Boigu Island
Boigu within the Torres Strait Islands
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 Boigu
Boigu Island (Queensland, Australia)
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Torres Strait |
| Coordinates | 09°16′S 142°13′E / 9.267°S 142.217°E |
| Archipelago | Torres Strait Islands |
| Area | 89.6 km2 (34.6 sq mi) |
| Length | 18.12 km (11.259 mi) |
| Width | 5.05 km (3.138 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Highest point | unnamed |
| Administration | |
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Australia
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| State | Queensland |
| Shire | Shire of Torres |
| Island Region | Top Western |
| Largest settlement | Boigu (pop. 270) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 270 (2001) |
| Pop. density | 3.0 /km2 (7.8 /sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Torres Strait Islanders |
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Boigu / Boigu Island Queensland |
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 Boigu / Boigu Island
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| Coordinates | 9°13′56″S 142°13′06″E / 9.23222°S 142.21833°ECoordinates: 9°13′56″S 142°13′06″E / 9.23222°S 142.21833°E |
| LGA(s) | Torres Strait Island Region |
Boigu Island (also known as Malu Kiyay or Malu Kiwai ) is the most northerly inhabited island of Queensland and of Australia. It is part of the top-western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York Peninsula from the island of New Guinea. The mainland of Papua New Guinea is only 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from Boigu. Boigu has an area of 89.6 square kilometres (34.6 sq mi). Boigu is also the name of the town and Boigu Island is tha name of the locality on the island within the Torres Strait Island Region.
It is the largest and only inhabited island of the Talbot Islands group of the Torres Strait Islands.
The language of Boigu is that of the Western and Central Islands of the Torres Strait. The specific dialect is Kalau Kawau Ya, also spoken on the islands of Dauan and Saibai. The people of the three islands consider themselves as one people.
Boigu was visited by South Sea Islander missionaries of the London Missionary Society, some time after the establishment of a mission on nearby Saibai Island in 1871.
From the 1870s to around 1910, the Boigu, Dauan and Saibai people, along with the neighbouring Papuan peoples, were being harassed by thugeral "warriors" from the Marind-anim, fierce headhunters from what is now southeast West Papua. In literature dealing with the period, these people are generally termed 'Tuger' or 'Tugeri'. Sir William MacGregor, the Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea, noted in 1886 that the population was nearly extinct as a result of these raids. What he did not realise was that at the time the bulk of the population were staying with family on Saibai and Dauan for mutual protection.
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Wikipedia