GOODENOUGH ISLAND

formerly Morata, one of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands (q.v.), 20 miles (32 km) across Ward Hunt Strait from the eastern tip of New Guinea, in the Solomon Sea, southwestern Pacific. A part of Papua New Guinea, it lies northwest of Fergusson Island across Moresby Strait. The forested volcanic island, measuring 20 by 15 miles, rises to more than 8,000 feet (2,400 m) in its central mountain range. This range is bordered by a cultivated plain producing copra, yams, and kapok. The island was visited in 1873 by Captain John Moresby, who named it after Commodore James Graham Goodenough. Occupied by Japanese troops for several months in 1942, the island was captured by Allied forces, who built Vivigani airstrip (open to commercial service since 1963). Goodenough was once the site of important alluvial gold mining. Pop. (1980 prelim.) 12,676.