Engineer Islands
Engineer Islands | ||
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Engineer Islands map | ||
Waters | Solomon Lake | |
archipelago | Louisiade Archipelago | |
Geographical location | 10 ° 34 ′ S , 151 ° 14 ′ E | |
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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
- ^ Wiktionary: engineer
- ↑ Arthur Wichman (ed.): History of the discovery of New Guinea (until 1828). Vol. 1, EJ Brill, Leiden 1909, p. 187
- ↑ Patricia May, Margaret Tuckson The traditional pottery of Papua New Guinea
- ^ Ethnologue, Languages of the World: Bwanabwana, A language of Papua New Guinea
- ↑ http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/PNG/GMAP/PNG-GMAP.htm ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )