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New Ireland

New Ireland, formerly New Mecklenburg is an island in the Pacific Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest body of water [i]. ... 

, and the most northeastern province Provinces of Papua New Guinea

History Immediately before independence 16 September [i] 1975 [i], Papua New Guinea [i] was divided into ninet ... 

 of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea or PNG, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country ... 

. It is located at .

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Timeline

1943   World War II World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide [i] conflict [i] fought betwe ... 

: American United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

s and Japan Japan

is an island country [i] in East Asia [i]. ... 

ese fight the naval Battle of Cape St. George Battle of Cape St. George

The Battle of Cape St. George was a naval battle [i] of the Pacific campaign [i] of World War II [i] ... 

 between Buka and New Ireland.



Encyclopedia



New Ireland, formerly New Mecklenburg is an island in the Pacific Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest body of water [i]. ... 

, and the most northeastern province Provinces of Papua New Guinea

History
Immediately before independence 16 September [i] 1975 [i], Papua New Guinea [i] was divided into ninet ... 

 of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea or PNG, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country ... 

. It is located at .

Physical geography


The island is part of the Bismarck Archipelago Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of New Guinea [i] in the southwestern Pacific Ocean [i] ... 

, and is often described as having the shape of a musket Musket

A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smoothbore [i] long gun [i], which its user generally fires from the should... 

. The tropical Tropics

The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth [i] centered on the equator [i] and limited in latitude [i] ... 

 island Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water.... 

 of New Ireland is long, narrow and mountainous. For much of its 320 km length, it is less than 10 km across, yet the central mountainous spine is very steep and rugged. The highest peak is Lambel . The island lies between one and five degrees south of the equator Equator

The equator is an imaginary circle [i] drawn around a planet [i] at a distance halfway between the pole [i] ... 

.

Also part of the province are numerous smaller islands, including New Hanover New Hanover Island

New Hanover Island,, also called Lavongai, is a large volcanic [i] island [i], par ... 

, Saint Matthias Group , Tabar Group , Tanga Group , Feni Islands Feni Islands

Feni Islands is an island group in Papua New Guinea [i], located east of New Ireland [i], at . ... 

 , Djaul, Lihir Lihir Island

Lihir Island is the largest island of the Lihir Group [i], Papua New Guinea [i], at .
... 

 and Anir.

The land area of the province is around 9600 square km.

History


There have been at least three waves of migration Migration

Migration occurs when living things move from one biome [i] to another.... 

 into New Ireland over the last 40,000 years. The famous Lapita pottery culture was present around 3,300 years ago.

Chinese and South-East Asian contact appears to have been longstanding, though evidence is thin.

Dutch explorers made the first European contact in 1616. It was initially believed by Europeans to be part of New Britain New Britain

New Britain, formerly Neu Pommern, is the largest island [i] in the Bismarck Archipelago [i] of Papua New Guinea [i] ... 

, but the British explorer Philip Carteret established in 1767 that the island was physically separate, and gave it the name Nova Hibernia.

Missionary activity did not begin until 1877, and New Ireland was colonised by Germany Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country [i] in central Europe [i]. ... 

 in 1886 under the name Neu-Mecklenburg, as part of the German partition comprising the northern half of present-day Papua New Guinea.

Blackbirding - the removal, often by force, of local young men to work on plantations in northern Australia and other Pacific islands - was widespread in New Ireland in the late 19th century.

Australia took control in 1914, in the early stages of World War I World War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and "The War to End All War... 

, and renamed the island as New Ireland. It became part of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea declared in 1921 by the League of Nations and administered by Australia.

During World War II World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide [i] conflict [i] fought betwe ... 

 New Ireland was occupied by Japanese forces from January 1941 until 1945.

Australian colonial administration continued until Papua New Guinea became independent in September 1975.

Human geography


The current population is 118,350 , the vast majority of whom live in small rural villages. The main town is Kavieng, the provincial capital, on the northern tip of the main island; Namatanai is another small town halfway along the island. The Boluminski Highway runs down the east coast, linking the two towns.

Around twenty language Language

A language is a system [i] of [i]s, such as voice sounds, gestures or written symbol [i]... 

s are spoken in New Ireland, and the number of dialects and subdialects totals perhaps 45. All are in the New Ireland languages group within the Austronesian Austronesian languages

The Austronesian languages belongs to a language family [i] widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia [i] ... 

 language family, except for one language isolate, Kuot.

Culture


New Ireland, like much of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea or PNG, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country ... 

, has a mixture of the old and the new: traditional cultural practices are widespread and almost universally respected, yet society is changing as a result of church activity, urbanisation Urbanization

Urbanization or urbanisation is the increase over time in population [i] or extent of cities [i] ... 

, and various aspects of global contemporary culture making their mark.

Probably the most famous cultural system of New Ireland is "Malagan", a Nalik word for an ancient and revered set of practices and ceremonies practised throughout much of the main island, though abandoned during World War II because of the difficulty of providing the considerable investment of resources the rites and ceremonies required.