New Ireland

New Ireland, island, north-eastern Papua New Guinea, part of the Bismarck Archipelago, in the south-western Pacific Ocean, near New Britain. The island is 8,650 sq km (3,340 sq mi) in area and is mostly mountainous; its highest peak is Mount Lambel (2,150 m/7,054 ft). The chief port is Kavieng (population, 1980, 4,633). The island was reached in 1616 by the Dutch navigator Jakob le Maire and was a German protectorate (called New Mecklenburg) from 1884 to 1914. It was subsequently administered by Australia until 1975, when it became part of newly independent Papua New Guinea. Population (1990, New Ireland Province) 87,194.