Bougainville Civil War

Bougainville Civil War
District map of Bougainville (North Solomons) (Note: The international boundary is incorrectly placed southeast of Shortland and Ovau and Fauro islands)
Date 1 December 1988 – 20 April 1998 Location Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Sea Result Bougainville Peace Agreement Creation of the Autonomous Bougainville Government
Belligerents
Papua New Guinea Buka Liberation Front Bougainville Resistance Force Supported by: Australia	Bougainville Interim Government (BIG) Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) Supported by:  Solomon Islands  Fiji (alleged)
Commanders and leaders
Julius Chan Jerry Singirok  (WIA) Paias Wingti Bill Skate Rabbie Namaliu	Francis Ona Sam Kauona Theodore Miriung  † Ishmael Toroama Joseph Kabui
Strength
~ 800 soldiers 150 police Several thousand resistance fighters 4 UH-1 Iroquois helicopters 4 Pacific-class patrol boats	~ 2,000
Casualties and losses
300+ PNGDF soldiers killed Several thousand wounded	1,000–2,000 fighters killed
Approx. 15,000 to 20,000 Bougainvilleans dead

 Papua New Guinea

Supported by:

Bougainville Interim Government (BIG)

Supported by:

The Bougainville Civil War, also known as the Bougainville Conflict, was an armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 between Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), who were fighting for independence. The war on Bougainville Island has been described as the largest conflict in Oceania since the end of World War II, with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Bougainvillean dead.

It ended under the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 1998. The national government agreed to the founding of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and to certain rights and authorities it would have over what is now known as Bougainville Province, which includes outlying small islands in addition to Bougainville.

The discovery of vast copper ore deposits in the Crown Prince Range on Bougainville Island in 1969 led to the establishment of the huge Bougainville Copper Mine by the Australian company Conzinc Rio Tinto. The Panguna mine began production in 1972 under the management of Bougainville Copper Ltd, with the government of Papua New Guinea as a 20% shareholder. At the time, the Panguna mine was the largest open cut mine in the world. It produced more than 45% of Papua New Guinea's national export revenue, and was, as such, vitally important to the economy.

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