Misima (formerly called St. Aignan) is a

volcanic island Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

in the northwest of Louisiade Archipelago within

Milne Bay Province Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km2 of land and 252,990 km2 of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has ...

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 ...

History

Misima Island was inhabited by

Austronesians The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...

since about 1500 BC. The island was sighted in 1768 by French captain

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (; 12 November 1729 – 31 August 1811) was a French military officer and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he served in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. B ...

and explored 1793 by French explorer

Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux (; 8 November 1737 – 21 July 1793) was a French Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Isle de France (Mauritius), governor of Isle de Fran ...

. Misima island owes its name to Élisabeth-Paul-Édouard de Rossel, which was a lieutenant of the Counter admiral Antoine Bruny d'Entrecasteaux during his journey of scientific exploration. In 1888 the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

annexed Misima Island, and it became part of British New Guinea (since 1904 - the

Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the ...

administered by

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 ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

was discovered on Misima late in 1888. By March 1889, eighty men were on the island digging for gold, and a storekeeper had set up a business. Since 1975, Misima belongs to the independent state of

. A gold and silver mine was opened on the island in 1990, by an international corporation. The mines provided plenty of work for the islanders. however, that mine was officially closed in 2004, because of excessive load on the environment and public health hazards.

Politics

The island is within the Samarai Murua District.

Geography

The island measures and has an area of . It is located some north of the northwest extreme of the barrier reef of Vanatinai at Isu Raua Raua Island, and northwest of Vanatinai Island itself. Misima is mountainous and densely forested. Mt. Koia Tau, at a height of , is the highest peak of the Louisiade Archipelago. It was not until 24 December 2016 when Kolbe Bare, a Papua New Guinean geologist, and two Misimans, David Kaliton and Kaliton Ada, made the first recorded ascent to the Top of Oia Tau. It was noted by Kolbe that even though the mountain is close to the sea, Higher altitude vegetation covers the top of the mountain at the time of ascent.

Climate

The local climate is

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, moderated by northeast trade winds, with a dry season from 1 December to 31 May, and a wet season from 1 June to 30 November. it is usually very

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

. Since it is fairly close to the equator, the temperature does not fluctuate much between winter and summer.

Economy

Misima island is known as a mining island. A huge mine operated many years on the island. The mine was a joint venture by Placer Dome Inc (owning 80%) and the state-owned Orogen Minerals Ltd. In March 2012 Barrick closed its post closure monitoring office in Bwagaoia having successfully rehabilitated the mine and mill sites. Since 2004 when the mine closed,

artisanal mining Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a blanket term for a type of subsistence mining involving a miner who may or may not be officially employed by a List of mining companies, mining company but works independently, mining minerals using the ...

has become a major source of income in the island, with an association Misima Alluvial Gold Mining Association (MAGMA) starting in 2007. Other sources of income, especially for people living on the north coast, are cash crops of

coconuts The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

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 ...

, and cacao. A commercial fisheries project has been proposed, but has not been developed yet.

Demographics

The island has a population of 19,330, spread across 78 villages, Misima is the most heavily populated island in the Louisiade Archipelago. By area, it is the third largest, after Vanatinai and Rossel Island. Since the mines have closed, there are signs of population decrease. people are moving to Alotau for jobs.

Urbanization

The main town of the island and the seat of the district is Bwagaoia, located on the southeast corner of the island. Other villages are Hinauta, Boiou, Gulewa, Bagilina, Liak, Siagara, Eiaus (on the eastern north coast, reachable by road from Bwagaoia), Gulewa and Ewena (on the western north coast), and Bwagabwaga, Gaibobo and Alhoga (on the south coast).

Cities

Religion

About half the population identified themselves as members of a Christian church. see Religion in Papua New Guinea for more info.

Language

The main language of the island is also called Misiman, though many residents speak English and also Tok Pisin as a third language.

Culture

Education

* Bwagaoia Primary School * Misima Secondary School formally Misima High School * Siagara Primary School * Liak Primary School * Patnai Primary School (Bwagabwaga)

Transportation

Misima Airport Closed. Only Means of transportation out of the island is by sea. News article https://www.postcourier.com.pg/png-air-suspends-all-flight-to-and-from-misima-airport/ Update: 3Million KINA airport upgrade https://www.thenational.com.pg/k3-million-for-misima-airport-upgrade/ locals still traveling by sea date 3rd of January 2024. (Misima has a working

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

(four flights weekly to the mainland (POM via Alotau) through Airlines of Papua New Guinea, and one charter run by Porgera Joint Venture), a high school (grades 7-12), a small market, a few small stores and a clinic/hospital, a post office,--all of which are located in Bwagaoia. There are ferries from Alotau which service Misima Island, costing around K100 (update 2024: K150-K200)and taking 17 (17-19) hours.

Flora and fauna

The following mammals are present on Misima Island: *

Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asi ...

(introduced) *

Wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

(introduced) * Eastern common cuscus * Sugar glider * Grassland rat * Eastern rat * Panniet naked-backed fruit bat * Island tube-nosed fruit bat * Small flying fox * Common blossom bat * Temminck's trident bat * Spurred roundleaf bat *

Fawn leaf-nosed bat The fawn leaf-nosed bat (''Hipposideros cervinus'') is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae found in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vanuatu. Taxonomy The species was first described by John Gould in his Mammals of ...

* Diadem leaf-nosed bat * Smaller horseshoe bat * Misima bat * Little bent-wing bat *'' Miniopterus macrocneme'' * Great bent-winged bat * Common bent-wing bat *'' Angulate pipistrelle'' Other animals: *'' Copiula oxyrhina''

References

External links

Mine Report

Misima Island News at MisimaIsland.com
{{Islands of Papua New Guinea, state=collapsed Islands of Milne Bay Province Louisiade Archipelago Gold mines in Papua New Guinea