Rabaul

Largest port of Papua New Guinea, on the volcanic island of New Britain, southwest Pacific; population (1994) 184,400. It is one of the largest shipping centres for copra and coconut oil in the Pacific. It was destroyed by Allied bombing after its occupation by the Japanese in 1942, but was rebuilt.

The harbour may once have been a great volcanic crater which became broken at one side, and consequently is connected with Blanche Bay. About the harbour lies a semicircle of mountains including The Mother, at the foot of which is Rabaul, and The Daughters. Rabaul was established in 1910 as the capital of German New Guinea. In June 1937, and again in September 1994, most of Rabaul was threatened with destruction by eruptions of volcanoes. These eruptions covered the town with ash and mud.