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- January 2009
Hōkūleʻa is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waʻa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, she is best known for her 1976 Hawaiʻi to Tahiti voyage performed with Polynesian navigation techniques, without modern navigational instruments.
The primary goal of the voyage was to further support the anthropological theory of the Asiatic origin of native Oceanic people, of Polynesians and Hawaiians in particular, as the result of purposeful trips through the Pacific, as opposed to passive drifting on currents, or sailing from the Americas. A secondary goal of the project was to have the canoe and voyage "serve as vehicles for the cultural revitalization of Hawaiians and other Polynesians."
Since the 1976 voyage to Tahiti and back, Hōkūle‘a has completed nine more voyages to destinations in Micronesia, Polynesia, Japan, Canada, and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.
- February 2009
Indo-Fijians are Fijians who trace their ancestry to India. They number 313,798 (37.6%) (2007 census) out of a total of 827,900 people living on Fiji. They are mostly descended from indentured labourers brought to the islands by Fiji's British colonial rulers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations. These were complemented by the later arrival of Gujarati and Punjabi immigrants. They have adapted to the new environment with changes to their dress, language and culinary habits, although they have maintained their distinct culture.
The Fiji Indians have fought for equal rights, although with only limited success. Many have left Fiji in search of better living conditions and social justice and this exodus has gained pace with the series of coups starting in the late 1980s.
Indo Fijians are concentrated in the so-called Sugar Belt and in cities and towns on the northern and western coasts of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu; their numbers are much scarcer in the south and inland areas. The majority of Indians are Hindi speakers, with large minorities speaking Bhojpuri, Urdu, Tamil, Bihari languages, Gujarati, and Punjabi, among others. Almost all Indians are also fluent in English.
- March 2009
The Battle of Wau, 29–31 January 1943, was a battle in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Forces of the Empire of Japan sailed from Rabaul and crossed the Solomon Sea and, despite Allied air attacks, successfully reached Lae, where they disembarked. Japanese troops then advanced overland on Wau, an Australian base that potentially threatened the Japanese positions at Salamaua and Lae.
A race developed between the Japanese moving overland, hampered by the terrain, and the Australians, moving by air, hampered by the weather. By the time the Japanese reached the Wau area after a trek over the mountains, the Australian defenders had been greatly reinforced by air. In the battle that followed, despite achieving tactical surprise by approaching from an unexpected direction, the Japanese attackers were unable to capture Wau.
The Japanese prepared to make another attempt to capture Wau in June. This time, the plan was to approach from the north, using a road to be built from Markham Point to the Snake River Valley. Road construction was carried out at great hardship to the troops involved, but the road was still incomplete when the Allied landings at Nadzab and Lae caused work to be suspended.
- April 2009
Isla Salas y Gómez, also known as Isla Sala y Gómez, is a small uninhabited Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost point in the Polynesian Triangle. Administratively, it is part of the Easter Island commune and province of the Valparaíso Region.
The island is showered with saltwater, and the shoreline is dotted with countless tidepools. Because the shoreline consists primarily of cliffs, landing on the island is difficult in all but the calmest of conditions. There are no permanent sources of freshwater on the island, but there is an intermittent rainwater pool in a depression on the eastern rock, which often forms a cache of freshwater 75 meters in diameter. This is essential for the survival of the large population of seabirds.
Although there is no evidence that the island has ever been permanently inhabited, Easter Islanders were certainly aware of its existence, as indicated by the pre-European name of the island. Because of these historical connections to Easter Island, Salas y Gómez can be considered part of Polynesia; if so its location makes it the easternmost landmass of Polynesia. The title is usually awarded to Easter Island, 415 km further west.
- May 2009
Benjamin Franklin Tilley (March 29, 1848 – March 18, 1907), often known as B. F. Tilley, was a career officer in the United States Navy who served from the end of the American Civil War through the Spanish–American War. He is best remembered as the first Acting-Governor of American Samoa.
Tilley was named Acting Governor in April 1901. His first acts were to impose a duty on imports to the territory, ban the sale of alcohol to the local population (but not Americans), and forbid the sale of Samoan lands to non-Samoans. On May 1, 1900, he proclaimed that the laws of the United States were in force in the territory, but that Samoan laws that did not conflict with US law would remain in effect. He partitioned the territory into three districts. Over the next year, Tilley regulated firearms, enforced mandatory registrations of births, deaths, and marriages, levied taxes, and made the sabbath a public holiday. For defense and police, Tilley created a small militia of native Samoans, called the Fita Fita Guard.
In November 1901, Tilley was court-martialled for alleged immorality and drunkenness. He was acquitted, but was replaced by Uriel Sebree.
- June 2009
Aitutaki, also traditionally known as Araura, Ararau and Utataki, is one of the Cook Islands, north of Rarotonga. It has a population of approximately 2,000. Aitutaki is the second most visited island of the Cook Islands. The capital (main village) is Arutanga (Arutunga) on the west side.
Aitutaki is famous for its turquoise central lagoon, uninhabited islands and palm-fringed beaches. Another advantage is that until now it has been spared by mass tourism. Noteworthy also are an old church (the oldest in the Cook Islands) and some gigantic Banyan trees (Ficus prolixa).
