Island group (pop., 2000 est.: 41,748), Papua New Guinea.
An extension of the Bismarck Archipelago comprising about 40 islands, the Admiralty Islands lie about 190 mi (300 km) north of the mainland of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. Most of the land area of the islands is contained in Manus Island, which is the site of Lorengau, the islands' principal settlement. First sighted by the Dutch explorer Willem Schouten in 1616, it was named by the British captain Philip Carteret in 1767. Subsequently ruled by the Germans, Australians, and Japanese, the islands were made part of the UN Trust Territory of New Guinea in 1946. When Papua New Guinea attained independence in 1975, the islands became part of that country.