European contact with and naming of Bougainville Island
- When
- 1768
- Where
- Main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea
The first European contact with Bougainville Island occurred in 1768, when Louis Antoine de Bougainville arrived and named the main island after himself.
The first European contact with Bougainville Island, the main island of what is now the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, took place in 1768. The French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville arrived and named the main island after himself. His name is likewise given to the strait which divides the island from Choiseul. As with the strait passage, only the year is recorded.
Sources
- Bougainville Island Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-10
- Louis Antoine de Bougainville Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-24
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.