New Britain

New Britain

New Britain from space, June 2005. Clearly visible are ash plumes from Langila and Ulawun volcanoes
New Britain
Geography
Coordinates	5°45′S 150°36′E / 5.750°S 150.600°E / -5.750; 150.600
Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago
Area	35,144.6 km2 (13,569.4 sq mi)[1]
Area rank	38th
Length	520 km (323 mi)
Width	146 km (90.7 mi)
Highest elevation	2,500 m (8200 ft)[1]
Highest point	Mount Ulawun
Administration
Papua New Guinea
Provinces	West New Britain, East New Britain
Demographics
Population	513,926 (2011)
Pop. density	14.07/km2 (36.44/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Papuans and Austronesians

New Britain (Tok Pisin: Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits) and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel. The main towns of New Britain are Rabaul/Kokopo and Kimbe. The island is roughly the size of Taiwan. When the island was part of German New Guinea, its name was Neupommern ("New Pomerania"). In common with most of the Bismarcks it was largely formed by volcanic processes, and has active volcanoes including Ulawun (highest volcano nationally), Langila, the Garbuna Group, the Sulu Range, and the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan of the Rabaul caldera. A major eruption of Tavurvur in 1994 destroyed the East New Britain provincial capital of Rabaul. Most of the town still lies under metres of ash, and the capital has been moved to nearby Kokopo.