New Britain

This article discusses the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. For other uses of the name, see New Britain (disambiguation).

New Britain, formerly Neu Pommern (New Pomerania), is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, separated from New Guinea by Dampier Strait, and has Rabaul/Kokopo and Kimbe as its two main towns.

Description

New Britain extends from 148º to 152º E. longitude and from 4º to 7º S. latitude. It is crescent-shaped, about 600 km (370 miles) long, around 80 km (50 miles) wide, and has an area of 35,145 km² (13,570 mile²). The coasts are in some parts precipitous; in others the mountains recede inland, and the coast is flat and bordered by coral reefs. The formation appears otherwise to be volcanic, and there are some active craters. The greatest elevation occurs towards the westabout 6500 ft. There is a rich tropical vegetation, and a number of considerable streams water the island.

Two geographical regions are distinguishable. Of the broad, irregular north-eastern section, known as the Gazelle Peninsula, a great portion is occupied by wooded mountain chains; otherwise (especially about Blanche Bay) the soil is very fertile and admirably watered by rivers (e. g. the Toriu and Kerawat), which yield an abundance of fish. The western and larger section also has extensive mountain chains, which contain numerous active volcanoes.

New Britain comprises two provinces:

East New Britain with headquarters in Kokopo
West New Britain with headquarters in Kimbe

History

William Dampier became the first known European to visit New Britain on February 27, 1700: he dubbed the island with the Latin name Nova Britannia.

In November 1884, Germany proclaimed its protectorate over the New Britain Archipelago; the German colonial administration gave New Britain and New Ireland the names of Neu-Pommern ("New Pomerania") and Neu-Mecklenburg, and the whole group was renamed the Bismarck Archipelago.

In 1909 the indigenous population was estimated at about 190,000; the foreign population at 773 (474 white). The white population was practically confined to the northern part of this section, which included the capital, Herbertshöhe. About 13,464 acres were under cultivation, the principal products being copra, cotton, coffee, and rubber. Westerners avoided exploring the interior initially, believing that the indigenous peoples were warlike and would fiercely resist intrusions.

On 11 September 1914, New Britain became the site of one of the earliest battles of World War I, when Australian forces landed on the island. At that time, Neu-Pommern formed part of German New Guinea.

People and culture

The indigenous people of New Britain fall into two main groups, the Papuans, who have inhabited the island for tens of thousands of years, and the Austronesians, who arrived around two thousand years ago. There are around ten Papuan languages spoken and about 40 Austronesian languages, as well as Tok Pisin and English.

The population of New Britain was 404,873 in the 2000 census. The major towns are Rabaul/Kokopo in East New Britain, and Kimbe in West New Britain.

The traditional cultures of New Britain are diverse and complex. While the Tolai of the Rabaul area of East New Britain have a matrilineal society, other groups are patrilineal in structure. There are numerous traditions which remain active today, such as the dukduk secret society (also known as tubuan) in the Tolai area.

Traditional culture has clashed with European culture and religion, but also has been integrated with it, and indigenous people in New Britain generally respect both aspects to some extent.

Ecclesiastical history

The vicariate Apostolic of New Pomerania was erected on 1 Janunary, 1889, and entrusted to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Issoudun. Since September 1905, when the Marshall Islands were made a separate vicariate, its territory was confined to the Bismarck Archipelago. The first vicar Apostolic was Mgr Louis Couppé, titular Bishop of Leros. The mission soon made remarkable progress, and numbers according to the latest statistics 15,223 Catholics; 28 missionaries; 40 brothers; 27 Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart; 55 native catechists; 77 churches and chapels; 90 stations (26 chief); 29 schools with over 4000 pupils; 13 orphanages.

Postage stamps

When the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force occupied German New Guinea in 1914, it met the need for postage stamps by overprinting existing stocks of the (unwatermarked) German New Guinea and Marshall Islands stamps with "G.R.I" (short for Georgius Rex Imperator, referring to the incumbent British King George V. Values ranged from one penny to five shillings, and roughly corresponded with the values of the original stamps expressed in pfennigs: 1d on 3pf and 5pf stamps, 2d on 10pf and 20pf, and so forth.

The Australians issued a first setting of the overprint on 17 October 1914, followed by a second setting (with slightly different spacing) on 16 December. In all, they produced some 50 distinct stamps.

In addition, Australian postal authorities pressed registration labels into service as 3d stamps, overprinted in the same way as the others. Labels of the Friedrich Wilhelmshaven, Herbertshohe, Kawieng, Kieta, Manus, and Rabaul post offices became overprinted in this manner.

In 1915 the Australians superseded these improvised stamps of New Britain with stamps of the "North West Pacific Islands".

Because of the short period of use of the New Britain issues, they occur quite rarely, and command high prices; the most common denominations cost at least $15 US a piece, and the five-shilling overprints fetch prices of over $10,000 on the rare occasions when they come up for sale. In addition, the overprinting process produced a number of errors, and these also command high prices.

Sources and References

(incomplete)

Jane's Solomon Islands
Australian War Memorial, Operations against German Pacific territories, 06 August 1914 - 06 November 1914.
Ethnologue map of languages of New Britain