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Yule island road
Yule Island is a small island in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. It lies 160 km from Port Moresby.
Contents
Map of Yule Island, Papua New Guinea
History
Yule Island was probably named after Charles Bampfield Yule, a Royal Navy officer who surveyed the area from 1842-1845. It was one of the first areas in Central Province to have contact with Europeans. Catholic missionaries settled there in 1885 and are still present. The mission was successfully led from 1900 to 1945 by Bishop Alain Marie de Boismenu.
With the European missionaries came catechists from the Philippines, some of which married into the local population. Today, many inhabitants of Yule Island have distinct Filipino features.
The visit of Australian poet James McAuley to the mission at Yule Island in 1949 made a profound spiritual impression on him and contributed to his conversion to Catholicism.
Fauna
Yule Island is surrounded by coral reefs.
Several spider species are endemic to this island, including:
The Early Pliocene Echinodermata fauna is rich and diverse, with 19 species known to occur in the Kairuku Formation. Nearly half of these species are also represented in northern Australia stocks, with the northern Great Barrier Reef only 600 km away.