 establishments in Australia 1975 disestablishments in Australia 1975 establishments in Papua New Guinea Freshwater ecoregions

History

Geography

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links