Ramu
Part of the Ramu from the air
Country	Papua New Guinea
Region	Madang Province
Length	640 km (400 mi) approx.
Source
- location	Kratke Range, Papua New Guinea
Mouth
- location	Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- coordinates	4°1′S 144°40′E / -4.017, 144.667
Location of the Ramu River

The Ramu is a river in northern Papua New Guinea. The headwaters of the river are formed in the Kratke Range from where it then travels approximately 640 km (398 mi) north-west to the Bismarck Sea. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (900 × 599 pixel, file size: 244 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Location of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea Madang has many of Papua New Guineas highest peaks, its most active volcanos, and its biggest mix of languages (175). ... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... “Miles” redirects here. ... Kratke Range is a mountain range in Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea, at about . ... The Bismarck Sea lies to the north of the island of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 717 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1164 × 974 pixel, file size: 37 KB, MIME type: image/png) Ramu river in Papua New Guinea File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Ramu can mean the following: the Ramu river - a major river in Papua New Guinea Ramu Sugar - national sugar maker of Papua New Guinea Sepik-Ramu languages - a proposed language family Ramu-Lower Sepik languages - a language family Category: ... For other uses, see River (disambiguation). ... Kratke Range is a mountain range in Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea, at about . ... The Bismarck Sea lies to the north of the island of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. ...

Along the Ramu's course it receives numerous tributaries from the Bismarck Range to the south and the Finisterre and Adelbert Ranges from the north. During the wet season the Ramu and Sepik Rivers join across the flood plain. The Bismarck Range is a mountain range in the central highlands of northeastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. ... Finisterre Range is a mountain range in northeastern Papua New Guinea, stretching to the Huon Peninsula, at . ... The Adelbert Range Trek is a moderate to hard walk commencing from a point west of Malolo Plantation Lodge in Papua New Guinea. ... Location of the Sepik River The Sepik River is the longest river in Papua New Guinea (although the Fly River also claims to be the longest). ...

History

Local villagers have lived along the river for many millennia and the river has formed the basis for food, transport and culture.

German exploration

The area encompassed by the Ramu was part of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland when Germany established German New Guinea in 1884. The Germans were quick to explore their territory and the mouth of the Ramu was discovered in 1886 by Vice-Admiral Freiherr von Schleinitz after returning to Finschhafen from an expedition to the near-by Sepik.^[1] Schleinitz called the Ramu, Ottilien after his ship the Ottilie.^[1] Kaiser-Wilhelmsland was the north-eastern part of New Guinea. ... German New Guinea (Ger. ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Finschhafen is a district on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. ... Sepik may refer to places in Papua New Guinea: East Sepik Sandaun, formerly known as West Sepik Sepik River Category: ...

Ramu villagers investigating a camera during an Australian expedition in the 1930s

The course of the river was first discovered ten years later in 1896 after Dr Carl Lauterbach, a botantist, led an expedition organised by the Neu Guinea Kompagnie to find the headwaters of the Markham River.^[2] After crossing the Ortzen Mountains from Astrolabe Bay south of Madang, Lauterbach's party instead of finding the Markham found an unknown river flowing north-west. The party canoed along a section before their supplies dwindled they returned to the coast retracing their route.^[2] Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... The German New Guinea Company (German: Deutsche Neuguinea-Kompagnie) was a German Chartered Company which exploited insular territory in and near present Papua New Guinea. ... Location of the Markham River The Markham River is a river in eastern Papua New Guinea, it originates in the Finisterre Range and flows for 180 km to the Huon Gulf. ... Astrolabe Bay seen from space Astrolabe Bay is a large body of water off the northern coast of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, located at . ... Madang Lighthouse Madang (old German name: Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen) is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. ...

