East New Britain Province


East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 1994. East New Britain covers a total land area of, and the province's population was reported as 220,133 in the 2000 census, rising to 328,369 in the 2011 count. Provincial coastal waters extend over an area of. The province's only land border is with West New Britain Province to the west, and it also shares a maritime border with New Ireland Province to the east.
East New Britain has a dual economy: a cash economy operates side by side with the subsistence-farming sector. The main crops produced for export are cocoa and copra. Tourism continues to be an increasingly important sector of the provincial economy.

Languages

There are sixteen Austronesian languages spoken in the province, of which Kuanua, spoken by the Tolai on the Gazelle Peninsula is the most widely spoken. Papuan languages are also spoken in the province, including the Baining, Taulil, Ata, Kol, Makolkol, and Sulka languages.

Districts and LLGs

Each province in Papua New Guinea has one or more districts, and each district has one or more Local Level Government areas. For census purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units.
DistrictDistrict CapitalLLG Name
Gazelle DistrictKerevatCentral Gazelle Rural
Gazelle DistrictKerevatInland Baining Rural
Gazelle DistrictKerevatLassul Baining Rural
Gazelle DistrictKerevatLivuan-Reimber Rural
Gazelle DistrictKerevatToma-Vunadidir Rural
Kokopo DistrictKokopoBitapaka Rural
Kokopo DistrictKokopoDuke of York Rural
Kokopo DistrictKokopoKokopo-Vunamami Urban
Kokopo DistrictKokopoRaluana Rural
Pomio DistrictPomioCentral-Inland Pomio Rural
Pomio DistrictPomioEast Pomio Rural
Pomio DistrictPomioMelkoi Rural
Pomio DistrictPomioSinivit Rural
Pomio DistrictPomioWest Pomio-Mamusi Rural
Rabaul DistrictRabaulBalanataman Rural
Rabaul DistrictRabaulKombiu Rural
Rabaul DistrictRabaulRabaul Urban
Rabaul DistrictRabaulWatom Island Rural

Provincial leaders

The province was governed by a decentralised provincial administration, headed by a Premier, from 1977 to 1995. Following reforms taking effect that year, the national government reassumed some powers, and the role of Premier was replaced by a position of Governor, to be held by the winner of the province-wide seat in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.

Premiers (1978–1995)

PremierTerm
Koniel Alar1977–1978
Ereman Tobaining Sr.1978–1980
Jacob Timele1980–1981
Ronald ToVue1981–1989
Sinai Brown1989–1995

Governors (1995–present)

PremierTerm
Francis Koimanrea 1995–2000
Leo Dion2000–2012
Ereman Tobaining Jr.2012–2017
Nakikus Konga2017–present

Members of the National Parliament

The province and each district is represented by a Member of the National Parliament. There is one provincial electorate and each district is an open electorate.
ElectorateName
East New Britain ProvincialNakikus Konga
Gazelle OpenJelta Wong
Kokopo OpenEmil Tammur
Pomio OpenElias Kapavore
Rabaul OpenAllan Marat