Bougainville ( ; ;

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

: ''Bogenvil''), officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Tok Pisin: ''Otonomos Region bilong Bogenvil''), is an

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

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 ...

. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the region also includes

Buka Island Buka Island is the second-largest island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is in Buka Rural LLG of North Bougainville District, with the Autonomous Region's and district's capital city of Buka on th ...

and a number of outlying islands and atolls. The interim capital is Buka, although this is considered temporary, with the capital likely to move. One potential location is Arawa, the previous capital. In 2011, the region had an estimated population of 250,000 people. The lingua franca of Bougainville is

, while a variety of Austronesian and

non-Austronesian languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non- Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogr ...

are also spoken. The region includes several

Polynesian outlier Polynesian outliers are a number of culturally Polynesian societies that geographically lie outside the main region of Polynesian influence, known as the Polynesian Triangle; instead, Polynesian outliers are scattered in the two other Pacific s ...

s where

Polynesian language The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austro ...

s are spoken. Geographically the islands of Bougainville and Buka are part of the Solomon Islands archipelago, but are politically separate from the independent country of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. Historically the region was known as the North Solomons. Bougainville has been inhabited by humans for at least 29,000 years. During the colonial period the region was occupied and administered by the Germans, Australians, Japanese, and Americans for various periods. The name of the region originates from French admiral

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolutio ...

, who reached it in 1768. Bougainvillean separatism dates to the 1960s, and the Republic of the North Solomons was declared shortly before the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975; it was subsumed into Papua New Guinea the following year. Conflict over the Panguna mine became the primary trigger for the

Bougainville Civil War The Bougainville conflict, also known as the Bougainville Civil War, was a multi-layered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between PNG and the secessionist forces of the Bougainvill ...

(1988–1998), which resulted in the deaths of up to 20,000 people. A peace agreement resulted in the creation of the

Autonomous Bougainville Government The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG; tpi, Otonomos Bogenvil Gavman) is the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Structure The Constitution of Bougainville specifies that the Autonomous Bougainville Gove ...

. In late 2019, a non-binding

independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...

was held with 98.31% voting for independence rather than continued autonomy within Papua New Guinea. As a result, the regional authorities intend to become independent by the end of 2027, pending ratification by the Papuan New Guinea government.

History

Prehistory

Bougainville has been inhabited by humans for at least 29,000 years, according to evidence obtained from Kilu Cave on Buka Island. Until about 10,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum, there was a single island referred to as "Greater Bougainville" that spanned from the northern tip of Buka Island to the Nggela Islands north of Guadalcanal. The first inhabitants of Bougainville were

Australo-Melanesian Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...

s who presumably arrived from the Bismarck Archipelago. Around 3,000 years ago,

Austronesian peoples The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austro ...

brought the

Lapita culture The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. They are believed to have originated from the northern Philipp ...

to the islands, introducing pottery, agriculture, and domesticated animals such as pigs, dogs, and chickens. Both Austronesian and

are spoken on the islands to this day, however there has been significant mixing between the populations to the point that cultural and genetic differences are no longer correlated with language.

Colonial history

The first Europeans to sight present-day Bougainville were the Dutch explorers

Willem Schouten Willem Cornelisz Schouten ( – 1625) was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean. Biography Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born in c. 1567 in Hoorn, Holland, Seve ...

and

Jacob Le Maire Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without controver ...

, who glimpsed Takuu Atoll and

Nissan Island Nissan Island (also Green Island or Sir Charles Hardy Island) is the largest of the Green Islands of Papua New Guinea. It is located at , about 200 km east of Rabaul on New Britain and about 200 km north-west of Bougainville. The island ...

in 1616. British naval officer

Philip Carteret Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity (22 January 1733, Trinity Manor, Jersey – 21 July 1796, Southampton) was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 176 ...

saw

in 1767 and also visited what became the Carteret Islands. In 1768, French admiral

sailed along the east coast of the island that now bears his name. The German Empire, which had already begun operations in New Guinea, annexed present-day Bougainville in 1886, after agreeing with the United Kingdom to divide the Solomon Islands archipelago between them. A German protectorate over the northern islands was established later that year, but the

British Solomon Islands Protectorate The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson, R.N., of , declared the southern islands a British protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part o ...

was not established until 1893. The initial boundary between the two territories was much more southerly, with

Choiseul Island Choiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island () of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at . The administrative headquarters of Choiseul Province is situated in the town of Taro, on Taro Island. History In 1768, the French expl ...

