Surrounding Islands

Posted by on Jun 7, 2013

There are several islands that surround Papua New Guinea:  New Britain, The Solomon Islands, Papua, and The Marshall Islands.  Below is a quick explanation of each of these islands.

New Britain

  • Population: 513,926 
  • Currency:  Kina
  • William Dampier became the first known European to visit New Britain on 27 February 1700: he dubbed the island with the Latin name Nova Britannia.

The Solomon Islands

  • Population in 2009:  523,000
  • Currency:  Solomon islands dollar (SBD)
  • In 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit them, naming them the Islas Salomón.

Papua

  • Population in 2010:  3,593,803
  • Currency:  rupiah
  • Part of Indonesia and shares an island with Papua New Guinea

The Marshall Islands

  • Population in 2009:  68,000
  • Currency:  USD
  • Home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary:  over 2,000,000 sq kilometers

Photo courtesy of:  Google
Island data courtesy of:  Wikipedia