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Biak

Biak
Fishing boats on Biak.jpg
Fishing boats lined up at Kota Biak, Indonesia.
Geography
Location South East Asia
Coordinates 1°0′0″S 136°0′0″E / 1.00000°S 136.00000°E / -1.00000; 136.00000
Administration
Indonesia
Largest settlement Kota Biak
Biak
Climate chart ()
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Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
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J F M A M J J A S O N D
 
 
270
 
 
30
23
 
 
246
 
 
29
24
 
 
278
 
 
31
23
 
 
214
 
 
30
23
 
 
266
 
 
30
24
 
 
216
 
 
30
23
 
 
234
 
 
31
24
 
 
243
 
 
30
23
 
 
209
 
 
30
22
 
 
206
 
 
30
24
 
 
195
 
 
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239
 
 
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24
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm

Biak is a small island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals.

The largest population centre is at Kota Biak (Biak City) on the south coast. The rest of the island is thinly populated with small villages.

Biak is part of the Biak Islands (Kepulauan Biak).

Biak was first sighted by Europeans by the Portuguese navigator Jorge de Menezes in 1526. In his voyage from Malacca to Maluku via northern Borneo, Jorge de Menezes landed at Biak Islands, at the entrance of the Gulf, where he was forced to winter; the island is thenceforth called in Portuguese maps Ilha de Dom Jorge or Ilha onde invernou Dom Jorge, to become, finally, Ilha de S. Jorge.

The Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra sighted the island on 24 June 1528, when trying to return from Tidore to New Spain. Another sighting was later reported in 1545 by Spanish navigator Íñigo Ortiz de Retes on board of galleon San Juan when also attempting the return to New Spain

The archipelago was first mapped in the Portuguese charts of Gaspar Viegas (c. 1537), an anonymous map of 1540, and on the maps of João de Lisboa and of Bartolomeu Velho (c. 1560), and by other Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch maps.

In World War II, a strategic airfield of the Imperial Japanese Army was located there, serving as a base for operations in the Pacific theatre. American forces eventually captured the island during the Battle of Biak. The captured airfield was renamed Mokmer Airfield and later transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force.


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