Madang (old

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of

Madang Province Madang is a province of Papua New Guinea. The province is on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea and has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages. The capital is the town of Madang. ...

and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast 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 ...

. It was first settled by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

in the 19th century.

History

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Миклу́хо-Макла́й; 1846 – 1888) was a Russian Imperial explorer. He worked as an ethnologist, anthropologist and biologist who became famous as one of ...

was probably the first European to visit the area. In 1871 he stayed at

Astrolabe Bay Astrolabe Bay is a large body of water off the south coast of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, located at . It is a part of the Bismarck Sea and stretches from the Cape Iris in the south to the Cape Croisilles to the north. It was discovered ...

south of present-day Madang for 15 months. He had a good relationship with the local communities before leaving, suffering from

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. In April 1884 an expedition by the German New Guinea Company led by

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earned him a doctorate ...

and

Eduard Dallmann Eduard Dallmann (11 March 1830 – 23 December 1896) was a German whaler, trader, and Polar explorer. Dallmann was born in Blumenthal, at-the-time a village just to the north of Bremen. He began his adventures as a young sailor at the age of&n ...

arrived and named the landing point "Friedrich Wilhelmshafen"; however, they felt that the area was unsuitable for a settlement. A subsequent survey in 1888 mentioned good soil conditions that would make a coffee plantation possible. In the summer of 1891 a station was built and by September 1892 was the seat of the provincial administration; however, the Imperial Government Commissioner remained at Stephansort, some 23 kilometers away due to concerns about malaria. The name of "Madang" was used by Papuan natives who had accompanied the German administrators after their home island and only became the official name of the settlement towards the end of the German administration. Although the settlement was expanded from 1893-1894 with warehouses, a sawmill, hospital and other facilities, (including an ox-drawn railway to Stephansort) various ventures, such as the coffee plantations and atap palm processing proved economically ruinous, due to malaria and inclement climate. From 1895 and 1896 several German warships were stationed here for a survey of surrounding waters, during which time a total of 295 men came down with malaria. In 1899 the capital of the New Guinea Company was transferred to Herbertshöhe on the island of New Pomerania (now New Britain). Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the area was turned over to Australia as part of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

mandated

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 ...

. The

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

captured Madang without a fight during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1942. In September 1943, Australian forces launched a sustained campaign to retake the

Finisterre Range The Finisterre Range is a mountain range in north-eastern Papua New Guinea. The highest point is ranked 41st in the world by prominence with an elevation of 4,150 m. Although the range's high point is not named on official maps, the name "Mount ...

and Madang. The town was captured on April 24, 1944, but during the fighting and occupation it was virtually destroyed and had to be rebuilt afterwards.

NGO presence in Madang

Madang is viewed by many in the country as being safer and more pleasant for

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s than the larger cities of Lae and

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 ...

. Because of this, some

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s have chosen Madang as the location of their main offices in country.

CUSO Cuso International (formerly CUSO, Canadian University Service Overseas) is a Canadian international development organization that connects communities around the world with skilled Canadians to help end poverty and inequality. Established in 1961 ...

(a Canadian NGO) and VSO (a British NGO) both have their headquarters in Madang.

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

, WWF, and

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

are also present with branch offices in Madang. As a consequence Madang has a larger number of

s working and living in the town than its small population would suggest.

Transport

Climate

Like other parts of Papua New Guinea, Madang has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Af''), with significant rainfall throughout the year and the temperature being hot year-round. The average annual high temperature is , while the average annual low temperature is . Temperatures remain consistent throughout the year, but there is variation between the month. February has the highest average high at . Multiple months have the highest average low at . July and August has the lowest average high at . July has the lowest average low at . Madang receives of rain over 224 precipitation days, with abundant rainfall throughout the year but a wetter and drier season. April, the wettest month, receives of rainfall over 23 precipitation days on average. September receives the least rainfall of any month, receiving of rainfall over 11 precipitation days. Madang receives 2184 hours of sunshine annually on average, with the sunshine being distributed fairly evenly across the year, with a noticeable dip in the wetter months. September receives the most sunshine, while March receives the least.

Education

Madang is the home of

Divine Word University Divine Word University is a national Catholic university in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the newest tertiary institutions in the country. It was established as a university by an Act of Parliament in 1996. The university is ecumenical and coedu ...

. Madang Museum is a small museum that features natural science and ethnographic objects from the local area and East Sepik Province more widely. It shares a building with Madang Visitors and Cultural Bureau.

Products

Industry and farming are growing constantly in importance, especially for export. There are the widespread coconut palm plantations on the coast and cardamum is grown in Madang. The Kulili plantation is the second largest of Kar Kar Island's twelve plantations with its more than a thousand coconut palms and cocoa trees. 70% of the cocoa and 50% of the copra produced in Madang province comes from Kar Kar. In Madang province 173 regional languages are spoken, some of them being extremely different from the others.

Images

File: Madang_(Flughafen).jpg ,

Madang Airport Madang Airport , is an airport located in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Airlines and destinations History World War II During World War II, occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army in January 1943, as a forward operating airfield for aircraft base ...

File: Madang.png , Madang from space File: Madang-png-2006.jpg, Madang lagoon

Notable people

* Yolarnie Amepou - herpetologist and conservationist.

References

External links

* . An eyewitness recollection of the 1942 Japanese attack on Madang

Notes

{{Authority control Populated places in Madang Province Provincial capitals in Papua New Guinea Port cities in Oceania