Santa Isabel Island Santa Isabel Island (also known as Isabel, Ysabel and Mahaga) is the longest in Solomon Islands, the third largest in terms of surface area, and the largest in the group of islands in Isabel Province. Location and geographic data Choiseul lies t ...

, Ontong Java, the

Shortland Islands The Shortland Islands is an archipelago of Western Province, Solomon Islands, at . The island group lies in the extreme north-west of the country's territory, close to the south-east edge of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. The largest isl ...

, and part of the Florida Islands included in the German section. The current boundary between PNG and Solomon Islands is derived from the

Tripartite Convention The Tripartite Convention of 1899 concluded the Second Samoan Civil War, resulting in the formal partition of the Samoan archipelago into a German colony and a United States territory. Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the ...

of 1899, which saw those islands ceded to the United Kingdom. The German Solomon Islands were administered through

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

, although it took almost two decades for an administrative presence to be established. The German administrative station at Kieta, established in 1905, was preceded by a Marist mission, which succeeded in converting a majority of the islanders to Catholicism. The first fully commercial plantation was established in 1908, but German annexation had little economic impact. The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force occupied Bougainville in December 1914, as part of the

Australian occupation of German New Guinea The Australian occupation of German New Guinea was the takeover of the Pacific colony of German New Guinea in September – November 1914 by an expeditionary force from Australia, called the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force. ...

. The 1919

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

established the former colony as a League of Nations mandate, administered by Australia as the

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the na ...

. A civilian administration was established in 1920, after which German nationals were deported and their property expropriated. A number of

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

s took place during both the German and Australian administrations, as part of "pacification" programs. The colonial period saw significant changes in the culture of the islanders. 42 Bombardment Group - B-25 Mitchells

In 1942, Bougainville was invaded by the Japanese in order to provide a support base for the operations elsewhere in the South-West Pacific. The Allied counter-invasion resulted in heavy casualties, beginning in 1943, with full control of the islands not re-established until 1945. After the war the Australian government incorporated Bougainville and the rest of the mandate into the

Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New G ...

, the immediate predecessor of present-day Papua New Guinea.

Modern history

Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. As Bougainville is rich in

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, a large mine had been established at Panguna in the early 1970s by Bougainville Copper Limited, a subsidiary of

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

. Disputes by regional residents with the company over adverse environmental impacts, failure to share financial benefits, and negative social changes brought by the mine resulted in a local revival for a

secessionist Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

movement that had been dormant. Activists proclaimed the independence of Bougainville ( Republic of North Solomons) in 1975 and in 1990, but both times government forces suppressed the separatists.

Civil war

In 1988, the

Bougainville Revolutionary Army The Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) was a secessionist group formed in 1988 by Bougainvilleans seeking independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG). The leader of the BRA was Francis Ona who led the BRA against the Papua New Guinea Defence Force ...

(BRA) increased their activity significantly. Prime Minister Sir

Rabbie Namaliu Sir Rabbie Langanai Namaliu (born 3 April 1947) is a Papua New Guinea politician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. from 4 July 1988 to 17 July 1992 as leader of the Pangu Party. Biography An ethnic To ...

ordered the Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF) to put down the rebellion, and the conflict escalated into a civil war. The PNGDF retreated from permanent positions on Bougainville in 1990, but continued military action. The conflict involved pro-independence and loyalist Bougainvillean groups as well as the PNGDF. The war claimed an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 lives. In 1996, Prime Minister Sir

Julius Chan Sir Julius Chan (born 29 August 1939) served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He is Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won the seat in the 2007 national election. He is also the c ...

made the controversial move to hire

Sandline International Sandline International was a private military company (PMC) based in London, established in the early 1990s. It was involved in conflicts in Papua New Guinea in 1997 and had a contract with the government under then-Prime Minister Julius Chan, ...

