Woodlark Island
| Native name: Muyua, Muyuw | |
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Woodlark Islands
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 Woodlark
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| Geography | |
| Location | Melanesia |
| Coordinates | 9°7′35″S 152°48′20″E / 9.12639°S 152.80556°E |
| Highest elevation | 240 m (790 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Kabat |
| Administration | |
| Province | Milne Bay Province |
| Largest settlement | Kulumadau (pop. 242 in 1990 (est. 2,500 in 2010 by unofficial census)) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | ~1,700 (est. 6,000 in 2010 by unofficial census) (1990) |
Woodlark Island, known to its inhabitants simply as Woodlark or Muyua, is an island in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Although no formal census has been conducted since 1990, the current population is estimated at approximately 6000 people (see section below on Population Issues). There is one primary school on the island (in Kulumadau) that teaches about 200 students (60 students are from outer islands); to attend highschool/secondary school, and all children must travel to Alotau on the mainland.
Woodlark Island is also called Woodlark or Woodlarks by English language speakers. It is called Murua by the inhabitants of some other islands in the province. The wider Woodlark Islands group also consists of Madau and Nusam to the west, Nubara to the east, and the Marshall Bennett group to the southwest.
An Italian missionary order of Catholic clergy, the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.), sent five priests and two brothers to Woodlark Island in 1852. Giovanni Battista (John) Mazzucconi was killed there in 1855 by an islander called Avicoar who opposed the missionaries and their religion.
Operation Chronicle was the name given to the landing of Allied forces on Woodlark Island and Kiriwina on June 30, 1943, during World War II. Within a few months of the landing U.S. Navy Seabees had constructed a major airbase at Guasopa Bay, known as Woodlark Airfield (later Guasopa Airport).
Woodlark Island has had a long history of gold mining dating back to the late 1800s with records showing an estimated pre-World War II gold production, including alluvial sources, of about 220,000 ounces of gold. The island has been extensively logged for ebony which has always been an important cash economy to the communities on the island since the 1970s. Modern gold exploration was initiated on Woodlark Island in 1962 with the Bureau of Mineral Resources undertaking surface geochemistry, limited geophysics and diamond drilling during 1962 and 1963 at Kulumadau.
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Wikipedia