Engineer Islands

Engineer Islands
Engineer Islands map
Waters	Solomon Lake
archipelago	Louisiade Archipelago
Geographical location	10 ° 34 ′  S , 151 ° 14 ′  E Coordinates: 10 ° 34 ′  S , 151 ° 14 ′  E
Number of islands	14th
Main island	Skelton (Naruaruari)
Total land area	11.12 km²
Residents	903 (2000)
NASA Geocover 2000 satellite image

The Engineer Islands are a group of islands in the Solomon Sea and belong to the Bwanabwana Rural LLG (Local Level Government) Ara in the Samarai-Murua District of Milne Bay Province in the southeastern part of Papua New Guinea . The Engineer Islands are located on the western edge of the Louisiade Archipelago , east of Basilaki Island and south of Normanby . The islands form an unusual group consisting of high islands, low coral islands, atolls and underwater reefs, which are arranged within a radius of approximately 15 to 14 km.

John Moresby named the archipelago in 1873 by the engineer ( English engineers ) his steamer HMS Basilisk . The islands were named after the individual crew members from the engine room: Slade, Skelton, Watts, Butchart, Bright etc. The south-western part of the group are the three largest islands Tubetube (Slade Island), Naruaruari or Naluwaluwali (Skelton Island) and Kwaraiwa or Kwalaiwa (Watts Island), each 3 to 4 km long and 0.5 to 1 km wide.

The reef-fringed islands are hilly with elevations of up to 150 m like on Slade Island. The eastern border of the Engineer group is characterized by a crescent-shaped reef on which the four low islands of Hummock (in the southeast), Haszard (in the north) and the two small islands Button and Flat are located. In the center of the archipelago, islands and reefs form a semi-closed lagoon . Powell and Pender Islands are on the larger western reef, while Messum Island is on the smaller eastern reef.

Shortland Island and Byron Island form the northwestern part of the group. Other islands in the Engineer group are Bright Island, Good Island, Butchart Island and Deedes Island. The island of Anagusa (Bentley Island) is south, Koyagaugau (Dawson Island) northeast of the Engineer group.

The inhabitants of the archipelago speak Bwanabwana.

At the 2000 census there were four villages on four islands with the same name, with a total population of 903, from west to east: Tubetube (Slade Island) (184), Naruaruari (Skelton, also misspelling Skeleton) (282), Kwaraiwa (Watts Island) ( 359) and Tewatewa (Hummock Island) (78).

The most important islands at a glance:  Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

island	Name variant	Coordinates	Area km²	Population 2000
Slade Island	Tube tube	10 ° 35 ′ 19 ″ S, 151 ° 11 ′ 56 ″ E	2.61	184
Butchart		10 ° 34 ′ 27 ″ S, 151 ° 11 ′ 54 ″ E	0.09	-
Bright Island		10 ° 32 ′ 1 ″ S, 151 ° 12 ′ 46 ″ E	0.07	-
Skelton Island	Naruaruari (Naluwaluwali)	10 ° 36 ′ 39 ″ S, 151 ° 14 ′ 28 ″ E	3.56	282
Good Island		10 ° 32 ′ 4 "S, 151 ° 14 ′ 44" E	0.32	-
Pender Island		10 ° 33 ′ 43 ″ S, 151 ° 15 ′ 30 ″ E	0.12	-
Deedes Islet		10 ° 31 ′ 44 ″ S, 151 ° 16 ′ 10 ″ E	0.15	-
Powell Island		10 ° 34 ′ 51 ″ S, 151 ° 16 ′ 55 ″ E	0.15	-
Watts Island	Kwaraiwa	10 ° 37 ′ 18 ″ S, 151 ° 17 ′ 24 ″ E	2.56	359
Messum Islet	Banabala	10 ° 36 ′ 4 ″ S, 151 ° 18 ′ 18 ″ E	0.06	-
Haszard Island	Tua Tua	10 ° 35 ′ 15 ″ S, 151 ° 22 ′ 0 ″ E	0.72	-
Button islet		10 ° 37 ′ 4 ″ S, 151 ° 22 ′ 7 ″ E	0.07	-
Flat Islet		10 ° 36 ′ 8 ″ S, 151 ° 22 ′ 8 ″ E	0.03	-
Hummock Island	Tewatewa	10 ° 36 ′ 30 ″ S, 151 ° 22 ′ 34 ″ E	0.61	78

Alternative area data exist for the islands of Slade (2.40 km²), Skelton (2.84 km²) and Watts (1.88 km²).

Web links

• Engineer Group, Oceandots.com (more information & pictures) ( Memento from December 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wiktionary: engineer
2. ↑ Arthur Wichman (ed.): History of the discovery of New Guinea (until 1828). Vol. 1, EJ Brill, Leiden 1909, p. 187
3. ↑ Patricia May, Margaret Tuckson The traditional pottery of Papua New Guinea
4. ^ Ethnologue, Languages ​​of the World: Bwanabwana, A language of Papua New Guinea
5. ↑ http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/PNG/GMAP/PNG-GMAP.htm ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )