Long Island (Papua New Guinea)

Long Iceland is a volcanic island north of Papua New Guinea. Between the two islands runs the Vitiaz Street.

Geography

Two Strato volcanoes are located on the island: Mount Reaumur and Cerisy Peak. The summit of the volcano complex collapsed during at least three major eruptions, about 16,000, 4000 and 300 years ago. This left a large caldera, the 10 × 12.5 km and measures today by a crater lake, which is filled Lake Wisdom. The last eruption was one of the strongest in recent Papua New Guinea's history, with an estimated volume of over 11 cubic kilometers, comparable to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.

A smaller outbreak dates back to the year 1993.

Today, the island has five villages with about 1000 inhabitants.

Administratively, the island is part of the Raicoast District in the southeast of Madang Province.

History

Long Iceland was mapped in 1643 by Abel Tasman. He held the island incorrectly as a part of New Guinea.

During World War II a radar station was established on the island by the Australian Air Force.