🚤 Bougainville Strait

Bougainville Strait separates Choiseul Island, part of Solomon Islands, from Bougainville Island, part of Papua New Guinea. It is not to be confused with the similarly-named Bougainville Strait to the north of Waigeo island in the Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia. The first European to pass through the strait in the Solomon Islands was Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768, whose name was given to this water pathway. Lieutenant John Shortland of the Royal Navy sailed through the strait in 1788, giving the name of Treasury Islands to the numerous islands, lying in the strait. He named the strait after himself, but it later became known as Bougainville.