Manus Island

Manus Island

Location of the Manus Island among the Admiralty Islands
Manus Island
Geography
Coordinates	2°06′S 146°54′E / 2.1°S 146.9°E / -2.1; 146.9
Archipelago	Admiralty Islands
Area	2,100 km2 (810 sq mi)
Length	100 km (60 mi)
Width	30 km (19 mi)
Highest elevation	718 m (2356 ft)
Highest point	Mt. Dremsel
Administration
Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Province	Manus Province
Largest settlement	Lorengau (pop. 5,829)
Demographics
Population	50,321 (province)[1] (2011)

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of 2,100 km² (810 sq mi), measuring around 100 km × 30 km (60 mi × 20 mi). Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel, 718 metres (2,356 ft) above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene, 8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone.

Lorengau, the capital of Manus Province, is located on the island. Momote Airport, the terminal for Manus Province, is located on nearby Los Negros Island. A bridge connects Los Negros Island to Manus Island and the provincial capital of Lorengau. In the 2000 census, the whole Manus Province had a population of 50,321. The Austronesian Manus languages are spoken on the island.

Papua New Guinea allowed the government of Australia to run a controversial offshore immigration detention centre, the Manus Regional Processing Centre, which was situated on adjacent Los Negros Island from 2001 to 2017, to house asylum seekers arriving by boat found within Australia's defined territorial borders.

Manus Island is home to the emerald green snail, whose shells were harvested to be sold as jewellery; this continues, albeit at a lesser scale, as due to the snail's status as a threatened species, its sale for this purpose is now illegal in many jurisdictions.