Luf (island)

Air
Waters	Pacific Ocean
Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago; ( Western Islands )
Geographical location	1 ° 31 '36 " S , 145 ° 4' 8" O Coordinates: 1 ° 31 '36 " S , 145 ° 4' 8" O
length	5 km
width	2 km
surface	6.66 km²
Highest elevation	244 m
Residents	200 (2010) ; 30 inhabitants / km²
main place	Air
	Map of the western islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, with Luf in the east (largest island of the Hermit Group )

Luf (also Loof, Lóu, Louf, Lub, Luf-Atoll, Lufi, Luf-luf, Lup ) is an island in the western area of the Bismarck Archipelago . It is the largest and today the only inhabited one of the Hermit Islands (also the Luf Group , English Hermit Group ). In 2010 Luf had 200 inhabitants. Administratively it belongs to the province of Manus in Papua New Guinea .

Well-known is the 15-meter-long Luf boat , which was purchased there in 1903 and was transferred to the new Humboldt Forum in May 2018 as the largest exhibit in the Ethnological Museum in Berlin .

geography

The island is located about 900 km northeast of Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby and about 300 km northwest of the provincial capital Lorengau on Manus .

The island is of volcanic origin and lies in the lagoon . Its central mountain is the highest point in the Western Islands at 244 meters. In the west lies the 219 meter high Matatinau . The place Luf is located at the narrowest point of the island in the north of the natural harbor of Carola Bay . The Hyena Passage ( Manta Ray Pass ) separates Luf from the twin island of Akib-Maron in the west. On the northern tip of Luf lies the small island of Tset, in the south the tiny islands of North and South Gochonsipi. The lagoon is enclosed by an atoll , which is formed by ten islands and coral reefs .

history

Rear view of the Luf boat

Luf was inhabited by Melanesians and was linguistically and culturally close to the Admiralty Islands, more than 200 kilometers to the east . Outrigger boats that could carry up to 40 people used to serve as means of transport and trading vehicles.

Luf and the other Hermit Islands belonged to the German colonies of German New Guinea between 1884 and 1918 . The Wahlenburg commercial branch and the post office of the "Heinrich Rudolf Wahlen" company were on the neighboring island of Maron, and burned down in the 1960s.

Web links

wuvulu.com: Geography of the Western Islands .
Description of the Hermit Islands in the German Colonial Lexicon , editor Heinrich Schnee , 1920.

Individual evidence

↑ Paramikronesien . In: Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon 1920. Volume III, p. 21 ff.

[1] Paramikronesien . In: Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon 1920. Volume III, p. 21 ff.