Emirau Island
Emirau ( Emir, Emira Kerue, Squally, Iceland Storm, Storm Island) is an island in the north of Papua New Guinea and belongs administratively to Murat Rural Local - Level Government Area of New Ireland province.
Geography
Emirau is the second largest island of the archipelago of St Matthias Islands and located 26 km southeast of the main island Mussau. It is 13 km long, 3.2 km wide, hilly and densely forested, with a height up to 37 meters. The interior of the island is occupied by a 36-hectare plateau. Emirau consists of a sophisticated coral and surrounded by a coral reef.
The coastline is heavily dissected by numerous bays and projecting peninsulas and headlands. Between Cape Ballin, the northernmost point of land, and the east of it lying Cape Tietgens, the Hamburg- bay covers ( Hamburger Hafen ). In the east the coast are the islands Sanilu and Anusau upstream, in the west Elomusao.
There are a former German plantation and a mission of the Seventh- day Adventist Church on the south coast. Other places are Pakane in the northwest and Tasagina on the southeast coast.
History
William Dampier discovered the island on February 26, 1700 for the Western world and called them Squally Iceland. The area came in 1885 under German management and belonged since 1899 to German New Guinea. 1914 Australian troops conquered the island. After the First World War it was administered as a League of Nations mandate of Australia. From 1942 to 1944 Emirau of Japan was busy. The island was used as an Air Force Base in March 1944 by the U.S. military. She returned in 1949 in Australian administrative back. Since 1975 she is part of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.
On Emirau Mussau - Emira is spoken. Part of the language, with Tenis from the island Tench to the two languages of the St. Matthias subgroup of Oceanic languages in the Austronesian language family.
Emirau has been classified by BirdLife International as a bird sanctuary for endemic birds ( Endemic Bird Areas, EBA). A subspecies of the woodpecker parrot St Matthias Spechtpapagei ( Micropsitta meeki proxima ), is known only from Mussau and Emirau.