Boigu Island (9°16′S 142°13′E) is the most northerly inhabited island in Australian territory. It is part of the top-western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York Peninsula from the island of New Guinea. The mainland of Papua New Guinea is only 6 km away from Boigu. The Torres Strait Islands are a group of islands, numbering more than 100, which lie in Torres Strait, the waterway separating Cape York, Queensland, Australia from Papua New Guinea. ... The Torres Strait - Cape York Peninsula is at the top; several of the Torres Strait Islands can be seen strung out towards Papua New Guinea (North is downwards in this image) The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. ... This article is about the peninsula located in the Australian state of Queensland; it should not be confused with either Yorke Peninsula, in South Australia, or Cape York, Greenland. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ...

Geography

Boigu is approximately 18 km long, and low-lying. It was formed by the accumulation of alluvial sediments deposited by the discharge of nearby New Guinean rivers into the Strait. These sediments built up over time on an old coral platform which rises from the shallow continental shelf, eventually creating the island. Alluvium is soil land deposited by a river or other running water. ... Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of water or other liquid. ... Orders Scleractinia Corals are gastrovascular marine cnidarians (phylum Cnidaria; class Anthozoa) existing as small sea anemone-like polyps, typically forming colonies of many individuals. ... The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) and gulfs. ...

Most of the island is subject to extensive periodic flooding, and as a result the community township has been built on the highest ground.

Two nearby smaller islands (not permanently settled) are considered as a part of Boigu island, these are Aubisi Island and Moimi Island.

Ecology

The island is considered part of the New Guinea mangroves ecoregion, a subset of the Australasia ecozone. An ecoregion is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ... The Australasian ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (including Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua), and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands (the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku) and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba...

The interior of the island is sparsely vegetated, and mainly swampland. The coast is fringed by mangroves, which act to protect against the island's sand and mud from sea erosion. A freshwater swamp A swamp is a wetland that features permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water, generally with a substantial number of hummocks, or dry-land protrusions. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal Mangrove are woody trees or shrubs that grow in coastal habitats or mangal (Hogarth, 1999), for which the term mangrove swamp also would apply. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and other particles) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case of bioerosion). ...

The waters surrounding the island are an important habitat for dugongs, an endangered species of sea mammal. Habitat (from the Latin for it inhabits) is the place where a particular species lives and grows. ... Binomial name Dugong dugon (Müller, 1776) Dugongs (Dugong dugon) are the smallest members of the order Sirenia (which also includes the manatees ). Adults are generally less than 3 meters long. ... The American bison there are as few as 750 in 1890 due to extreme overhunting. ... Families Dugongidae Trichechidae Hydrochichus (extinct) For information about the Gothic metal band, see Sirenia (band) The Sirenia are fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries and coastal marine waters. ...

Population

Boigu is predominantly inhabited by indigenous Torres Strait Islanders. According to 2004 Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) figures, its resident population is approximately 340 people. The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition. ... Torres Strait Islander Flag Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. ...