, a

private military company A private military company (PMC) or private military and security company (PMSC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "security contractors" or "private military ...

previously involved in supplying mercenaries in the civil war in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, to put down the rebellion.

Peace agreement and autonomy

The Bougainville conflict ended in 1997 after negotiations brokered by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In 2000, A peace agreement was completed and, together with

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as ...

, provided for the establishment of an

. The parties agreed to have a referendum in the future on whether the island should become politically independent. On 25 July 2005, rebel leader

Francis Ona Francis Ona (c. 1953 – 24 July 2005) was a Bougainville secessionist leader who led an uprising against the Government of Papua New Guinea as part of the Bougainville Civil War. He and his followers were concerned about the environmental and ...

died after a short illness. A former surveyor with

Bougainville Copper Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) is a mining company of Papua New Guinea (PNG) that is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). BCL operated the copper, gold and silver mine at the Panguna mine on Bougainville Island in PNG from 1971 ...

, Ona was a key figure in the secessionist conflict and had refused to formally join the island's peace process. In 2015, Australia announced it would establish a diplomatic post in Bougainville for the first time. In 2016, it cancelled those plans acknowledging that it had not obtained the PNG government's approval.

Independence referendum

In 2019, a non-binding

was held with 98.31% voting for independence rather than continued autonomy within Papua New Guinea. As a result, the regional authorities intend to become independent between 2025 and 2027.

Geography

The Bougainville region occupies the north of the Solomon archipelago with Bougainville Island, which is the largest island of this group. The border between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands lies just south in the middle of a strait that separates it from the Shortland Islands. The Solomon Island of Choiseul is further south. The island of Buka is north of Bougainville, separated by a narrow strait. The region includes other more or less remote islands and atolls: White Island, Bougainville

*the Green Islands with its main island Nissan ; *the Carteret Islands; * Takuu Atoll; * Nukumanu Atoll; *the Nuguria Islands, a Polynesian exclave. The territory constitutes an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean that has an area of 9384 square kilometers.

Government and politics

Elections for the first autonomous government were held in May and June 2005; Joseph Kabui, an independence leader, was elected president. He died in office on 6 June 2008. After interim elections to fill the remainder of his term, John Momis was elected as president in 2010 for a five-year term. He supports autonomy within a relationship with the national government of Papua New Guinea. The Constitution of Bougainville specifies that the Autonomous Bougainville Government shall consist of three branches: * Executive: the

President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville The President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville governs the island, which is an autonomous entity within Papua New Guinea. List of presidents of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville The first President of Bougainville was Joseph Kab ...

who chairs the Bougainville Executive Council. * Legislative: the Bougainville House of Representatives (39 elected members and two ex officio members). * Judicial: the Bougainville Courts including a Supreme Court and High Court. The capital city is Buka, which became the centre of government after Arawa was damaged during the

. The status of Buka is considered temporary, and the government is deciding on the location of a permanent capital.

2019 independence referendum

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

John Momis confirmed that Bougainville would hold a non-binding

in 2019. The governments of both Bougainville and Papua New Guinea held a two-week referendum period which began on 23 November 2019 and closed on 7 December 2019, which is the final step in the Bougainville Peace Agreement. The referendum question was a choice between greater autonomy within Papua New Guinea, or full independence. Over 98% of the valid ballots were cast for independence. Ishmael Toroama, a former rebel leader, was elected president of Bougainville on 23 September 2020. Negotiations between Papua New Guinea and Bougainville began on 17 May 2021. While Toroama stated a desire to see Bougainville become independent by June 2025, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister

James Marape James Marape (born 24 April 1971) is a Papua New Guinean politician, who is serving as the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since July 2007, representing the el ...

cautioned against setting a specific timetable. On 7 July 2021, it was announced that Bougainville will become independent by the end of 2027 pending approval of the PNG parliament.

