The Bonaparte Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region, within the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley. The closest inhabited place is Kalumburu located about to the east of the island group. The archipelago was named by the Baudin expedition on 16 August 1801 after

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Bonaparte, First Consul of France. The archipelago is made up of the islands and islets lying off a stretch of of coastline, roughly between Collier Bay to the south-west and

Admiralty Gulf Admiralty Gulf is a gulf in the Kimberley region of Western Australia that opens into the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth# ...

to the north-east, including islands in Admiralty Gulf itself. The islands are mostly small, and many are best described as islets or emergent rocks. They number several hundred in total. Several

submerged bank An ocean bank, sometimes referred to as a fishing bank or simply bank, is a part of the seabed that is shallow compared to its surrounding area, such as a shoal or the top of an seamount, underwater hill. Somewhat like continental margin, conti ...

s and shoals are also found within the archipelago. The largest island in the group is

Augustus Island Augustus Island is one of the many uninhabited Canadian Arctic islands in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It is a Baffin Island offshore island located in inner Frobisher Bay. The island lies at the head of Ward Inlet, between Becher Peninsula ...

which has an area of . Another significant island is the Booby Island, which is classified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

and Jungulu Island found just off-shore from Augustus Island. Other islands in the group include Uwins Island,

Coronation Island Coronation Island is the largest of the South Orkney Islands, long and from wide. The island extends in a general east–west direction, is mainly ice-covered and comprises numerous bays, glaciers and peaks, the highest rising to . History T ...

and Bigge Island.

References

{{coord, 14, 17, S, 125, 18, E, display=title, region:AU_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki Archipelagoes of Australia

See also

References