New Georgia
| New Georgia | ||
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Archipelago | New Georgia Archipelago | |
| Geographical location | 8 ° 15 ′ S , 157 ° 36 ′ E | |
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| length | 72 km | |
| surface | 2 037 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 1007 m | |
| main place | Munda | |
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New Georgia is the largest island in the New Georgia Archipelago and the Solomon Islands - Western Province .
geography
The island is 85 kilometers long, 10 to 30 km wide and part of the southern boundary of New Georgia Sound , which is enclosed in the west by the Kula Gulf by Kolombangara , in the east by Vangunu and in the south by the Blanche Channel by Rendova . Furthermore, New Georgia borders the world's largest saltwater lagoon , the Marovo lagoon and the smaller Roviana lagoon .
New Georgia is largely natural and overgrown with tropical rainforest . The locals speak the typical New Georgia languages, which are a subset of the eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages. These ten languages are again divided into the eastern and western languages of the Western Province.
The two largest cities are Munda on the Roviana Lagoon and around 17 kilometers north of Boro, each with around 3,000 inhabitants .
history
The Roviana culture has been traceable on the island since the 13th century. New Georgia had been under British ownership since the late 19th century. During the Pacific War in World War II was New Georgia in April 1942 by the Japanese army occupied that there the Munda airfield built. The island gained some notoriety through the Battle of New Georgia . In July / August 1943, US soldiers landed on the island to fight the Japanese stationed there and to conquer the Munda airfield. After the end of the war, the Solomon Islands, and with it New Georgia, became a British protectorate again . The Solomon Islands gained internal autonomy in 1976. The Solomon Islands have been an independent state since 1978.
The islanders live mainly from fishing and forestry . The tourism is not yet widely used excessively, even though New Georgia a good reputation in diving athletes has. Munda is the island's tourist center thanks to its airport , which can be reached from Honiara in just over an hour's flight.
Web links
- Topographic map (northern part)
- Topographic map (southern part)
- Topographic map (western part)