Districts and Local Level Government Areas

The region is divided into three districts, which are further divided into Local Level Government (LLGs) areas. For

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

purposes, the LLGAs are subdivided into wards, and those into census units.

Demographics

Religion

The great majority of Bougainville residents are Christian, with an estimated 70% being Roman Catholic and a substantial minority being of the Protestant United Church of Papua New Guinea since 1968. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

has its own diocese in the region (Diocese of Bougainville or ''Dioecesis Buganvillensis''). The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

and main church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, which can be found on

. It was formerly the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in the former mission of Tubiana. There are a total of 33 Catholic parishes and one mission in the region.

Languages

Bougainville's constitution, written in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, does not specify an

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

, but calls for constitutional literature to be translated into Tok Pisin and as many local languages as possible, while also encouraging the "development, preservation, and enrichment of all Bougainville languages". The most widely spoken Austronesian language is Halia and its dialects, spoken in the island of Buka and the Selau peninsula of Northern Bougainville. Other Austronesian languages include Nehan, Petats, Solos, Saposa (Taiof), Hahon and Tinputz, all spoken in the northern quarter of Bougainville, Buka and surrounding islands. These languages are closely related. Bannoni and Torau are Austronesian languages not closely related to the former, which are spoken in the coastal areas of central and south Bougainville. On the nearby Takuu Atoll a

is spoken, Takuu.

Economy

A small percentage of the region's economy is from

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

. The majority of economic growth comes from

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and aquaculture. The region's biodiversity, which is one of the most important in

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

, is heavily threatened by

activities. Mining activities have caused civil unrest in the region many times. In January 2018, a moratorium on one mine was imposed by the Papua New Guinea government, in a bid to calm civil unrest against mining in the region. Bougainville had one of the world's largest open-pit copper mines, the Pangunamine, from 1972 to 1989, which for many years generated a large part of Papua New Guinea's

gross national product The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...

. The mine was operated by the Australian company Bougainville Copper (BLC), a subsidiary of the British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto/CRA, which had majority control of the company. The state of Papua New Guinea (PNG) holds a 19.1% stake in Bougainville Copper. As a result of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and the rebel-forced closure of the mine, Papua New Guinea's government revenues fell by 20%. Some hope for the eventual reopening of the Panguna mine. Negotiations to reopen the Panguna mine began in early March 2006 with talks between former PNG Mines Minister Sam Akoitai and the Rio Tinto corporation in London. Some representatives of landowners in the Panguna area have repeatedly agreed to resume mining operations, albeit in conjunction with demands for large compensation payments from the mine operator BCL. Yields from the two main

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

, cocoa and

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 ...

, returned to pre-civil war levels in 2007. Largely operated by Europeans, Asians, churches and corporations, large-scale commercial plantations, which were responsible for a significant share of production before the civil war, are now used by smaller local operators. Further processing is done by small cocoa dryers promoted by AusAid. Bougainville Region is the most productive in all of PNG for cocoa. Omuru ''et al.'', 2001 find households farming cacao (''

Theobroma cacao ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pr ...

'') average an income of US$215/year. The (''

Conopomorpha cramerella The cocoa pod borer (''Conopomorpha cramerella'') is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from Saudi Arabia, China, India (West Bengal, Andaman Islands), Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia (Sumatra, Sulawesi, Papua, Papua Barat, Java, Kalima ...

'') was considered a large risk for

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

here due to its invasion of nearby areas of Southeast Asia including

East New Britain East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely de ...

