Bougainville
Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOU : Bougainville
- This article is about the island; Bougainville is also the name of a commune in the Somme département of France.
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 province of that name. The population 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.
History
- Main article: History of Bougainville
The island was occupied by Australian, American and Japanese forces in World War II. It was an important base for the USAAF, RAAF and RNZAF. On March 8, 1944 during World War II, American forces were attacked by Japanese troops on Hill 700 on this island. The battle lasted five days, ending with a Japanese retreat.
The island is rich in copper and possibly gold. The Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) ostensibly reclaimed the country from corporate mining interests in the 1980s, in the form of Bougainville Copper Limited, (BCL) an Australian controlled company.
The mining activity triggered a nine-year secessionist revolt which claimed 20,000 lives. It ended in 1997, after negotiations brokered by New Zealand.
During most of the revolt the island was also under blockade, which forced the people to supply themselves with everything from power to soap. Biodiesel was refined out of coconut oil to fuel vehicles as well as building a small hydroelectric power plant out of old vehicle parts.
The resourcefulness of these people can be seen in their use of the coconut which besides biodiesel was also used for making soap, lamp oil, baskets, treating wounds and placed in the coals of a fire to act as a mosquito repellent.
The region is still striving for autonomy, motivated in part by fear of re-established corporate exploitation of the area.
On June 15, 2005 the election of the first autonomous government of Bougainville, presided by Joseph Kabui, was held.
On July 25, 2005 rebel leader Francis Ona died after a short illness. A former surveyor with the Bougainville Mining Limited, Francis Ona started the 10-year secessionist war in November 1988 with sabotage attacks on the mine in Panguna in support of demands for compensation for environmental damage.
Further reading
- Douglas Oliver, Bougainville: A Personal History (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1973)
- Douglas Oliver, Black Islanders: A Personal Perspective of Bougainville, 1937-1991 (Melbourne: Hyland House, 1991) [Repeats text from 1973 and updates with summaries of Papua New Guinea press reports on the Bougainville Crisis]
- Paul Quodling, Bougainville: The Mine And The People
- Regan, Anthony and Griffin, Helga (eds.). 2005. Bougainville Before the Crisis. Canberra: Pandanus Books.
External links
- [UN Map #4089] — United Nations map of the vicinity of Bougainville Island, PDF format
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