Renard Islands

Renard Islands

Louisiade Archipelago
Geography
Location	Oceania
Coordinates
Archipelago	Louisiade Archipelago
Adjacent bodies of water	Solomon Sea
Total islands	6
Major islands	Kimuta Niva Beno Island Oreia
Area
Highest elevation	84 m (276 ft)
Highest point	Mount Kimuta
Sovereign state
Papua New Guinea
Province	Milne Bay
District	Samarai-Murua District
LLG	Louisiade Rural Local Level Government Area
Island Group	Renard Islands
Largest settlement	Awa (population ~330)
Demographics
Demonym	Papuan people
Population	617 (as of 2014)
Density	143.5 /km2 (371.7 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Papauans, Austronesians, Melanesians.
Additional information
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
Official website	www.ncdc.gov.pg
ISO Code = PG-MBA

The Renard Islands are an archipelago in the Solomon Sea . Politically they belong to Milne Bay Province in the southeastern region of Papua New Guinea.

Geography

The Renard Islands are located in the north of Louisiade archipelago, 21 km north of the barrier reef of Vanatinai and 19 km southeast of Misima. The small Manuga Reef, which is located 19 km southeast of Renard Islands, is part of the Renard Ward. The Renard Islands are located on a 21-km by 6 km wide sandbank in a rectangular shape. The largest islands in the group are Kimuta (286 ha ), Niva Beno (49 ha) and Oreia (47 ha). Kimuta Island is 5.9 kilometers long, with widths averaging at 550 meters. The hilly island rises up to 84 meters above the sea level. The islands of Niva Beno and Topuna are liying east of Kimuta. Bagaium is a tiny island (less than one hectare) about 2 kilometers southwest of Kimuta. On the northwest side of the bank several reefs including the islands Baiwa (17 ha), Pana Wadai (1 ha) and Pana Roran (6 ha). On the southeast side of the sandbank are the islands of Oreia (5.5 km southeast of Kimuta) and Epoko (4 ha, 13 km southeast of Kimuta). Both islands are located in the center of small reef lagoon.

Population

According to the 2014 census, the island group had 617 inhabitants, spread over two villages on the main island Kimuta: Awa (345, in the east) Atuatua (272 in the West) Several sources claim that there is a family from Kimuta that actually lives yearly on the island of Niva Beno.