Bougainville Island

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Image:BougainvilleBukaandNeighbourhood.png

Bougainville and neighbouring islands

For other uses of "Bougainville", see Bougainville.

Bougainville is part of Papua New Guinea and geographically it is the largest island of the Solomon Islands group.

Bougainville, the adjacent island of Buka, and assorted outlying islands including the Carterets are sometimes known as North Solomons. Together they make up the Papua New Guinean (PNG) Bougainville Province. The population of the province is 175,160 (2000 census).

The island is ecologically and geographically, although not politically, part of the Solomon Islands. Buka, Bougainville, and most of the Solomons are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion.

In the 1970s, Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto) began exploiting the island's huge copper reserves. Resentment over the negative effects of the company's activities on the area and the lack of any tangible benefit to the islanders erupted into conflict in the 1990s. Attempts of proclaiming of independence of Bougainville (Republic of North Solomons) have occurred twice: in 1975 and 1990. In the second case the government of Papua New Guinea moved to put down what became a secessionist movement led by Francis Ona, a former surveyor for BCL. The PNG army received military aid from Australia and enlisted the support of Sandline International, a mercenary firm. The island was embargoed to weaken its people's resistance. However, they proved much more resilient than expected, designing their own weapons and converting engines to vegetable oil. Peace talks brokered by New Zealand began in 1997, leading to autonomy for the island.

Bougainville and its 1990s struggle for independence is the setting for the 2007 novel Mister Pip, by New Zealand author Lloyd Jones.

Louis Antoine de Bougainville named the island after himself.

A documentary about the struggle of the indigenous population to save their island from environmental destruction and gain independence, was made in 1999, called Coconut Revolution. [1]

History

Main article: History of Bougainville

Bougainville has the smallest of all alphabets with only 11 letters. ^[1]

Bougainville Island

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

History

See also

Further reading

Views

Personal tools

Navigation

Search

Toolbox