Rabaul (pop. 4,960) is a town in Papua New Guinea. It lies on Simpson Harbour, at the northern end of the island of New Britain. Active volcanoes surround Rabaul. Mount Kombiu, the largest, rises more than 2,000 feet (610 meters) above sea level. From 1910 to 1942, before Papua New Guinea became an independent nation, Rabaul served as a territorial capital.
In 1937, two volcanoes erupted and destroyed much of Rabaul and its port. During World War II (1939-1945), the Japanese Army occupied the town, and Allied forces bombed it many times. Rabaul was rebuilt after the war and thrived as the capital of East New Britain District (later East New Britain Province). It served as the main port for copra and cocoa exports from the Bismarck Archipelago and as a center for tourism. In 1994, another volcanic eruption destroyed Rabaul, and the capital was shifted to nearby Kokopo.
