New Britain

New Britain (island), Papua New Guinea, with an area of about 36,520 sq km (14,100 sq mi) it is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, in the Solomon Sea. The main city and port is Rabaul. New Britain’s chief products are copra, cacao, and timber. The island has tall mountains and active volcanoes, rising to 2,438 m (7,999 ft) on Mount Sinewit. New Britain was named in 1700 by William Dampier, an English navigator. The island was called Neu-Pommern (New Pomerania) while under German control from 1884 to the beginning of World War I. It was administered by Australia from 1920 to 1975, except for a period (1942-1945) of Japanese occupation. In 1947 New Britain was made a United Nations trust territory under Australian control. In 1994 about 90,000 residents of the island were evacuated when Tavurvur, a volcano near Rabaul, erupted in the country’s worst recorded natural disaster (there had been a previous eruption in 1937). The island suffered damage from earthquake and tidal wave aftershocks and from heavy falls of volcanic ash. Further, minor eruptions were noted in 1997 and 2000. Population 311,955 (1990).