Papua New GuineaLihir GroupVolcanic island
Lihir Island
201 km² rising to 700 m out of the Pacific Ocean.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
201km²
Area
84km
Coastline
700m
Highest point
18,000
People
30°C
Warmest sea
November
1,380km
To the mainland
When to go to Lihir Island
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in November (30 °C) and coolest in August (29 °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 in Papua New Guinea
Lihir Island is an volcanic island in Papua New Guinea. It belongs to Lihir Group. It covers 201 km², with 84 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 700 m. About 18,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,380 km away.
Getting there
- Tokua Airport (RAB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 133 km in a straight line
- 1,380 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 Lihir Island.
- 40beaches
- 1marinasLihir Marina
- 1waymarked walking routes
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 172 m above the sea. 65 % of it is below 200 m.
- 22 %0–50 m
- 44 %50–200 m
- 31 %200–500 m
- 4 %500–1,000 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.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Londolovit1,644 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 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 260 | 238 | 250 | 232 | 214 | 247 | 307 | 242 | 218 | 186 | 203 | 210 |
| Wet days | 27 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Sun h/day | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 6.5 |
| Wind (km/h) | 16 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 13 |
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 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.6 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.2 | ±0.0 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.1 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.3 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.2 | −0.2 | −0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.6 |
| 2025 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1405205) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| 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 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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