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Information about New Britain

This article discusses the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. For other uses of the name, see New Britain (disambiguation).


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New Britain from space, June 2005. Clearly visible are ash plumes from Langila and Ulawun volcanoes
New Britain is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, separated from the island of New Guinea by Dampier Strait. The main towns are Rabaul/Kokopo and Kimbe.

Geography

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Topography of New Britain
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New Britain, with selected towns and volcanoes
New Britain extends from 148º to 152º E. longitude and from 4º to 7º S. latitude. It is crescent-shaped, approximately 600 km (370 miles) along its southeastern coastline, and from 30 to 110 km (20-70 miles) wide, not including a small central peninsula. The island is the 38th largest in the world, with an area of 37,800 km² (14,600 mile²).

Steep cliffs form some sections of the coastline; in others the mountains are further inland, and the coastal area is flat and bordered by coral reefs. The highest point, at 2438 m (7999 ft), is Mount Sinewit in the Baining range in the east. Most of the terrain is covered with tropical rainforest, and several large rivers are fed by the high rainfall.

New Britain was largely formed by volcanic processes, and there are several active volcanoes on the island, including Ulawun (the highest volcano in Papua New Guinea), Langila, the Garbuna Group, the Sulu Range, and the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan of the Rabaul caldera. A major eruption of Tavurvur in 1994 destroyed the East New Britain provincial capital of Rabaul. Most of the town still lies under metres of ash, and the capital has been moved to nearby Kokopo.

Administrative divisions

New Britain is part of the Islands Region, one of four regions of Papua New Guinea. It comprises the mainland of two provinces:

History

William Dampier became the first known European to visit New Britain on February 27, 1700: he dubbed the island with the Latin name Nova Britannia.

In November 1884, Germany proclaimed its protectorate over the New Britain Archipelago; the German colonial administration gave New Britain and New Ireland the names of Neu-Pommern ("New Pomerania") and Neu-Mecklenburg, and the whole group was renamed the Bismarck Archipelago.

In 1909 the indigenous population was estimated at about 190,000; the foreign population at 773 (474 white). The expatriate population was practically confined to the northeastern Gazelle Peninsula, which included the capital, Herbertshöhe (now Kokopo). At the time 5,448 hectares (13,464 acres) had been converted to plantations, primarily copra, cotton, coffee, and rubber. Westerners avoided exploring the interior initially, believing that the indigenous peoples were warlike and would fiercely resist intrusions.

On 11 September 1914, New Britain became the site of one of the earliest battles of World War I when Australian forces landed on the island. At that time, it was part of German New Guinea.

People and culture

The indigenous people of New Britain fall into two main groups: the Papuans, who have inhabited the island for tens of thousands of years, and the Austronesians, who arrived around two thousand years ago. There are around ten Papuan languages spoken and about forty Austronesian languages, as well as Tok Pisin and English.

The population of New Britain was 404,873 in the 2000 census. The major towns are Rabaul/Kokopo in East New Britain and Kimbe in West New Britain.

The traditional cultures of New Britain are diverse and complex. While the Tolai of the Rabaul area of East New Britain have a matrilineal society, other groups are patrilineal in structure. There are numerous traditions which remain active today, such as the dukduk secret society (also known as tubuan) in the Tolai area.

See also

Postage stamps of New Britain

Sources and References

(incomplete) Coordinates:
New Britain can refer to:

In geography:
  • New Britain, an island in Papua New Guinea.
  • New Britain, Connecticut, a city in central Connecticut, United States

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island (IPA: /aɪ.lɪnd/) or isle (IPA: /aɪ.ʌl
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Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Papua New Guinea.

Geography

The Bismarck archipelago includes mostly volcanic islands spread into 4 provinces with an area of 49.
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Motto
Unity in diversity[1]
Anthem
O Arise, All You Sons[2]


Capital Port Moresby

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New Guinea<nowiki />

Political division of New Guinea

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location Island north of Australian continent
Coordinates
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Rabaul
Simpsonhafen
 East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea

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Kokopo
 East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea

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Kimbe
 West New Britain,
Papua New Guinea

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1 kilometre =
SI units
0 m 0106 mm
US customary / Imperial units
0 ft 0 mi
A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer, symbol km
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1 mile =
SI units
0 m 0 km
US customary / Imperial units
0 ft 0 yd
“Miles” redirects here. For other uses, see Miles (disambiguation).

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1 kilometre =
SI units
0 m 0106 mm
US customary / Imperial units
0 ft 0 mi
A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer, symbol km
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1 mile =
SI units
0 m 0 km
US customary / Imperial units
0 ft 0 yd
“Miles” redirects here. For other uses, see Miles (disambiguation).

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This is a list of islands in the world ordered by area. It includes all islands with an area greater than 2,500 km² (970 square miles). For comparison, continental landmasses are also shown.

Continental land masses

These figures are rough approximations only.
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Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
  • 1,000,000 m²
  • 100 ha (hectare)
Conversely:
  • 1 m² = 0.

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square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
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Baining Mountains is a mountain range on Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at about Coordinates: . Highest point of the mountains is Mount Sinewit (2,438 m).
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Ulawun is a volcano situated on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, about 130 km southwest of Rabaul. It is the highest mountain in the Bismarck Archipelago, and one of the most active volcanoes in Papua New Guinea.
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Langila is one of the most active volcanoes of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. It consists of four overlapping volcanic cones on the eastern flank of an older extinct volcano, Talawe.
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The Garbuna Group of volcanoes consists of three volcanic peaks, Krummel, Garbuna, and Welcker, atop a shield volcano. They are located at the southern end of the Willaumez Peninsula, just to the west of the town of Kimbe, in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
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The Sulu Range consists of a group of overlapping small stratovolcanos on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The highest point in Mount Malopu at the southwestern end of the complex. Eruptions from a new vent began in July 2006.
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Tavurvur is an active stratovolcano near Rabaul in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the eastern rim of the larger feature. The volcano is most well known for its devastating eruptions over Rabaul.
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Vulcan is a pumice cone in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the western rim of the larger feature. Its most recent eruption was in 1994, when in conjunction with another vent, Tavurvur, the eruptions of Vulcan forced the abandonment of
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Rabaul caldera is a large volcano situated in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. It derives its name from the town of Rabaul situated inside the caldera. The highest of its multiple peaks is 688 m.
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Rabaul
Simpsonhafen
 East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea

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Kokopo
 East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea

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regions of Papua New Guinea are its broadest scale administrative divisions. While the twenty province-level divisions are the primary administrative divisions of the country, the regions are quite significant in daily life, as they are often the basis for organisation of
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province is a territorial unit, almost always a country subdivision.

Roman provinces

The word is attested in English since c.1330, deriving from Old French province (13th c.
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East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in a 1994 volcanic eruption.
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Kokopo
 East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea

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West New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea on the islands of New Britain. The provincial capital is Kimbe. The area of the province in 21,000 km², and there are 184,508 inhabitants (2000 census). West New Britain produces palm oil for export.
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