Admiralty Islands

Group of small islands in the southwest Pacific, part of Papua New Guinea; area 2,071 sq km/800 sq mi; population (1995 est) 35,200. The islands form part of the Bismarck Archipelago and with the North Western Islands constitute the Manus district of Papua New Guinea. The largest island (about 80 km/50 mi long) is Manus of which Lorengau is the chief town. Exports are copra and pearls. The islands became a German protectorate in 1884 and an Australian mandate in 1920.

In World War II, the islands were occupied by the Japanese from April 1942 but were recaptured by US troops in March 1944.