Daru is the capital of the
Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
* Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provin ...
of
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 ...
and a former Catholic bishopric. Daru town falls under the jurisdiction of
Daru Urban LLG
Daru Urban LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
Wards
*83. Daru Town
See also
*Daru Airport
*Daru Island
Daru Island is an island in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the Torres S ...
.
The township is entirely located on an
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
that goes by the same name, which is located near the mouth of the
Fly River
The Fly River is the third longest river in the island of New Guinea, after the Sepik River and Mamberamo River, with a total length of and the largest by volume of discharge in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its cat ...
on the western side of the Gulf, just north of
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...
and
Far North Queensland in
Australia. Daru had a recorded population of 15,142 as of the 2011 census.
Population
The language of the Daru people is
Kiwai (South-West Coastal Kiwai), also spoken on neighbouring mainland villages (the name ''Kiwai'' comes from
Kiwai Island
Kiwai Island is the largest island in the Fly River delta, Papua New Guinea. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands. It is 59 km long along the northwest–southeast axis from Wamimuba Point in the northwest to the village of Saguane (Sangu ...
some 60 km north-east in the
Fly River
The Fly River is the third longest river in the island of New Guinea, after the Sepik River and Mamberamo River, with a total length of and the largest by volume of discharge in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its cat ...
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
). However, the Kiwai settlement of Daru is fairly recent. The original inhabitants, the Hiamo, were Western-Central Torres Strait Islanders originally from
Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...
in the
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...
. With the Kiwai colonisations, the main group of Hiamo people moved to Southern Torres Strait and settled the (Inner)
Muralag group
The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...
.
Religion
Its
St. Louis de Montfort
Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI.
As well as preaching, Montfort ...
Co-Cathedral
[http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/oceania/2929.htm GCatholic, with Google satellite map] is the 'second see' (and former 'full' cathedral) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Daru-Kiunga (renamed in 1987, originally Apostolic Prefecture of Daru since 1957, promoted diocese in 1966).
Transport
It is served by Daru Airport, a small airstrip.
Climate
Daru has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification, Köppen ''Am'') with heavy rainfall most of the year and low rainfall from July to October.
See also
*
Notes and references
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
Populated places established in 1884
1884 establishments in Oceania