. There was great interest in modelling and

phytosanitation Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomy ...

practices to forestall its introduction. Unfortunately CPB did arrive here and in 2011 the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

's was created to help farmers control the insect. From the 2009 production level, bean tonnage fell by over 41% by 2014 (although this also includes trees aging out). The Tinputz area including Namatoa had been the highest-producing part of the region and has seen many farms be abandoned and return to jungle. PPAP hopes to revive the industry around Namatoa. '' Cryptolaemus sinestria'' is a mealybug of cacao trees here, observed at a Buka agricultural station.

Termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...

s are common agricultural pests in Bougainville. '' Microcerotermes biroi'' and '' Nasutitermes novanimhebridarum'' are pests of coconut (''

Cocos nucifera The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

''). ''N. novanimhebridarum'' is also a pest of cacao (''

'') here. Termite pests found here tend to be shared with many of the nearby islands.

Culture

National symbols

A law passed by the provincial assembly – the ''Bougainville Flag, Emblem and Anthem (Protection) Act 2018'' – affirmed the existing official status of the flag of Bougainville and emblem of Bougainville. Both the flag and emblem feature stylised depictions of the '' upe'', a traditional headdress worn by men in parts of Bougainville to symbolise their transition to adulthood. The law also established "

My Bougainville My Bougainville is the anthem of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. The anthem was officially adopted in 2018. It is sung to the tune of "The Song of Australia", the melody of which was composed by Carl Linger. Lyrics : ...

" as the region's anthem.

Sport

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

in Bougainville is administered by the Bougainville Rugby Football League (BRFL), which is affiliated with the

Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Inc. is the governing body for rugby league in Papua New Guinea. They are based in the capital Port Moresby. History They were founded in 1949 and have been members of the Rugby League International Fede ...

(PNGRFL). A number of Bougainvilleans have played for the

Papua New Guinea national rugby league team The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby league football. In Papua New Guinea, Rugby League is a highly popular sport and is regarded as the country's national sport. The national side ar ...

, including Bernard Wakatsi, Joe Katsi, Lauta Atoi, and Chris Siriosi. F.C. Bougainville has played in the National Soccer League since 2019, although it is based in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

rather than in Bougainville itself. Previously, a team from Bougainville won the national soccer championships in 1977, defeating Rabaul. Historically the Bougainville Soccer Association came into conflict with the

Papua New Guinea Football Association The Papua New Guinea Football Association, PNGFA is the governing body of football (soccer) in Papua New Guinea. The PNGFA is a member of both FIFA and OFC, having FIFA and OFC affiliation in 1966 after being founded in 1962. The PNGFA is a mem ...

over various matters. During the 1970s and 1980s, teams from Bougainville played against other regions in the PNG national championships for Australian rules football,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

, and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

is popular in Bougainville. The region won the 2017 National Boxing Championships, which were hosted in Arawa. Notable boxers from the region include

Commonwealth Boxing Council The Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) is a governing body that sanctions professional boxing bouts for territories within the Commonwealth, and is an affiliate of the WBC. History The Commonwealth Boxing Council first started in 1954 as the Empi ...

titleholder Johnny Aba and

Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games wer ...

gold medalist

Thadius Katua Thadius Katua (born November 4, 1997) is an Amateur boxing, amateur boxer who represented Papua New Guinea at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He won a gold medal at the 2015 Pacific Games. Competing at the age of 18, Katua was the yo ...

. Bougainvillean

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player Maleta Roberts has played professionally in Australia and represented the Papua New Guinea national netball team at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

References

External links

Autonomous Bougainville Government

Bougainville Inward Investment Bureau

Full text of the Peace Agreement for Bougainville

Constitution of Bougainville

Conciliation Resources—Bougainville Project

''The Coconut Revolution''
a documentary film about the

.
"Interview with Francis Ona" (1997)
��Australian Broadcasting Corporation ''World in Focus''; interview with

. Interviewed by Wayne Coles-Janess. {{Authority control 2000 in Papua New Guinea Autonomous regions Geography of Melanesia Islands Region (Papua New Guinea) Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization Provinces of Papua New Guinea Separatism in Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands (archipelago) States and territories established in 2000