- Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between
Australia and theMelanesia n island ofNew Guinea . It is approximately 150 km wide at its narrowest extent. To the south isCape York Peninsula , the northernmost continental extremity of theAustralia n state ofQueensland . To the north is the Western Province of the independent state ofPapua New Guinea .Geography
The strait links the
Coral Sea to the east with theArafura Sea in the west. Although it is an important international sea lane, it is very shallow, and the maze of reefs and islands can make it hazardous to navigate. In the south theEndeavour Strait is located between Prince of Wales Island and the mainland.Several clusters of islands lie in the Strait, collectively called the
Torres Strait Islands . There are at least 274 of these islands, of which 17 have present-day permanent settlements. Over 6,800 Torres Strait Islanders live on the Islands and 42,000 live on the mainland.These islands have a variety of topographies,
ecosystem s and formation history. Several of those closest to the New Guinea coastline are low-lying, formed byalluvial sedimentary deposits borne by the outflow of the local rivers into the sea. Many of the western islands are hilly and steep, formed mainly ofgranite , and are peaks of the northernmost extension of theGreat Dividing Range now turned into islands when sea levels rose at the end of the lastice age . The central islands are predominantlycoral cay s, and those of the east are of volcanic origins. The islands are considered Australian territory and are administered fromThursday Island .The islands' indigenous inhabitants are the
Torres Strait Islander s,Melanesia n peoples related to the Papuans of adjoining New Guinea. The various Torres Strait Islander communities have a distinct culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines. Their maritime-based trade and interactions with the Papuans to the north and the Australian Aboriginal communities have maintained a steadycultural diffusion between the three societal groups, dating back thousands of years at least.Two indigenous languages are spoken on the Torres Strait Islands, known by dialect names : Kala Lagaw Ya/Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kawalgaw Ya/Kulkalgaw Ya, and Meriam Mir, as well as Brokan [Broken] , otherwise called
Torres Strait Creole . In the2001 Australian national census, the population of the islands was recorded as 8,089, though many more live outside of Torres Strait in Australia.History
The islands of the Torres Strait have been inhabited for at least 2,500 years, and possibly much longer.cite web|url=http://www.tsra.gov.au/the-torres-strait/general-history.aspx|title=History of Torres Strait to 1879 - a regional view|author=John Burton|publisher=
Torres Strait Regional Authority |accessdate=2008-04-13]The first recorded European navigation of the strait was by
Luis Váez de Torres , a Spanish seaman who was second-in-command on the Spanish expedition ofPedro Fernandez de Quirós who sailed fromPeru to the South Pacific in1605 . After Quiros's ship returned toMexico , Torres resumed the intended voyage toManila via theMoluccas . He sailed along the south coast of New Guinea, and may also have sighted the northernmost extremity of theAustralia n mainland, however no specific records exist that indicate he did so.In
1769 the Scottishgeographer Alexander Dalrymple found Torres' report of this voyage inManila , and it was he who named the strait after Torres. This information was later made use of by CaptainJames Cook . In1770 Cook claimed the whole of eastern Australia for the British Crown, and sailed through the strait after proceeding up the eastern coast of the continent. TheLondon Missionary Society arrived on Erub (Darnley Island) in 1871. Although some of the Torres Strait islands lie just off the coast ofNew Guinea , they were annexed in 1879 byQueensland , then a British colony.There was an important pearling industry from the 1860s until about 1970 when it collapsed in the face of competition from the plastics industry. Pearl-shelling was responsible for the arrival of experienced divers from many countries, notably
Japan . [Ganter, Regina. (1994). "The Pearl-Shellers of Torres Strait: Resource Use, Development and Decline, 1860s-1960s". Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84547-9.]In 1978 an agreement between Australia and
Papua New Guinea determined the maritime border in the Torres Strait. [for a detailed map see cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/image_cache/GA3747.pdf|title=Australia's Maritime Zones in the Torres Strait|publisher=Australian Government - Geoscience Australia|format=PDF|accessdate=2008-04-13, for the agreement see cite web|url=http://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/AUS-PNG1978TS.PDF|title=Treaty between Australia and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea concerning sovereignty and maritime boundaries in the area between the two countries, including the area known as Torres Strait, and related matters, 18 December 1978|publisher=United Nations |format=PDF|accessdate=2008-04-13]Torres Strait is mentioned in
Jules Verne 's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea " as a dangerous strait where the submarine, the Nautilus, is briefly stranded.Illegal Immigration
Due to the proximity to the
Papua New Guinea mainland the northern Torres Strait islands have been experiencing significant numbers of illegal long-term residents fromPapua New Guinea , putting significant strain on scarce local resources such as fresh water. In November 2007 community leaders held emergency talks with Australian immigration officials with a view to having illegal residents returned toPapua New Guinea . [cite news|url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=329309|title=Illegal PNG immigrants to be deported|publisher=National Nine News |date=2008-11-28] [cite news|url=http://www.torresnews.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=683&Itemid=1|title= Minister reduced to tears|publisher=Torres News|date=2007-12-12]ee also
*
Birds of Boigu, Saibai and Dauan Islands (Torres Strait)
*Torres Strait Islands References
Singe, John. (2003). "My Island Home: A Torres Strait Memoir". University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3305-6
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