Kavieng is the capital of the

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 ...

n province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248. Kavieng is the main port for New Ireland, and is both a trading and tourist destination. Several dive companies operate from the town, as the area is known for its diving, both for natural sites and wrecks dating from the

Second World War 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 ...

. There are plane and shipwrecks in Kavieng Harbor itself, as well as several more nearby. The town is serviced by Kavieng Airport, with daily connections to

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 ...

. It lies at one end of the Boluminski Highway which runs of sealed road to Namatanai. Kavieng has all the usual services of a local administrative center: local government offices; shopping; hotels (such as the Kavieng Hotel, the Malagan Beach Resort hotel and the Kavieng Club (the former "colonial club" in the town); a hospital providing general medical, pediatric and surgical services; and a weekly market. There is also a large wharf for

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

export on the town's edge, which allow deep-water ships to load copra and oil directly from land. Visible from Kavieng are the many islands of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

lying between New Ireland and New Hanover, including Nusa Lik, Nusa Lawa, and Nango Island (which was formerly the site of a fish cannery in the 1960s and 1970s). Nango is also the site of a new marine research center for the PNG National Fisheries Authority. Its opening was overseen by the Governor-General of PNG, Mr. Paulius Matane, in July 2009.

History

The area was first charted by Dutch explorers in 1616, but it was not until the early 1900s (decade) that Kavieng town was founded by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

colonial administration. Though some on the island became quite wealthy with the development of copra plantations, Kavieng itself remained a tiny settlement, with as few as eighty residents. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Kavieng, as part of

, was ceded to Australian control. This resulted in the deportation of German missionaries and the seizure of all German property in the town. On 21 January 1942, 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 ...

, Kavieng came under a massive aerial bombardment by Japanese forces. That night, the vast majority of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

ns were evacuated from New Ireland. The Japanese invaded and occupied the island on 24 January. Over the next two years, almost all of the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

who had remained on the island were killed by the Japanese. Rear Admiral Ryukichi Tamura gave the order to kill all the European prisoners in Kavieng if an imminent invasion by Allied forces was expected. At least twenty-three of these were executed in the Kavieng Wharf Massacre in March 1944, which later led to the perpetrators being sentenced for

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s. By the time the Allies retook the island in 1945, Kavieng had been almost completely destroyed. As a result of the Japanese occupation and subsequent Allied invasion there are a number of wartime relics in the town, most notably a large gun sitting above a bunker adjacent to the Harbour Road. Although not officially open to the public, the bunker has several openings allowing entry, and the gun position provides an extensive view of the harbor. Today Kavieng is home to a thriving tourism industry. Dive, trekking, and surf tourism predominate with all of the tourism depending on the rich biological diversity of New Ireland. The surf tourism industry has entered into partnerships with local land and reef owners to develop what they refer to as a "surf management plan." This plan provides resource owners with income from the surfers and limits the number of surfers on any break at one time.

Climate

Kavieng has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest 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 southeast Florida, United States ...

( Af) with hot days, warm nights, and heavy rainfall year-round.

References

External links

* {{PNG Provincial Capitals Populated places in New Ireland Province Provincial capitals in Papua New Guinea Port cities in Oceania Populated places established in the 1900s

History

Climate

See also

Further reading

References

External links