Empress Augusta Bay
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Empress Augusta Bay is a major bay on the western side of the island of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea, at 6°25′S 155°5′E / 6.417°S 155.083°ECoordinates: 6°25′S 155°5′E / 6.417°S 155.083°E. It is a major subsistence fishing area for the people of Bougainville. It is named after Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of German Emperor William II.
In November 1943, the bay was the site of the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, between Allied and Japanese forces. During the 1970s and 1980s the bay was seriously polluted by copper tailings from the world's largest copper mine, Panguna, operated by Rio Tinto Group. This issue contributed to the formation of the secessionist Bougainville Revolutionary Army and a civil war on the island between 1989 and 1997.
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