The St Matthias Islands (also known as the Mussau islands) are a small

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 ...

group of islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, in northern

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 ...

. They are within

New Ireland Province New Ireland Province, formerly New Mecklenburg (german: Neu-Mecklenburg), and Nova Hibernia, is the northeasternmost province of Papua New Guinea. Physical geography The largest island of the province is New Ireland. Also part of the province a ...

Geography

There are at least 10 islands. The largest and most northerly is

Mussau Mussau Island is the largest island of St Matthias Islands, Papua New Guinea, at . It is currently part of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The island is a noted Biodiversity hotspot with pristine primeval Rainforest Rainforest ...

. To the southwest of Mussau are: Eloaua, Emananus, Boliu, Emussau, Ebanalu, Ekaleu, and a few smaller isles. To the east of Mussau are:

Emirau Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at . It is currently part of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The local language is a dialect of the Mussau-Emira language. Emira is part of what on ...

, and further east is Tench Island. The islands have been designated as an Endemic Bird Area by Birdlife International. Archipelagoes of Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago New Ireland Province {{PapuaNewGuinea-island-stub