Bougainville

Bougainville, island in eastern Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, largest of the Solomon Islands group. Together with Buka Island and other nearby smaller islands it forms Bougainville Province (formerly known as North Solomons Province). The province has a population of 159,500 (1990).

Bougainville Island covers an area of 10,000 sq km (3,900 sq mi). The island is wooded and mountainous. The highest peak, Mount Balbi, rises to a height of 2,743 m (8,999 ft). Arawa is the largest community, with a population of 36,400 (2000). From Kieta, the principal harbor, a variety of agricultural products are exported, including cacao, copra, ivory nuts, sea cucumbers, and green snails. Natural resources include copper, gold, silver, and timber.

In 1768 French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville explored the island, later named after him. The island came under German control in 1884, along with the northeastern section of the island of New Guinea. During World War I (1914-1918) Australian forces occupied the islands, and in 1920 the League of Nations granted Australia a mandate over the territory. During World War II Bougainville was occupied by Japanese forces from March 1942 until February 1943. In 1947 the island came under Australian administration as part of a United Nations (UN) trust territory, known from 1949 as the Territory of Papua New Guinea.

After Papua New Guinea became an independent country in 1975, a relatively autonomous provincial government was established in Bougainville. However, many residents of Bougainville had hoped for their own independence and opposed being incorporated into Papua New Guinea. In the late 1980s Bougainville landowners began a campaign against the Panguna copper mine, a joint venture between the national government and an Australian mining company. The landowners demanded compensation, a share in revenues, and greater environmental protections. Their demands were backed by a guerrilla group, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), which formed in 1988. The copper mine was soon shut down, but antigovernment sentiments remained strong.

The BRA began calling for the independence of Bougainville and engaged government forces in guerrilla warfare. Secessionists unilaterally declared independence in 1990, but the national government of Papua New Guinea rejected their declaration and immediately imposed a complete economic and communications blockade of the island. The violence subsequently escalated.

Peace talks initiated in the mid-1990s led to an internationally monitored cease-fire agreement in 1998. By then approximately 20,000 people had died as a result of the conflict. In 2001 UN-brokered negotiations produced the Bougainville Peace Agreement. It guaranteed the province a referendum on independence in 10 to 15 years and provided for a greater degree of autonomy in the interim. In May 2005 Bougainville citizens elected their first-ever autonomous government, as provided for under a new provincial constitution. They chose a former BRA leader, Joseph Kabui, as president.