Lorengau is the major town in Manus Province,

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 town is located on the edge of Seeadler Harbour on Manus Island, in the

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-co ...

, and in 2000 Lorengau was recorded to have a population of 5,829.

History

World War II

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Manus Island was the site of an observation post manned by No. 4 Section, 'B' Platoon, 1st Independent Company, Australian Imperial Force., who also provided medical treatment to the inhabitants. Manus was first bombed by the Japanese on 25 January 1942, the radio mast being the main target. On 8 April 1942 an Imperial Japanese force consisting of the light cruiser ''Tatsuta'', destroyer ''Mutsuki'' and a troop transport ship ''Mishima Maru'' entered Lorengau harbour, and several hundreds of Japanese soldiers of the 8th Special Base Force, swarmed ashore onto Australia's mandated responsibility. With little and limited resources the Australian 4th section withdrew to the jungle. The Japanese established an administrative base and airstrip. In February 1944 the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n forces launched a six-week campaign to recapture the facility, which was eventually achieved on 18 March 1944. The Americans expanded the Japanese base and constructed a huge naval base at nearby Lombrum, Manus Naval Base. An airstrip capable of handling heavy bombers was constructed at Momote and it was here that the invasion to capture the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

was staged. After the war the base was scrapped and all equipment was bulldozed into pits or the harbour.

Australian immigration detention centres

In 2017

Manus Regional Processing Centre The Manus Regional Processing Centre, or Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRCP), was one of a number of offshore Australian immigration detention facilities. The centre was located on the PNG Navy Base Lombrum (previously a Royal Au ...

was closed and the hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers who were indefinitely detained there by the Australian Government were moved, many by force, to three new centres in/near Lorengau. These new centers were

West Lorengau Haus West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Hillside Haus Hillside may refer to the side of a hill. Places Australia * Hillside mine, a proposed mine on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia * Hillside, New South Wales * Hillside, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne Canada * Hillside, Nova Scotia United K ...

and East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre. At the time, the new centers were not finished and 60 men were left without a place to stay. Those detained at the new centres were allowed to leave the centres during the day (with restrictions), but could not leave Manus Island. Paladin Group, a multinational security company and service provider (owned and operated by two Australian men, through a Singapore holding company), are contracted to provide IT, security, local transport and some site management for the Lorengau Centres. Paladin's contract is worth over $400 million AUD.

Climate

Lorengau 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 southe ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Notes

References

* {{PNG Provincial Capitals Manus Province Provincial capitals in Papua New Guinea Populated places in the Islands Region