Papua New GuineaIsland

Bougainville Island

9,318 km² rising to 2,715 m out of the Solomon Sea.

ArawaPanguna

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

9,318km²

Area

540km

Coastline

measured on a simplified outline

2,715m

Highest point

Mount Balbi

234,280

People

30°C

Warmest sea

January

1,365km

To the mainland

When to go to Bougainville Island

Best for the beach from January to May.

The sea is warmest in January (30 °C) and coolest in August (29 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

30°29°27°

Jan26

30°29°26°

Feb26

30°28°26°

Mar28

30°28°26°

Apr27

30°28°26°

May28

29°28°26°

Jun28

29°28°26°

Jul29

29°28°26°

Aug28

29°28°26°

Sep26

29°28°26°

Oct27

30°29°26°

Nov24

30°29°27°

Dec25

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

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 in Papua New Guinea

Bougainville Island is an island in Papua New Guinea. It covers 9,318 km², with 540 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Balbi, rises to 2,715 m. About 234,280 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,365 km away.

Getting there

Buka Airport (BUA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 121 km in a straight line
1,365 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

Car hire in Papua New GuineaDiscover CarsSee

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On the island

What you find on Bougainville Island.

70beaches
9viewpointsNamatoa Village Valley Viewpoint, PADI au Viewpoint and 7 more
18named peaksSarau, Viasito, Dopinpoi and 15 more
10volcanoesBalbi, Takuan, Taruka and 7 more
8waterfallsTogerau Waterfall, Kosinau Kuareema Waterfall and 6 more
8ruins and archaeological sitesHangars Of World War II and 7 more
5campsitesCamp 0, Camp 3, Camp 2 and 2 more
14hotels, guesthouses and apartments
4restaurants, 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

Bougainville Island in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Bougainville Island, each with its own numbers.

1beachCoastya
28mountainsPeakyas
2lakesLakeyas

Highest point
2,715m
Mount Balbi
prominence 2,715 m · according to Peakyas
Largest lake
5.6km²
Lahala Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
28.8°C
Lahala Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.9°C
Palmers Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

1 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

Palmers Covecove29.9°C

Open Coastya ↗

28 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

Mount Balbiprominence 2,715 m2,715m
Takuan Group2,210m
Loloru1,887m
Bagana1,750m
Billy Mitchell1,544m
Tore
Erhard Mountains
Mount Taroka

20 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

2 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

Lahala Lake5.6km²
Lake Loloru0.97km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 398 m above the sea. 48 % of it is below 200 m.

27 %0–50 m
21 %50–200 m
21 %200–500 m
19 %500–1,000 m
11 %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.

Bougainville Island9,318 km²

Jamaica11,068 km²

Cyprus9,282 km²

100 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

Arawa40,266 people
Kieta3,611 people
Panguna2,916 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon high (°C)	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	29	29
Night low (°C)	27	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	27
Sea (°C)	30	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	30	30
Rain (mm)	258	268	261	272	318	390	394	348	280	294	242	221
Wet days	26	26	28	27	28	28	29	28	26	27	24	25
Sun h/day	5.9	5.5	5.9	6.1	6.0	5.5	5.0	5.3	5.8	6.3	6.4	6.3
Wind (km/h)	12	14	13	11	12	14	17	17	16	13	11	11

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	+0.7	+0.2	+0.6	+1.0	+1.1	+1.0	+0.9	+0.9	+0.5	+0.4
2021	+0.6	+0.4	+0.4	+0.3	−0.1	+0.3	+0.4	+0.9	+0.9	+0.9	+0.5	+0.3
2022	±0.0	+0.2	+0.7	+0.6	+0.7	+0.8	+0.6	+1.2	+1.0	+0.7	+0.5	+0.4
2023	+0.3	+0.5	+0.4	+0.5	+0.7	+0.4	+0.5	+0.1	−0.1	−0.2	−0.1	−0.1
2024	+0.3	−0.1	+0.5	+0.8	+0.8	+1.0	+1.1	+1.0	+0.5	+0.7	+0.8	+0.6
2025	+1.1	+1.1	+0.9	+0.3	+0.7	+0.6	+0.9	+1.3	+1.2	+0.9	+0.6	+0.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

White Island, Bougainville — Jeremy Weate · CC BY 2.0

Arm bands, Bougainville - Otago Museum - Dunedin, NZ - DSC04405 — Daderot · Public domain

Dr. Damien Hasola works in Orthopaedics at Buka Hospital - Bougainville (26042771554) — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade · CC BY 2.0

Mother Beverlyne Korinai with her - Bougainville (26648698675) — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade · CC BY 2.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Shortland Island

Solomon Islands213 km²186 m97 km away

Buka Island

Papua New Guinea616 km²458 m138 km away

Choiseul Island

Solomon Islands3,119 km²891 m194 km away

Vella Lavella

Solomon Islands651 km²808 m215 km away

Kolombangara

Solomon Islands690 km²1,768 m267 km away

New Georgia

Solomon Islands2,064 km²860 m323 km away

Vangunu

Solomon Islands515 km²1,056 m392 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q201766) · 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, Peakyas, 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

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit

canyons

Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit