Horn Island, or ''Ngurupai/Narupai'' (pronounced ''Nœrupai/Nurupai'') in the local language, is 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 ...

of the

Torres Strait Islands 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 ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

located 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 ...

, in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Queensland that lie p ...

between the Australian mainland and

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 is within the locality of Horn within the Shire of Torres. The town of Wasaga is on the north-western coast of the island (). In the , the locality of Horn had a population of 531 people.

Geography

The island is in area. Horn Island is the site of Horn Island Airport, which also serves Thursday Island. Therefore, it is a gateway for travellers to the mainland and outer islands. The present-day population consists of islanders drawn from all islands of the Torres Strait, as well as non-islanders. Residents travel daily by ferry across the Ellis Channel to Thursday Island for work and school. Shire of Torres is the local government authority, providing the island community's municipal services.

History

Horn Island is known as ''Nœrupai'' (colloquially Nurupai) to the

Kaurareg Kaurareg (alt. Kauraraiga, plural Kauraraigalai, Kauraregale) is the name for one of the Indigenous Australian groups collectively known as Torres Strait Islander peoples, although many or most identify as Aboriginal Australians. They are the ...

people and was given its English name by Matthew Flinders in 1802. The town of Wasaga was named on 1 April 1971 by the Queensland Place Names Board after Wasaga Billy, the first leader of the Horn Island community. After the 1871 massacre on Prince of Wales Island (Muralag), remnants of the people settled here for a short while, until the government relocated the Kaurareg to Hammond Island (Kœriri), where they remained until 1922. These islands (along with the other islands in the group) are the lands of the Kaurareg, each island – or parts thereof – owned by different clans. The language of the Kaurareg is Kala Lagaw Ya, in the form of Kaiwalgau Ya (called Kauraraigau Ya olloquial variant Kauraregau Yain the 19th century).

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 ...

was mined on Horn Island in the 1890s. In the early 20th century, a town flourished as a result of the pearling industry, but declined when non-islander residents were evacuated to southern Queensland 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 ...

. A major Allied airbase, known as Horn Island Aerodrome, was constructed on the island and this was attacked several times by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

planes. The World War II airbase on Horn Island is described in Jack Woodward's historical biographies ''Under It Down Under'' and ''Singing for the Unsung''. Woodward was a World War II

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

wireless operator stationed on Horn Island. Church influence was the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

up until 1915 when the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

assumed responsibility. During

Horn Island Seaplane Base was built at Horn Island.US Navy, Bases of World War II
/ref> In 1946, some of the Kaurareg (Nœrupai) people moved back from Kubin on

Moa Island Moa Island, also called Banks Island, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago that is located north of Thursday Island, Queensland, Thursday Island in the Banks Channel of Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is also a Subur ...

to Horn and settled here in present-day Wasaga Village at the western end of the island. In the late 1980s, gold was mined again and Horn saw the rapid expansion of its population and building activity, as land on neighbouring

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

became scarce. The Horn Island State School opened on 1 February 1993. It became a campus of Tagai State College on 1 January 2007. At the , Horn Island had a population of 585 people. At the , Horn Island had a population of 539.

Climate

Horn Island has a very warm

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

( Af) with consistently hot temperatures all year round. The wet season lasts from December to April and features high humidity and frequent heavy downpours. Horn Island is occasionally affected by

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...

s; however it is too close to the Equator for them to be a significant threat. The dry season runs from May to November, and features lower humidity and little rainfall. Horn Island has never recorded a minimum temperature below or a maximum temperature below .

Education

Tagai State College is a government primary and secondary (early childhood - year 12) school for boys and girls that operates 17 campuses throughout the Torres Strait. On Horn Island, it has a primary (early childhood - year 6) campus at Nawie Street (). There is no secondary school on Horn Island; the nearest is on neighbouring

. Holy Family Catholic Church is in Outie Street. It is within the Thursday Island Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is a diocese of the Catholic Church located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was ...

References

External links