Carteret Islands

Carteret Islands
Tulun
Kilinailau

Map of the atoll
Carteret Islands Show map of Bougainville Island Carteret Islands Show map of Papua New Guinea
Geography
Location	Melanesia
Coordinates	04°46′57″S 155°27′54″E / 4.78250°S 155.46500°E / -4.78250; 155.46500
Total islands	7
Area	295 km2 (114 sq mi)
Length	25.2 km (15.66 mi)
Width	16.2 km (10.07 mi)
Highest elevation	1.6 m (5.2 ft)
Administration
Papua New Guinea
Autonomous Region	Bougainville
District	North Bougainville
Local-level government	Atolls Rural
Demographics
Population	2,600 (2006)

The Carteret Islands (also known as Carteret Atoll, Tulun or Kilinailau Islands/Atoll) are Papua New Guinea islands located 86 km (53 mi) north-east of Bougainville in the South Pacific. The atoll has a scattering of low-lying islands called Han, Jangain, Yesila, Yolasa and Piul, in a horseshoe shape stretching 30 km (19 mi) in north-south direction, with a total land area of 0.6 square kilometres (0.2 sq mi) and a maximum elevation of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11.1 in) above sea level.

The group is made up of islands collectively named after the British navigator Philip Carteret, who was the first European to discover them, arriving in the sloop HMS Swallow (1745) in 1767.^[1] As of 2005^[update], about one thousand people live on the islands. Han is the most significant island, with the others being small islets around the lagoon. The main settlement is at Weteili on Han. The island is near the edge of the large geologic formation called the Ontong Java Plateau.