Tapuaetai (One Foot Island), a small islet in the south-east of the lagoon, is often said to be the most important attraction. It is regarded as providing the visitor with the best views of the Aitutaki lagoon and depending on the tide one is able to walk on a sandbank a decent distance away from Tapuaetai (One Foot Island). The trip to this island is the most frequented trip available on Aitutaki and is bookable in most hotels. One Foot Island was awarded "Australasia's Leading Beach" at the World Travel Awards held in Sydney in June 2008.
- July 2009
Typhoon Pongsona (international designation: 0226, JTWC designation: 31W) was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the costliest United States disaster in 2002. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands while near its peak winds of 175 km/h (110 mph 10-min). It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11.
Typhoon Pongsona produced strong wind gusts peaking at 278 km/h (173 mph 1-min), which left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses. With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $700 million (2002 USD, $800 million 2007 USD), making Pongsona among the five costliest typhoons on the island. The typhoon also caused heavy damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Marianas Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired.
- August 2009
Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth in terms of area covered and one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi in the Pacific Ocean. It is an active shield volcano, with a volume estimated at 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km³). Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are silica-poor, thus very fluid: and as a result eruptions tend to be non-explosive and the volcano has extremely shallow slopes.
The volcano has probably been erupting for at least 700,000 years and may have emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago, although the oldest-known dated rocks do not extend beyond 200,000 years. Its magma comes from the Hawaii hotspot, which has been responsible for the creation of the Hawaiian island chain for tens of millions of years. The slow drift of the Pacific Plate will eventually carry the volcano away from the hotspot, and the volcano will then become extinct within 500,000 to one million years from now.
Mauna Loa's most recent eruption occurred from March 24, 1984, to April 15, 1984. No recent eruptions of the volcano have caused fatalities, but eruptions in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages, and the city of Hilo is partly built on lava flows from the late nineteenth century.
- September 2009
The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs 96 kilometres (60 mi) overland — 60 kilometres (37 mi) in a straight line — through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea. The track is the most famous in Papua New Guinea and is renowned as the location of the World War II battle between Japanese and Australian forces in 1942. The trail was first used by European miners in the 1890s who were travelling to the Yodda Kokoda goldfields.
The track starts, or ends, at Owers Corner in Central Province, 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Port Moresby, and then crosses rugged and isolated, terrain, which is only passable on foot, to the village of Kokoda in Oro Province. It reaches a height of 2,190 metres (7,185 ft) as it passes around the peak of Mount Bellamy.
Hot, humid days with intensely cold nights, torrential rainfall and the risk of endemic tropical diseases such as malaria make it a challenge to walk. Despite the challenge posed it is a popular hike that takes between four and twelve days (depending on fitness). Locals have been known to hike the route in three days. The Kokoda Challenge Race is an endurance running race run annually since 2005.
- October 2009
Palau competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Palau's Olympic delegation was led by Frank Kyota, the President of the Palau National Olympic Committee, and consisted of five athletes, three team officials and four coaches. This was an increase from the nation's two previous appearances at the Summer Olympic Games; four athletes had been sent to both the Sydney and Athens Games. Palau's Olympic team was one of the 117 that won no medals at the Games.
Palau was the 119th national team to enter the Beijing National Stadium in the parade of nations during the Opening Ceremony. The country's flag bearer was freestyle wrestler Elgin Loren Elwais, the first Palauan athlete to have qualified for a Games based on his own performances. At the Closing Ceremony athletes entered in a less formal style, led by the flag bearers of all the competing nations. The Palauan flag was carried by swimmer Amber Yobech.
The 2008 Summer Olympics marked the first time that Palauans were able to watch complete Olympic television coverage of all events in their own country. Palau's in-depth television coverage was due to a special agreement between Television New Zealand and the Palau National Communications Corporation.
- November 2009
The Phoenix Islands are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs, lying in the central Pacific Ocean east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands. They are a part of the Republic of Kiribati. During the late 1930s they became the site of the last attempted colonial expansion of the British Empire (the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme). The islands and surrounding areas are home to some 120 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish. On January 28, 2008, the government of Kiribati formally declared the entire Phoenix group and surrounding waters a protected area, making its 410,500 square kilometres the world's largest marine protected area.
The group is uninhabited except for a few families on Kanton (41 people according to the 2005 census). The United States unincorporated territories of Baker Island and Howland Island are often considered northerly outliers of the group, in the geographical sense. Howland and Baker are statistically grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands, however. the United States previously claimed all the Phoenix Islands under the Guano Islands Act. The Treaty of Tarawa released all American claims to Kiribati, excluding Baker and Howland.
- December 2009
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Sir Michael Thomas Somare, GCL, GCMG, CH, CF, MP (born 9 April 1936) has been Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since 2002; he was previously Prime Minister from independence in 1975 until 1980 and again from 1982 until 1985. Somare's first two terms were as a member of the Pangu Party, but he is now leader of the National Alliance Party. He was re-elected as Prime Minister in the 2007 election.
During the seventeen years between his second and third terms as Prime Minister, Somare was appointed to political posts by other Prime Ministers. Somare served as Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1992 in the government of Rabbie Namaliu. Somare later served as Foreign Minister for a few months in 1999 and took this position again in July 2006. Somare is currently the Foreign Minister in addition to being the Prime Minister.
In March 2008 at the age of 71, Somare announced he would soon be stepping down from his position as Prime Minister, and ending his political career. He explained that, after forty years in politics, he simply "need[ed] a change" ("I don't think I have lost anything but the time has come"). In September 2008, Somare once again hinted at his upcoming retirement.