Horn Island, Queensland

Horn Island Queensland
View of Horn Island from above
Horn Island
Coordinates	10°36′0″S 142°17′0″E / 10.60000°S 142.28333°E / -10.60000; 142.28333Coordinates: 10°36′0″S 142°17′0″E / 10.60000°S 142.28333°E / -10.60000; 142.28333
Population	539 (2011 census)
Postcode(s)	4875
Elevation	4 m (13 ft)
LGA(s)	Shire of Torres
State electorate(s)	Cook
Federal Division(s)	Leichhardt
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 30.3 °C 87 °F 24.6 °C 76 °F 1,809.0 mm 71.2 in

Horn Island

Native name: Narupai
A map of the Torres Strait Islands showing Narupai just north of Cape York Peninsula
Geography
Location	Northern Australia
Archipelago	Torres Strait Islands
Adjacent bodies of water	Torres Strait
Area	53 km2 (20 sq mi)
Administration
Australia
State	Queensland
Demographics
Population	585 (2006 census)
Additional information
Official website	www.torresstrait.com.au/hornisland.html

Horn Island, or Ngurupai (pronounced Nœrupai/Nurupai) in the local language, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago located in the Torres Strait, in Queensland in Northern Australia between the Australian mainland and Papua New Guinea. At the 2011 census, Horn Island had a population of 539.

Horn Island is known as Nœrupai (colloquially Nurupai) to the Kaurareg people and was given its English name by Matthew Flinders in 1802. After the 1871 massacre on Prince of Wales Island (Muralag), remnants of the people settled here for a short while, until the government relocated the Kaurareg to Hammond Island (Kœriri), where they remained until 1922. These islands (along with the other islands in the group) are the lands of the Kaurareg, each island – or rather parts thereof – owned by different clans.

The language of the Kaurareg is Kala Lagaw Ya, in the form of Kaiwalgau Ya (called Kauraraigau Ya [colloquial variant Kauraregau Ya] in the 19th century).

Gold was mined on Horn Island in the 1890s. In the early 20th century, a town flourished as a result of the pearling industry, but declined when non-islander residents were evacuated to southern Queensland during World War II. A major Allied airbase, known as Horn Island Aerodrome, was constructed on the island and this was attacked several times by Japanese planes.

The World War II airbase on Horn Island is described in Jack Woodward's historical biographies Under It Down Under and Singing for the Unsung. Jack Woodward was a World War II RAAF wireless operator stationed on Horn Island.