Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean. Located about 1,400 kilometres east of Australia and about 1,100 kilometres north-west of New Zealand, its total land area is thirty-six square kilometres. It includes two small uninhabited islands, Philip Island and Nepean Island, which lie off its southern coast. Its capital is Kingston. A territory of Australia, its autonomy was revoked in 2015.

Settled just weeks after the First Fleet brought Europeans to Sydney, the island was used as a penal settlement intermittently from 1788 to the mid-1850s. It was then settled by Pitcairn Islanders, who were descendants of the mutineers of the HMS Bounty and their Tahitian wives. About 1,800 people live in Norfolk Island. The island's remoteness, size and lack of resources have limited its population and economic growth. Its nearest neighbour is Pitcairn Island, which has a population of about fifty people. The island's airport connects it to New Zealand and Australia and brings in tourists, which contribute to the country's economy. The country's attractions include its natural sea- and landscapes, including Emily Bay, Norfolk Island National Park and Botanic Garden and Mount Pitt, and historic sites such as Old Kingston Town and the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area, which is on the National Heritage List.

Historical Perspective

Polynesians may have reached Norfolk Island prior to European settlement, but it is unknown if they only visited the island or settled on it. The first European settlement in Norfolk Island was a penal colony established by the British government of New South Wales in 1788. It closed in 1814 and the island remained uninhabited by humans until a second British penal station for the most difficult convicts was opened in 1825. After the British government closed it in 1856, a group of nearly two hundred Pitcairn Islanders arrived and settled on the island. These settlers were the descendants of the Bountymutineers and their companions who had arrived at the nearby island of Pitcairn in 1790.

In 1844, Norfolk Island was annexed to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). After the closure of the penal station in 1856, the British Parliament passed an act severing the annexation and making Norfolk Island a distinct and separate settlement. The Norfolk Islanders governed themselves until 1896, when the island was annexed to New South Wales. Norfolk Island separated from New South Wales in 1914 and became a territory of Australia. From 1976 to 2015, it was self-governing territory of Australia. In mid-2015, the Australian Parliament passed legislation that revoked Norfolk Island's self-government and replaced it with an interim advisory council before establishing an elected regional council in 2016. This regional council was still in use in 2024.

Geography and Climate

Norfolk Island is part of the Norfolk Ridge System, a long, mostly submerged mountainous range that stretches for 1,000 kilometres between New Zealand and New Caledonia. Its volcanic top is one of only two in the range that is above sea level. (The other is Philip Island.) The land has a mean elevation of 110 metres above sea level, with Mount Bates its highest elevation at 319 metres. High cliffs hug almost all of the 32-kilometre-long coastline, with sloping land meeting the coast only in the Kingston area and a small area in the north.

Lava flow covers most of the land and is highly fertile. About one-quarter of the land is forested, consisting primarily of Norfolk Island pines. Flora includes flax plants. It has a variety of wildlife, including birds, fish, turtles, geckos and bats. Many species are unique to the island.

Norfolk Island has a subtropical climate with mild temperatures and high humidity year-round. Rainfall is greatest between May and August. Temperatures average between twenty-two and twenty-six degrees Celsius in the summer and between thirteen and eighteen degrees Celsius in the winter. Tropical cyclones sometimes affect the island between February and August.

Economy

During the territory's settlement, Norfolk Island's fertile soil attracted the Pitcairn Islanders to Norfolk Island, where the convicts had managed to eke out more agricultural crops than was possible on Pitcairn Island's barren soil. Norfolk Island, however, had only a small amount of arable land and agriculture never became a major part of Norfolk Island's economy. Most crops were grown for subsistence rather than as cash crops. Likewise, fishing and livestock grazing supported the inhabitants rather than contributing to the economy.

Traditionally, the island exported Norfolk Island pine seed and Kentia palm seeds as well as small quantities of avocado. According to the 2006 Census data, about 6 per cent of the work force was in agriculture, 14 per cent in industry and 80 per cent in services. Tourism made up the bulk of the services industry, with the majority of the work force employed in hotels, restaurants and other tourist-related occupations. Following the global recession of 2008, tourism declined, dropping from a high of about 35,000 annual visitors in mid-2008 to about 20,000 by 2013. However, this number had risen to 32,232 by 2023. This improved economic conditions, which were poor during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Demographics

Norfolk Island's resident population was 2,188 in the 2021 Census. In the 2021 Census, Norfolk Island had a generally older population, with 7.7 per cent of the resident population aged sixty-five years and older. About 16 per cent of the population was younger than fifteen years of age. The median age for residents was fifty years.

The majority of residents were Australian citizens while 15.9 percent were citizens of Norfolk Island and 14.7 were citizens of New Zealand. About 6 per cent were citizens of other countries. About 25 per cent of the residents were descendants of the Pitcairn Islanders who settled on the island in the mid-1850s after Norfolk Island's penal settlement was closed.

The official language of Norfolk Island is English. In addition to speaking English, about 30 per cent of the residents spoke Norfolk Island language, also spelled Norfuk or Norf'k, a mixture of Tahitian and eighteenth-century English. The language evolved from the creole spoken by the settlers from Pitcairn Island.

A small number of Norfolk Islanders study abroad, but most do not receive a university education. Secondary school was the highest level of education attained for about 14.6 per cent of the population, according to the 2021 Census; about 15.7 per cent of the resident population had attained a university degree and 19.7 per cent had attained a trade certificate.

Bibliography

"Annual Economic Update Strategy and Outlook Report." Norfolk Island Regional Council, 2024, www.nirc.gov.au/annual-economic-update-strategy-outlook-report. Accessed 17 June 2024.

Causer, Tim. "A Tiny Fist of Volcanic Rock." Carceral Archipelago Project,U of Leicester, 2016, convictvoyages.org/expert-essays/norfolk-island. Accessed 17 June 2024.

Davey, Melissa. "'We're Not Australian': Norfolk Islanders Adjust to Shock of Takeover by Mainland." Guardian, 21 May 2015, www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/may/21/were-not-australian-norfolk-islanders-adjust-to-shock-of-takeover-by-mainland. Accessed 17 June 2024.

Hoare, Merval. Norfolk Island: A Revised and Enlarged History 1774–1998. U of Queensland P, 1999.

"National Heritage Places—Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area." Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Government, www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/kavha. Accessed 17 June 2024.

Norfolk Island: The Website. Norfolk Island's Society of Pitcairn Descendants, www.pitcairners.org. Accessed 17 June 2024

"Norfolk Island National Park [and Norfolk Island]." Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Government, www.environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/norfolk-island-national-park. Accessed 17 June 2024.