Portal:Islands

Australian soldiers with a Japanese flag captured during the fighting at Goodenough Island

The Battle of Goodenough Island (22–27 October 1942), also known as Operation Drake, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. The Allies landed on Goodenough Island, Papua, and clashed with a Japanese Kaigun Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Force). The Japanese troops had been stranded on the island during the Battle of Milne Bay in late August 1942. "Drake Force", consisting of the Australian 2/12th Battalion and attachments, landed on the southern tip of Goodenough Island at Mud Bay and Taleba Bay on 22 October, tasked with denying the Japanese use of the island prior to the Buna campaign. Following a short but intense fight, the Japanese forces withdrew to Fergusson Island on 27 October. After the battle, Goodenough Island was developed into a major Allied base for operations later in the war. (Full article...)

Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that comprise Filipino cuisine are from the food traditions of various ethnolinguistic groups and tribes of the archipelago, including the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan, Chavacano, and Maranao ethnolinguistic groups. The dishes associated with these groups evolved over the centuries from a largely indigenous (largely Austronesian) base shared with maritime Southeast Asia with varied influences from Chinese, Spanish, and American cuisines, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched the cultures of the archipelago, and adapted using indigenous ingredients to meet local preferences.

Dishes range from the very simple meal of fried salted fish and rice to curries, paellas, and cozidos of Iberian origin made for fiestas. Popular dishes include lechón (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (vinegar and soy sauce-based stew), kaldereta (meat stewed in tomato sauce and liver paste), mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), pochero (beef and bananas in tomato sauce), afritada (chicken or beef and vegetables simmered in tomato sauce), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, beans, okra, bitter melon, and tomato stew flavored with shrimp paste), sinigang (meat or seafood with vegetables in sour broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls). (Full article...)

• ... that the Australian government tried to censor a film of Quail Island's starving koalas?
• ... that the ancient Hawaiian village known as the Kāneiolouma Complex is across the street from a popular beach on the island of Kauaʻi?
• ... that Tropical Storm Hermine in September 2022 produced record-breaking rainfall in the Canary Islands amounting to more than 20 times the monthly average?
• ... that Leskov Island is probably inaccessible for penguins?
• ... that Pituamkek National Park Reserve, Canada's newest national park, protects a chain of barrier islands that have been used for fishing and hunting by the Mi'kmaq for 4,000 years?
• ... that São Tomé and Príncipe was popularly known as the Chocolate Islands in the early 1900s, when it was the world's top exporter of cocoa?