New Ireland (island)
Encyclopedia
New Ireland is a large island
in Papua New Guinea
, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain
. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago
, named after Otto von Bismarck
, and they are separated by Saint George's Channel. The administrative centre of the island and of New Ireland province is the town of Kavieng
located at the northern end of the island. While the island was part of German New Guinea
, it was named Neumecklenburg ("New Mecklenburg
").
and is often described as having the shape of a musket
. For much of its 360 kilometers in length, the island's width varies between less than 10 km to 40 km, yet the central mountainous spine is very steep and rugged. The highest peak is Mount Taron in the Hans Meyer Range
(2,379 meters). Other mountain ranges are Tirpitz, Schleinitz
, Verron
and Rossel. The island lies between two and five degrees south of the equator
. The original land cover was primarily dense rainforest
.
New Ireland is surrounded by the Bismarck Sea
in the southwest and by the Pacific Ocean
in the northeast.
. Later arrivals included the Lapita
people approximately 3,000 years ago. Three distinct cultural practices are characteristic of the native people of New Ireland: Kabai, Malagan
and Tumbuan.
In 1616 the Dutch
sailors Jacob Le Maire
and Willem Schouten
were the first Europe
ans to set foot on the island.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the Marquis de Rays
, a French
nobleman, attempted to establish a French
colony on the island called New France. He sent four ill-fated expeditions to the island, the most famous of which
caused the death of 123 settlers.
From 1885 to 1914 New Ireland was a part of German New Guinea
and bore the name Neumecklenburg. Germans managed several highly profitable copra plantations
and built a road to transport the goods. This road is currently in service and is named the Boluminski Highway
after the German administrator of German New Guinea, Franz Boluminski
. After World War I
New Ireland was ceded to Australia
. In 1942, during World War II
, the island was captured by Japanese forces
and was under their control. The Japanese built a large naval base at Kavieng
, but the entire island of New Ireland was bypassed by Allied troops and left to "wither on the vine" until the final Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay
.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
, named after Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, and they are separated by Saint George's Channel. The administrative centre of the island and of New Ireland province is the town of Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
located at the northern end of the island. While the island was part of German New Guinea
German New Guinea
German New Guinea was the first part of the German colonial empire. It was a protectorate from 1884 until 1914 when it fell to Australia following the outbreak of the First World War. It consisted of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups...
, it was named Neumecklenburg ("New Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
").
Geography
The island is part of the Bismarck ArchipelagoBismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
and is often described as having the shape of a musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
. For much of its 360 kilometers in length, the island's width varies between less than 10 km to 40 km, yet the central mountainous spine is very steep and rugged. The highest peak is Mount Taron in the Hans Meyer Range
Hans Meyer Range
The Hans Meyer Range is a mountain range in the southern part of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, at . 2,379 m high Mount Taron, the highest point of the range, is also the highest point of New Ireland...
(2,379 meters). Other mountain ranges are Tirpitz, Schleinitz
Schleinitz Range
The Schleinitz Range is a mountain range in north-central part of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, at . Highest point of the mountains is at 1,481 m. As other mountain ranges in Papua New Guinea it is home to many rare species of fauna and flora and is highly biodiverse and covered in thick...
, Verron
Verron Range
The Verron Range is a mountain range in the southern part of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, composed of limestone and volcanic rock. The highest point of the mountains is at 2150 m. Together with the Hans Meyer Range and the Lelet Plateau, it is one of the main mountainous features of New Ireland...
and Rossel. The island lies between two and five degrees south of the equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
. The original land cover was primarily dense rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
.
New Ireland is surrounded by the Bismarck Sea
Bismarck Sea
The Bismarck Sea lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean to the north of the island of Papua New Guinea and to the south of the Bismarck Archipelago and Admiralty Islands. Like the Bismarck archipelago, it is named in honour of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck...
in the southwest and by the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in the northeast.
