Mabuaig (Jervis Island)
Situated just under seventy kilometres north of Thursday Island and 867 kilometres west-northwest of Cairns within the Torres Strait Region's Near Western Islands, Mabuaig (a.k.a. Jervis Island, Mabuyag and Mabuyaagi; traditionally known as Gumu) is the only inhabited island among the extensive collection of reefs and cays known as the Belle Vue (alternatively, Bellevue) Islands north of Badu and Moa. William Bligh named it Jervis Island when he passed through the Straits in 1790.
Like its larger neighbours to the south, Mabuiag is part of the submerged land bridge that connected Cape York to New Guinea before sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The island is partly covered with mounds of basaltic rocks and lightly vegetated.
The islanders fall into two moieties: the Gumuligal of Wagedagam on the island's northwest side and the Mabuygilgal people of the Paipaidagam on the southeast side. Along with their neighbours, they speak Kalaw Lagaw Ya, the traditional language of the Strait's Western and Central islands, Gœmulgaw Ya and Mabuygilgaw Ya, the specific dialects of Mabuyaagi/Mabuiag and Badhu/Badu).
In the east of the island, Mabuiag Island Airport's 450-metre runway is the shortest used for commercial services in Australia.
Missing Links:
New Guinea
