Prehistory Bougainville has been inhabited by humans for at least 29,000 years, according to evidence obtained from
Kilu Cave on Buka Island. Until about 10,000 years ago, during the
Last Glacial Maximum, there was a single island referred to as "Greater Bougainville" that spanned from the northern tip of Buka Island to the
Nggela Islands north of
Guadalcanal. The first inhabitants of Bougainville were
Australo-Melanesians who presumably arrived from the
Bismarck Archipelago. Around 3000 years ago,
Austronesian peoples brought the
Lapita culture to the islands, introducing pottery, agriculture, and domesticated animals such as pigs, dogs, and chickens. Both Austronesian and
non-Austronesian languages are spoken on the islands to this day, however, there has been significant mixing between the populations to the point that cultural and genetic differences are no longer correlated with language.
Colonial history , Bougainville, following their capture of German New Guinea in 1914 The first Europeans to sight present-day Bougainville were the Dutch explorers
Willem Schouten and
Jacob Le Maire, who glimpsed
Takuu Atoll and
Nissan Island in 1616. British naval officer
Philip Carteret saw
Buka Island in 1767 and also visited
the islands that were later named in his honour. In 1768, French admiral
Louis Antoine de Bougainville sailed along the east coast of the island that now bears his name.
German administration The
German Empire, which had already begun operations in New Guinea, annexed present-day Bougainville in 1886, after agreeing with the United Kingdom to divide the
Solomon Islands archipelago between them. A German protectorate over the northern islands was established later that year, but the
British Solomon Islands Protectorate was not established until 1893. The initial boundary between the two territories was much more southerly, with
Choiseul Island,
Santa Isabel Island,
Ontong Java, the
Shortland Islands, and part of the
Florida Islands included in the German section. The current boundary between PNG and Solomon Islands is derived from the
Tripartite Convention of 1899, which saw those islands ceded to the United Kingdom. The
German Solomon Islands were administered through
German New Guinea, although it took almost two decades for an administrative presence to be established. The German administrative station at
Kieta, established in 1905, was preceded by a
Marist mission, which succeeded in converting a majority of the islanders to Catholicism. The first fully commercial plantation was established in 1908, but German annexation had little economic impact.
Australian administration The
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force occupied Bougainville in December 1914, as part of the
Australian occupation of German New Guinea. The 1919
Treaty of Versailles established the former colony as a
League of Nations mandate, administered by Australia as the
Territory of New Guinea. A civilian administration was established in 1920, after which German nationals were deported and their property expropriated. A number of
punitive expeditions took place during both the German and Australian administrations, as part of "pacification" programs. The colonial period saw significant changes in the culture of the islanders. s from the
42nd Bombardment Group over the Selay Peninsula of Bougainville, 1944 In 1942, Bougainville
was invaded by the Japanese in order to provide a support base for the operations elsewhere in the South-West Pacific. The
Allied counter-invasion resulted in heavy casualties, beginning in 1943, with full control of the islands not re-established until 1945. After the war the Australian government incorporated Bougainville and the rest of the mandate into the
Territory of Papua and New Guinea, the immediate predecessor of present-day Papua New Guinea.
Modern history Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. As Bougainville is rich in
copper and
gold, a large mine had been established at
Panguna in the early 1970s by
Bougainville Copper Limited, a subsidiary of
Rio Tinto. Disputes by regional residents with the company over adverse environmental impacts, failure to share financial benefits, and negative social changes brought by the mine resulted in a local revival for a
secessionist movement that had been dormant. Activists proclaimed the independence of Bougainville (
Republic of North Solomons) in 1975 and in 1990, but both times central government forces suppressed the democratic independence movement.
Civil war In 1988, the
Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) increased their activity significantly. Prime Minister Sir
Rabbie Namaliu ordered the
Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) to put down the rebellion, and the conflict escalated into
a civil war. The PNGDF retreated from permanent positions on Bougainville in 1990 but continued military action. The conflict involved pro-independence and loyalist Bougainvillean groups as well as the PNGDF. The war claimed an estimated to lives. In 1996, Prime Minister Sir
Julius Chan made the controversial move to hire
Sandline International, a
private military company previously involved in supplying
mercenaries in the civil war in
Sierra Leone, to put down the rebellion.
Peace agreement and autonomy The Bougainville conflict ended in 1997 after negotiations brokered by
New Zealand. In 2000, A peace agreement was completed and, together with
disarmament, provided for the establishment of an
Autonomous Bougainville Government. The parties agreed to have a referendum in the future on whether the island should become politically independent. On 25 July 2005, rebel leader
Francis Ona died after a short illness. A former surveyor with
Bougainville Copper, Ona was a key figure in the secessionist conflict and had refused to formally join the island's peace process. In 2015, Australia announced it would establish a diplomatic post in Bougainville for the first time. In 2016, it cancelled those plans acknowledging that it had not obtained the
PNG government's approval.
Independence referendum In 2019, a non-binding
independence referendum was held with 98.3% voting for independence rather than continued autonomy within Papua New Guinea. As a result, the regional authorities intend to become independent between 2025 and 2027. A draft constitution for a "Republic of Bougainville" was published by the Autonomous Bougainville Government in May 2024. In March 2025, the Bougainville Independence Leaders Consultation Forum recommended 1 September 2027 as the date of independence. Prime Minister
James Marape cautioned that Bougainville's economy is not sustainable enough for independence. == Geography ==