Buka is a town located on the southern coast of

Buka Island Buka Island is the second-largest island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is in Buka Rural LLG of North Bougainville District, with the Autonomous Region's and district's capital city of Buka, Bougain ...

, in the

Autonomous Region of Bougainville Bougainville ( ; ; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil''), officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Tok Pisin: ''Otonomos Region bilong Bogenvil''), is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the re ...

, in eastern

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

Buka Rural LLG Buka Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of comprising Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Several Northwest Solomonic languages are spoken in the LLG. Wards *02. Tsitalato *03. Hagogohe *04. Peit *05 ...

. It is the capital of the North Bougainville District, and the interim capital of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. It contains Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral.

Geography

The city and Buka Island are separated from the northern tip of

Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area is ...

by the deep, the narrow Buka Passage, which varies in width from 980 to 3,000 feet (300 to 1,070 metres) wide. Both islands are in the northern

Solomon Islands archipelago The Solomon Islands (archipelago) is an island group in the western South Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. The archipelago is in the Melanesian subregion and bioregion of Oceania and forms the eastern boundary of the Solomon Sea. The ...

, and the only major ones not within the nation of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. Buka island is volcanic formation measuring 35 miles by 9 miles (56km by 14km), with a total land area of 190 square miles (492 square km). The elevation reaches to 1,634 feet (498 metres) in the hills in the southwest and the interior of the island is densely forested. Rainfall is abundant, with more than 100 inches (2,500 mm) annually. Coral reefs fringe the south and west coasts, the latter deeply indented by Queen Carola Harbour. Buka consists of three major geological units: a plateau of uplifted coral reefs, steep hills and coral formations of post-Pleistocene age. The city is served by

Buka Airport Buka Airport is an airport serving Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. It is located at the southern end of the island, near Buka Passage behind the town of Buka, and pre-war Chinatown. The airport termin ...

History

Discovered by Europeans in 1768, the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

laid claim to the island in 1899, annexing it into

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 , ...

. Buka became the capital of the

Bougainville Province Bougainville ( ; ; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil''), officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Tok Pisin: ''Otonomos Region bilong Bogenvil''), is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the r ...

decades later, during the 1990s

Bougainville Civil War The Bougainville conflict, also known as the Bougainville Civil War, was a multi-layered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between PNG and the secessionist forces of the Bougainvill ...

. The former, or "proper" capital of Bougainville, Arawa, was all but destroyed in 1990 as tensions reached a critical level in a civil uprising, which ended in 1997. The Bougainville government intends to return the capital to Arawa in the future.

References

* {{coord, 5, 25, 19, S, 154, 40, 22, E, source:itwiki_region:PG, display=title 01 Populated places in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Populated coastal places in Papua New Guinea Provincial capitals in Papua New Guinea

Geography

History

See also

References