Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island ( , ; Tok Pisin: Bogenvil) is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Its land area is 9,384 km2 (3,623 sq mi). The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at 2,715 m (8,907 ft). The much smaller Buka Island, c. 500 km2 (190 sq mi), lies to the north, across the 400–500-metre-wide (1,300–1,600 ft) Buka Strait. Even though the strait is narrow, there is no bridge across it, but there is a regular ferry service between the key settlements on either side. The main airstrip in the north is in the town of Buka. Buka has an outcropping that is 175 km (109 mi) from New Ireland. Among the large islands of Papua New Guinea, New Ireland is the closest to Buka. Bougainville is the largest island in the Solomon Islands archipelago. It was previously the main landmass in the North Solomons, which were associated with the German Empire. Most of the islands in this archipelago (which are primarily concentrated in the southern and eastern portions of it) are part of the politically independent Solomon Islands. Two of these islands—the closely connected Shortland Islands—are less than 9 km (5.6 mi) south or southeast of Bougainville, and about 30 km (19 mi) west of Choiseul, with Poroporo facing Bougainville. In a 2019 referendum, the citizens of Bougainville voted to become independent from Papua New Guinea by 2027, but the referendum was non-binding on the government of Papua New Guinea. In July 2026, the government of Bougainville set out a timeline for self-government between 2027 and 2030, followed by full independence on 1 September 2030.

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