The Territory of Norfolk Island comprises Norfolk and nearby Philip and Nepean Islands, and covers a land area of 37 sq km. It is located some 1700 kilometres north east of Sydney. Norfolk Island is a mountain top remnant of an elongated shield volcano.
The population totals about 2,000. Descendants of the original HMS Bounty mutineers from Pitcairn Island make up about 48 percent of the population. Kingston is the chief settlement and main port and is a popular tourist destination for Australians and New Zealanders. Grain, vegetables, fruit, and flowers are produced on the island.
Within the first twenty six years of settlement, forty percent of the islands natural vegetation was cleared and today only five percent remains. The Norfolk pine, which has become the island's symbol, is the dominant tree species and may reach heights of over sixty metres.
History
Norfolk Island is one of Australia's oldest territories, with a history of European occupation as old of that mainland Australia. The Island was uninhabited when discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. The Island was first occupied and settled by the British in 1788 by a party from the settlement at Sydney, then itself only 5 weeks old. Norfolk's first settlement lasted until 1814, when the community was resettled in Van Diemen’s Land. Norfolk was reoccupied by the British and used as a penal station from 1825 till 1855.
Norfolk Island was part of New South Wales till 1844 and then part of Tasmania till 1856. At this time, the British Government agreed to relocate 193 descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers from Pitcairn Island to Norfolk Island. As a result, Norfolk Island was severed from Tasmania and established as a separate settlement. From then Norfolk Island became the responsibility of the Governor of NSW, acting as agent of British colonial authorities in London.
In 1914, by a combination of the Australian Parliament's passage of the Norfolk Island Act 1913 and an Order in Council signed by King George V, Norfolk Island became an Australian Territory under the authority of the Australian Commonwealth. From 1914 until 1979, the local affairs of the Island were governed by an Administrator appointed by the Federal Government, supported by a locally appointed or elected advisory council.
In 1979, the Federal Government granted a significant degree of self-government to the Island's 2000 residents. In a referendum held in August 2002, a majority of residents opposed the introduction of mobile telephones on Norfolk Island and decided to instead establish an optic fibre backbone, a wide internet network and to upgrade the customer access network.
Figure 50 - Norfolk Island
Figure 51 - Norfolk Island Map
Figure 52 - Elephant Rock and ubiquitous Norfolk Island Pine
