Bipi Island is a flat
coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...
island located off the west coast of the main island of
Manus in the
Admiralty Group
The Admiralty Group of islets consists of eight rocky outcrops within 2 km of the north of Lord Howe Island. From south to north, these are:
#Soldier’s Cap
#Sugarloaf
#South Island
#Noddy
#Roach Island
#Tenth of June
#North Rock
#Flat Rock
...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. Adjacent and to the North East of Bipi Island is
Sisi Island. Bipi Island consists of three villages, namely Masoh, Matahai, and Kum (the latter is also known as "Salapai") with approximately one thousand inhabitants.
Bipi men were known as master
woodcarvers in the 1970s and 1980s and sold carvings to supplement their meagre incomes made from
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...
production. Today, the main economic activity is fishing and the sale of
bêche-de-mer to licensed buyers supplying the Asian markets. This activity is conducted on the surrounding coral islands and reefs which are owned by traditional islands, reefs and sea-owning groups of Bipi Island.
Bipi Island has one primary school that also caters to the students of nearby islands.
See also
*
Bipi language
References
Bipi Island on Google Maps
Admiralty Islands
Islands of Papua New Guinea
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