Another German explorer Ernst Tappenbeck, who had accompanied Lauterbach previously, led the first expedition to ascend the Ramu in 1898. Tappenbeck was charged with discovering whether the Ottilien found in 1886 was the same river Lauterbech had found. He was accompanied by former Prussian Army officers, a Kompagnie official and an Australian Gold prospector Robert Phillip and travelled in the Neu Guinea Kompagnie steamer Herzog Johann Albrecht.^[3] Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

After five days of journey up the Ramu, Tappenbeck left his companions at a well stocked camp when river water levels fell. He returned four and half months later in another steamer Herzogin Elisabeth and the party managed to navigate 190 mi (310 km) upstream and go farther still by canoe.^[3] By the end of 1898 the expedition had established a station on the river, mapped it and tributaries and made a large botanical collection.^[3]

Further explorations for gold and botanical specimens were conducted by the Germans. In 1902 by Hans Klink and J. Schlenzig established a new Ramu station that was later connected by a bridle track to the coast.^[4] Dr R. Schlecter led another expedition in 1902 in search of gutta-percha trees.^[4] Then in 1907 an Austrian explorer Wilhelm Dammköhler led an expedition up the Markham Valley and linked the headwaters of the Markham River with the Ramu for the first time.^[4] Species About 100-120 species, including: Palaquium amboinense Palaquium barnesii Palaquium bataanense Palaquium beccarianum Palaquium borneense Palaquium burckii Palaquium clarkeanum Palaquium cochleariifolium Palaquium dasyphyllum Palaquium ellipticum Palaquium formosanum Palaquium galactoxylum Palaquium gutta Palaquium herveyi Palaquium hexandrum Palaquium hispidum Palaquium hornei Palaquium impressinervium Palaquium kinabaluense Palaquium lanceolatum Palaquium leiocarpum Palaquium lobbianum... I spent two years in New Guinea, as a volunteer worker for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. ...

Australian administration and Second World War

After the First World War, German New Guinea passed over to Australian control and became the Territory of New Guinea. The Ramu reverted to its local name during this time. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Territory of New Guinea was the name given to the Australia-controlled, League of Nations-mandated territory in the north eastern part of the island of New Guinea, and surrounding islands, between 1920 and 1949. ...

In 1936 Briton, Lord Moyne, ventured up the Ramu river during an expedition to Indonesia and New Guinea. Moyne discovered a race of pygmy like people inhabiting the middle Ramu region 170 mi (270 km) from the mouth of the river in the Aiome foothills.^[5] 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Languages Cornish, Dgèrnésiais, English, French, Irish, Jèrriais, Manx, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Llanito Religions Anglican, Presbyterianism, Roman Catholicism - Related ethnic groups British-Americans, Anglo-Celtic Australian, Anglo-African, Belongers, English Canadians, Channel Islanders, Cornish, English, Anglo-Irish, Ulster-Scots, Irish, Manx, New Zealand European, Scottish, Welsh British... Lord Moyne Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944) was a British politician and businessman. ... Baka dancers in the East Province of Cameroon Batwa dancers in Uganda This article is about the Pygmy people. ...

During the Second World War in 1942 the Japanese annexed the entire Territory of New Guinea from the Australians. Intense fighting occurred between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Australian and US Armies to recapture New Guinea. During the Finisterre Range campaign in 1943 and 1944 the Ramu valley became the scene of a major battle. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) (Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國陸軍, Shinjitai: , Romaji: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun) was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... The Finisterre Range campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Australian and United States forces assaulted Japanese positions in the Finisterre Range of New Guinea. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Notes and references

• Souter, Gavin (1963). New Guinea: The Last Unknown. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0207946272. 

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

Image gallery

The last 300 or so kilometres of the Ramu as it winds towards the Bismarck Image File history File links Size of this preview: 172 × 597 pixelsFull resolution (199 × 691 pixel, file size: 222 KB, MIME type: image/png)NASA World Wind image of the Ramu File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...

Ramu and Sepik sediment plumes Image File history File links Size of this preview: 661 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (718 × 651 pixel, file size: 746 KB, MIME type: image/png)NASA World Wind image of the Sepik and Ramu File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Sepik may refer to places in Papua New Guinea: East Sepik Sandaun, formerly known as West Sepik Sepik River Category: ...

v • d • e Major rivers of Papua New Guinea
Sepik | Fly | Strickland | Ramu | Kikori | Purari | Markham