Where is Bougainville?
The territory of Papua New Guinea
extends east into the South Pacific Ocean and includes
the island of Bougainville.
Together with Buka Island and a number of smaller islands,
Bougainville forms the province of Bougainville. Although
it is considered a part of the Solomon
Islands chain, Bougainville is a district of
Papua New Guinea and is not aligned with the independent
nation of the Solomon Islands. Situated at the northwest
end of the archipelago, Bougainville is the largest island
in the Solomons.
Bougainville is approximately 1433km from the closet
point of the Australian
mainland.
Wooded and mountainous, Bougainville’s
highest peak, Mount Balbi,
reaches an elevation of 2,743 meters (8,999 feet), and is
an active volcano. The humid, tropical weather nurtures
the cacao and coffee crops that grow well on the island,
as do palms and rubber trees. The Melanesian
peoples primarily fish and farm, and supplement their economy
by exporting cacao, copra, and copper. Arawa is the island’s
largest community, but Kieta
is Bougainville’s principal harbor.
The island is named for French navigator Louis
Antoine de Bougainville, who explored it in 1768.
At the end of the 19th century, Germany
gained control of the island, but lost it to Australia after
World War I. Japan occupied
the island during World War II, after which Bougainville
was placed under the trust of the United Nations (UN)—a
territory that would become part of Papua
New Guinea in 1975.
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Papua New Guinea Flag
The World Around Bougainville
(Click on map to see more detail)
The Island of Bougainville
(Click on map to see more detail)
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