Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province,

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 ...

. The island is historically significant as the site of a trading port and stop-over between Australia and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

. Samarai town was established on the island and at its height was the second largest after

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 ...

in 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 a ...

. The town of Samarai was ordered to be destroyed by the British during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, fearing Japanese occupation. Although rebuilt after the war, and functioning as provincial headquarters until 1968, economic changes meant that Samarai did not fully regain its regional status and it has since largely fallen into disrepair. The island was declared a ''National Historical Heritage Island'' by the government of

in 2006.

Geography

Located off the south-eastern tip of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

in the China Strait, Samarai has an area of just or 29

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s. At the census of population 2014, the island had a population of 460, making it one of the most densely populated islands in the area. The island is part of the Samarai Islands of 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 ...

History

Settlement

The island was discovered by Captain John Moresby whilst commanding HMS ''Basilisk'' in 1873. Moresby originally called the island Dinner Island, after having a meal on it. Five years later in 1878 the Rev. S. MacFarlane of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

established a mission station on the island. A government officer was posted to the island after a protectorate had been declared over British New Guinea. In 1884 a trader and sixty Papuans established a beach front store for passing ships. In the early years a large malarious swamp caused health problems for Samarai, but this was improved after 1898 when it was filled in. After the annexation of British New Guinea in 1888, Samarai became the headquarters of an administrative district. A court was subsequently established and a magistrate posted. Samarai destroyed 1942

By the 20th century the island was a bustling cosmopolitan port town, administrative centre and major commercial centre. It was noted for its size and attractive appearance. In 1902 the value of goods exported from Samarai was three times the value of those exported from

. By 1907 there were three pubs, the seat of a bishop, a rectory, church, three stores, government buildings, hospitals and private residences. Electric power was provided by 1927 and street lighting was installed.

Decline and World War II

By the 1920s the town had declined in importance and by the 1940s 70 percent of goods were now exported from Port Moresby, although Samarai was still significant in the trade of

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 from copr ...

. In 1940 Sir Hubert Murray, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Territory of Papua, travelled to Samarai, after falling ill, and subsequently died on the island. After the outbreak of

and with the Japanese advance into the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

ordered the evacuation of Samarai in January 1942 and later in the year it was destroyed to stop the wharves and buildings falling under Japanese control. In July 1943 a detachment of Seabees from the 84th Naval Construction Battalion built a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

base on the island as part of Naval Base Milne Bay. Despite a lack of materials the base including a ramp and hangar was constructed in 42 days. Patrol Squadron 101 (VP-101) flying

PBY Catalinas The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wi ...

was posted to the station. The

USS San Pablo (AVP-30) USS ''San Pablo'' (AVP-30) was a United States Navy ''Barnegat''-class seaplane tender which was in commission as such from 1943 to 1947 and then served as a commissioned hydrographic survey ship, redesignated AGS-30, from 1948 to 1969. Thus f ...

and Aircraft Rescue Boat C-9485 operated from the

Samarai Seaplane Base Naval Base Milne Bay, also called Naval Advance Base Milne Bay, was new major United States Navy sea and airbase base built on Milne Bay in Milne Bay Province in south-eastern Papua New Guinea. By spring 1943, the build up of the US Navy to s ...

also. Although Samarai was reestablished after the war, it never returned to its former size or influence and in 1968 the provincial capital for Milne Bay was moved to Alotau. Today the island is mostly isolated and little belies its past. In 2006 the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare, declared the island a ''National Historical Heritage Island'', and vowed to "restore basic services and refurbish its monuments and buildings as a tourist attraction".

Administration

The island is split between 2 Wards: Samarai South, and Samarai North. both belong to Bwanabwana Rural Local Level Government Area LLG,

Samarai-Murua District Samarai-Murua District is a district of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Murua. The population of the district was 58,590 at the 2011 census.Milne Bay Province.LLG map
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Demographics

The population of 458 at the last census shows a steady decline.

Flora and fauna

Samarai is famous for having 2 species of bats: * Lesser Papuan pipistrelle * Watts's pipistrelle

Transportation

There is a Port on the island, which was renovated in recent years.

In popular culture

The phrase "Sorong to Samarai" (sometimes stylised as "Sorong2Samarai" or "S2S") is often used by Papuan independence activists in reference to New Guinean unification, with Sorong being on the westernmost extremity of the island of New Guinea, in the Indonesian province of West Papua, and Samarai being the most easterly. In 2016, the ARIA Music Awards-nominated Papua New Guinean-Australian musician

Airileke Airileke "Airi" David Ingram, also referred to mononymously as Airileke, is a Papua New Guinean-Australian musician and producer. His album ''Weapon of Choice'' (October 2012) was nominated at the ARIA Music Awards of 2013 for Best World Mu ...

released a single titled "Sorong Samarai".

References

External links

Photographs of Samarai in 1906
– Papua New Guinea Association {{Authority control Islands of Milne Bay Province Louisiade Archipelago Populated places in Milne Bay Province