History
The first inhabitants of the Bismarck Archipelago arrived around 33,000 years ago after sailing from what is now Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. Later arrivals included the Lapita
Lapita
Lapita is a term applied to an ancient Pacific Ocean archaeological culture which is believed by many archaeologists to be the common ancestor of several cultures in Polynesia, Micronesia, and some coastal areas of Melanesia...
people approximately 3,000 years ago. Three distinct cultural practices are characteristic of the native people of New Ireland: Kabai, Malagan
Malagan
Malagan ceremonies are large, intricate traditional cultural events that take place in parts of New Ireland province in Papua New Guinea...
and Tumbuan.
In 1616 the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
sailors Jacob Le Maire
Jacob Le Maire
Jacob Le Maire was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the earth in 1615-16. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honor, though not without controversy...
and Willem Schouten
Willem Schouten
Willem Cornelisz Schouten was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean.- Biography :Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born in c...
were the first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans to set foot on the island.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the Marquis de Rays
Marquis de Rays
Charles Marie Bonaventure du Breil, Marquis de Rays was a French nobleman who had ambitions of starting a great French colony in the South Pacific...
, a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
nobleman, attempted to establish a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colony on the island called New France. He sent four ill-fated expeditions to the island, the most famous of which
De Rays Expedition
The Third de Rays Expedition, or simply the de Rays Expedition, was the third New Guinea expedition of Marquis de Rays, a French nobleman who attempted to start a colony in the South Pacific...
caused the death of 123 settlers.
From 1885 to 1914 New Ireland was a part of German New Guinea
German New Guinea
German New Guinea was the first part of the German colonial empire. It was a protectorate from 1884 until 1914 when it fell to Australia following the outbreak of the First World War. It consisted of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups...
and bore the name Neumecklenburg. Germans managed several highly profitable copra plantations
Copra plantations in New Guinea
Copra Plantations in New Guinea have been cultivated since the late 19th century. Originally established by German colonialists, they were superseded by Australian interests following World War II.-Early colonialists:...
and built a road to transport the goods. This road is currently in service and is named the Boluminski Highway
Boluminski Highway
The Boluminski Highway is the main land transportation route on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. It runs from the provincial capital of Kavieng for 193 km down the east coast of the island to Namatanai...
after the German administrator of German New Guinea, Franz Boluminski
Franz Boluminski
Franz Boluminski was a German colonial administrator.Boluminski was born in Graudenz, Province of Prussia...
. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
New Ireland was ceded to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In 1942, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the island was captured by Japanese forces
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
and was under their control. The Japanese built a large naval base at Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
, but the entire island of New Ireland was bypassed by Allied troops and left to "wither on the vine" until the final Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
.
Culture
- MalaganMalaganMalagan ceremonies are large, intricate traditional cultural events that take place in parts of New Ireland province in Papua New Guinea...
- funerary arts that originate in Tabar GroupTabar GroupThe Tabar Group is an island group in Papua New Guinea, located 40 km north of New Ireland. It is a part of the Bismarck Archipelago. The Tabar group consists of a short chain of three main islands - Tabar Island in the south, Tatau Island in the center, and Simberi Island in the north - as...
, and have been imported to the northern region of New Ireland. - TatanuaTatanua maskA tatanua is a type of traditional mask made by the natives in the province of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. The masks are made of wood and other natural materials and used in funeral ceremonies called malagan.-Manufacture:...
- "The person who organises a tatanua performance must select the music and dancers, assemble a male chorus and acquire the masks. The masks are usually rented from one of the sculptors who makes them." - KulapKulapKulap are small funerary sculptures produced in the Punam region of southern New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. They were believed to contain the soul of the deceased person they were meant to represent, and would be ritually smashed once their usefulness was outlived, although in more recent years...
- chalk limestone funerary sculptures Male Figure (Kulap) at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
External links
- Entry at the Linköping UniversityLinköping UniversityLinköping University is a state university in Linköping, Sweden. Linköping University was granted full university status in 1975 and is now one of Sweden's larger academic institutions. Education, research and PhD training are the mission of four faculties: Arts and Sciences, Educational...
- WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions - New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests (AA0111)
- Persée : Archaeological survey in southern New Ireland
- Wallaby extinctions at the Macropodid frontier