Bismarck Archipelago

Bismarck Archipelago, group of mountainous islands in the Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea, comprising New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and many smaller islands. During World War II the Japanese captured the islands and made the area their center of defense in the southwest Pacific. After the war the islands were handed back to Australia and are currently administered from New Guinea. Most of them are covered with jungle vegetation and some have active volcanoes.