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Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago volcanic island group, 19,200 sq mi (49,730 sq km), SW Pacific, a part of Papua New Guinea. The group includes New Britain (the largest island), New Ireland , the Admiralty Islands , the Mussau Islands, New Hanover , the Vitu Islands , and the Duke of York Islands . The ...
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Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands group of 40 volcanic islands, c.800 sq mi (2,070 sq km), SW Pacific, in the Bismarck Archipelago and part of Papua New Guinea. Lorengau, the chief port and administrative center of the group, is on Manus, the largest island. Copra, pearls, and marine shells are the principal pro...
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Melanesia
Melanesia , one of the three main divisions of Oceania , in the SW Pacific Ocean, NE of Australia and S of the equator. Melanesia includes the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , New Caledonia , Tuvalu , the Bismarck Archipelago , the Admiralty Islands , and Fiji . New Guinea is sometimes included...
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New Hanover
New Hanover or Lavongai , volcanic island, c.460 sq mi (1,190 sq km), in the Bismarck Archipelago , part of Papua New Guinea. New Hanover is mountainous and densely forested. Coconuts, fishing, and timber are economically important. The island is known for long canoes, capable of holding 30 peo...
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Rabaul
Rabaul , town (1990 pop. 17,044), on New Britain island, Bismarck Archipelago , a part of Papua New Guinea. Situated within an active caldera surrounded by volcanoes, the city has long been vulnerable to volcanic eruptions. It was nearly destroyed in 1937, but after being rebuilt Rabaul flourishe...
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New Britain
New Britain volcanic island (1990 pop. 315,649), c.14,600 sq mi (37,810 sq km), SW Pacific, largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago and part of Papua New Guinea, in which it forms two provinces (East and West New Britain). Rabaul is the chief town and port. The island is mountainous, with ac...
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New Ireland
New Ireland volcanic island (1990 pop. 64,615), c.3,340 sq mi (8,650 sq km), SW Pacific, in the Bismarck Archipelago , part of Papua New Guinea. New Ireland is largely mountainous, rising to c.4,000 ft (1,220 m). Much of the island is under cultivation, especially the east coast. Kavieng is the ch...
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Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially Independent State of Papua New Guinea, independent Commonwealth nation (2005 est. pop. 5,545,000), 183,540 sq mi (475,369 sq km), SW Pacific. It encompasses the eastern half of the island of New Guinea , as well as the Bismarck Archipelago , the Trobriand Islands , ...
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Malayo-Polynesian languages
Malayo-Polynesian languages , sometimes also called Austronesian languages , family of languages estimated at from 300 to 500 tongues and understood by approximately 300 million people in Madagascar; the Malay Peninsula; Indonesia and New Guinea; the Philippines; Taiwan; the Melanesian, Micronesi...
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