New Britain – Waterwell Drilling Rig manufacturer – Drilling Tools
Geography
Topography of New Britain
New Britain, with selected towns and volcanoes
New Britain extends from 148 to 152 E. longitude and from 4 to 7 S. latitude. It is crescent-shaped, approximately 600 km (370 miles) along its southeastern coastline, and from 30 to 110 km (2070 miles) wide, not including a small central peninsula. The island is the 38th largest in the world, with an area of 37,800 km (14,600 mile).
Steep cliffs form some sections of the coastline; in others the mountains are further inland, and the coastal area is flat and bordered by coral reefs. The highest point, at 2438 m (7999 ft), is Mount Sinewit in the Baining range in the east. Most of the terrain is covered with tropical rainforest and several large rivers are fed by the high rainfall.
New Britain was largely formed by volcanic processes, and there are several active volcanoes on the island, including Ulawun (the highest volcano in Papua New Guinea), Langila, the Garbuna Group, the Sulu Range and the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan of the Rabaul caldera. A major eruption of Tavurvur in 1994 destroyed the East New Britain provincial capital of Rabaul. Most of the town still lies under metres of ash, and the capital has been moved to nearby Kokopo.
Administrative divisions
New Britain is part of the Islands Region, one of four regions of Papua New Guinea. It comprises the mainland of two provinces:
East New Britain with headquarters in Kokopo (formerly Rabaul)
West New Britain with headquarters in Kimbe
History
1700-1914
William Dampier became the first known European to visit New Britain on February 27, 1700: he dubbed the island with the Latin name Nova Britannia.
In November 1884, Germany proclaimed its protectorate over the New Britain Archipelago; the German colonial administration gave New Britain and New Ireland the names of Neupommern (or Neu-Pommern; “New Pomerania”) and Neumecklenburg (or Neu-Mecklenburg; “New Mecklenburg”), and the whole group was renamed the Bismarck Archipelago. New Britain became part of German New Guinea.
In 1909, the indigenous population was estimated at about 190,000; the foreign population at 773 (474 white). The expatriate population was practically confined to the northeastern Gazelle Peninsula, which included the capital, Herbertshhe (now Kokopo). At the time 5,448 hectares (13,464 acres) had been converted to plantations, primarily copra, cotton, coffee and rubber. Westerners avoided exploring the interior initially, believing that the indigenous peoples were warlike and would fiercely resist intrusions.
On 11 September 1914, New Britain became the site of one of the earliest battles of World War I when the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island. They quickly overwhelmed the German forces and German New Guinea became the Australian Territory of New Guinea.
World War II
Two photographs of native New British Islanders, 1944
During World War II the Japanese captured New Britain very early on. During January 1942, Japanese heavily bombed Rabaul. On January 23, Japanese Marines landed by the thousands, starting the Battle of Rabaul. The Japanese used Rabaul as a heavy base until 1944. It was used as the key point for the failed invasion of Port Moresby.
New Britain was invaded by the U.S. 1st Marine Division in the Cape Gloucester area of the very western end of the island, and also by U.S. Army soldiers at some other coastal points. As for Cape Gloucester, with its swamps and mosquitos, the Marines said that it was “worse than Guadalcanal”.
The Allies were able to bypass attacking Rabaul by surrounding it with air and naval bases on surrounding islands and on New Britain itself Operation Cartwheel. The large neighboring island of New Ireland was bypassed altogether. The Rabaul air and naval base was abandoned by the Japanese in August 1945, and surrender by the Japanese followed on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay.
Since 1945
People and culture
The indigenous people of New Britain fall into two main groups: the Papuans, who have inhabited the island for tens of thousands of years, and the Austronesians, who arrived around two thousand years ago. There are around ten Papuan languages spoken and about forty Austronesian languages, as well as Tok Pisin and English. The Papuan population is largely confined to the eastern third of the island and a couple of small enclaves in the central highlands. At Jacquinot Bay, in the south-east, they live beside the beach where a waterfall crashes directly into the sea.
The population of New Britain was 404,873 in the 2000 census. Austronesian people make up the majority on the island. The major towns are Rabaul/Kokopo in East New Britain and Kimbe in West New Britain.
The traditional cultures of New Britain are diverse and complex. While the Tolai of the Rabaul area of East New Britain have a matrilineal society, other groups are patrilineal in structure. There are numerous traditions which remain active today, such as the dukduk secret society (also known as tubuan) in the Tolai area.
See also
Postage stamps of New Britain
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: New Britain
Look up new britain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
^ http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm
^ Tansley, Craig (24 January 2009). “Treasure Islands”. The Age (Fairfax Media): pp. Traveller supplement (pp. 10-11). http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-feature/treasure-islands-20090121-7mbc.html?page=-1. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
Jane’s Solomon Islands
Australian War Memorial, Operations against German Pacific territories, 6 August 1914 6 November 1914.
Ethnologue map of languages of New Britain
Coordinates: 544 15044 / 5.733S 150.733E / -5.733; 150.733
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Islands of Papua New Guinea
Admiralty Islands Ambitle Aua Bougainville Bagabag Babase Baluan Basilaki Bismarck Archipelago Blup Blup Buka Carteret Islands D’Entrecasteaux Islands Dart Reefs Daru Deboyne Islands Dobu Duke of York Island / Duke of York Islands Dyaul Emirau Feni Islands Fergusson Goodenough Green Islands Hemenahei Karkar Kiriwina Kadovar Kiwai Lihir Island / Lihir Group Long Los Negros Lou Louisiade Archipelago Madau Mailu Manam Manus Marshall Bennett Misima Mussau Mut Mut Ndrova New Britain New Hanover New Guinea New Ireland Nissan Normanby North Solomon Islands Nuakata Nukumanu Pak Pana Tinai Pocklington Reef Purutu Rambutyo Ritter Rossel (Yela) Sakar Samarai Sanaroa Schouten Islands Sideia Simberi St. Andrews Islands St Matthias Islands Tabar Group Takuu Tanga Islands Tong Trobriands Umboi Vanatinai Vial Vitu Islands Wabuda Wagifa Western Islands Woodlark Wuvulu Yule
Categories: New BritainHidden categories: Articles lacking in-text citations from April 2009 | All articles lacking in-text citations | Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia | Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica
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