Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History. The first inhabitants of the archipelago arrived around 30–40,000 years ago. They may have traveled from New Guinea, by boat across the Bismarck Sea or via a temporary land bridge, created by an uplift in the Earth's crust. Later arrivals included the Lapita people. The first European to visit these islands was Dutch explorer Willem Schouten in 1616 . The islands remained unsettled by western Europeans until they were annexed as part of the German protectorate of German New Guinea in 1884. The area was named in honour of the Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. On 13 March 1888, a volcano erupted on Ritter Island causing a megatsunami. Almost the entire volcano fell into the ocean, leaving a small crater lake. Following the outbreak of World War I, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force seized the islands in 1914 and Australia later received a League of Nations mandate for the islands. They remained under Australian administration—interrupted only by  Japanese occupation during World War II—until Papua New Guinea became independent in September 1975. Geography. The Bismarck Archipelago includes mostly volcanic islands with a total land area of . The archipelago encompasses the Bismarck Sea and sits upon the North Bismarck Plate, the Manus Plate and the South Bismarck Plate. Islands are grouped here according to administrative province: The passage of water between the islands of New Britain and New Ireland is called "St. George's Channel" after St. George's Channel in the British Isles between Wales and Ireland.