The Jomard Islands are an uninhabited island group in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

, belonging to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, It lies to the east of Montemont Islands in the

Louisiade Archipelago The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea. It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread o ...

Administrative

Administratively they belong to the province of Milne Bay in the southeastern part of Papua New Guinea. They are controlled by the chief of Utian Island, the nearest inhabited island.

History

The Jomard Islands are situated within a passage which was used by the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

to invade the Coral Sea in order to capture

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 2016, the islands were designated as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area.

Geography

The Jomard Islands are located on the south side of Jomard Passage, a wide passage between the Atoll Bramble Haven in the west and the western edge of the barrier reef of

Vanatinai Vanatinai Island (also called Tagula and Sudest, for the names of the extreme capes of the island) is a volcanic island in the southeast of the Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The reef-fringed island is approxi ...

to the east. The largest of the islands, Pana Waipona (), located on a small reef in the middle of Jomard passage. It is used as a garden for Laeloga family of

Utian Utian (also Miwok–Costanoan, Miwok–Ohlone or formerly Mutsun) is a family of Indigenous languages spoken in Northern California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages of the Utian language family. It has been argu ...

. The smaller island Panarairai () located east on a larger reef on the eastern edge of Jomard Passage. Both islands are low-lying, forested and are situated on the northern edges of their flat, lagoon. They are located north west of the Montemont Islands. The Jomard Islands are in the category "Mixed objects" that combines both criteria of the cultural and natural heritage. Together with the Conflict Group, Bramble Haven,

Samarai Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The island is historically significant as the site of a trading port and stop-over between Australia and East Asia. Samarai town was established o ...

and Lunn Island, they form the Milne Bay Seascape (Pacific Jewels of Marine Biodiversity) and the government of Papua New Guinea applied to add this seapark to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.Milne Bay Seascape (Pacific Jewels of Marine Biodiversity)
''UNESCO'', World Heritage Centre

References

Islands of Milne Bay Province Louisiade Archipelago {{MilneBayProvince-geo-stub