Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
36,520km²
Area
1,655km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
2,334m
Highest point
Ulawun
513,926
People
30°C
Warmest sea
December
799km
To the mainland
When to go to New Britain
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in December (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island of the Bismarck Archipelago in Papua New Guinea
New Britain is an island in Papua New Guinea. It covers 36,520 km², with 1,655 km of coastline. Its highest point, Ulawun, rises to 2,334 m. About 513,926 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 799 km away.
Getting there
- Hoskins Airport (HKN)main airport (2 on the island with scheduled flights)
- Ferries3 ferry terminals on the island
- 799 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on New Britain.
- 2beaches
- 8viewpointsLookout Volcano Observatory, Namanula Hill, Malmaluan Lookout and 5 more
- 3ferry terminalsFerries to Lae and Buka
- 19named peaksNakanai Mountains, Mount Talawe, Mount Tangi and 16 more
- 13volcanoesUlawun, Mount Talawe, Gabuna Group and 10 more
- 8waterfallsBrown Boy Travels Waterfall, Potanga Waterfall and 6 more
- 8ruins and archaeological sites
- 2dive centresRabaul - Kokopo Dive, Rabaul Dive Adventures
- 38hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 2restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
New Britain in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside New Britain, each with its own numbers.
3beaches and covesCoastya
4lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
46.1km²
Lake Dakataua
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
29.9°C
Lake Lalili
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.9°C
Kauho Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
3 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Kauho Beach29.9°C
- Garingi Beach29.9°C
- Arielo Baycove29.6°C
4 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Dakataua46.1km²
- Lake Hargy8.7km²
- Lake Lalili1.6km²
- Lake Namo1.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 403 m above the sea. 41 % of it is below 200 m.
- 16 %0–50 m
- 25 %50–200 m
- 29 %200–500 m
- 20 %500–1,000 m
- 10 %1,000–2,000 m
- <1 %> 2,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
200 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Kokopo26,273 people
- Kimbe18,847 people
- Rabaul8,074 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Sea (°C) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 316 | 282 | 356 | 220 | 177 | 216 | 258 | 242 | 213 | 181 | 188 | 198 |
| Wet days | 22 | 21 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 21 |
| Sun h/day | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 5.6 |
| Wind (km/h) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.3 | +0.7 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.4 | +1.5 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.5 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.4 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −0.5 | −0.3 |
| 2024 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.4 |
| 2025 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +1.0 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
New Ireland
Papua New Guinea7,405 km²2,379 m311 km away
Umboi IslandPapua New Guinea930 km²1,548 m301 km away
KiriwinaPapua New Guinea277 km²57 m331 km away
New Hanover IslandPapua New Guinea1,216 km²957 m362 km away
Lihir IslandPapua New Guinea201 km²700 m362 km away
Long IslandPapua New Guinea412 km²1,280 m388 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q59771) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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