Removed reference to "first settled" by Germans, as indigenous populations have settlement history on that land for hundreds if not thousands of years prior.
'''Madang''' (old [[German language|German]] name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'')<ref>{{cite book|title=The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1974), Micropædia Vol. 6 |page=467|edition=15th }}</ref> is the capital of [[Madang Province]] and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of [[Papua New Guinea]]. It was first settled by the [[Germany|Germans]] in the 19th century.
== History ==
[[Russia]]n [[biologist]] [[Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai]] was probably the first European to visit the area. In 1871 he stayed at [[Astrolabe Bay]] south of present-day Madang for 15 months. He had a good relationship with the local communities before leaving, suffering from [[malaria]].
In April 1884 an expedition by the [[German New Guinea Company]] led by [[Otto Finsch]] and [[Eduard Dallmann]] arrived and named the landing point "Friedrich Wilhelmshafen"; however, they felt that the area was unsuitable for a settlement. A subsequent survey in 1888 mentioned good soil conditions that would make a coffee plantation possible. In the summer of 1891 a station was built and by September 1892 was the seat of the provincial administration; however, the Imperial Government Commissioner remained at Stephansort, some 23 kilometers away due to concerns about malaria. The name of "Madang" was used by Papuan natives who had accompanied the German administrators after their home island and only became the official name of the settlement towards the end of the German administration. Although the settlement was expanded from 1893-1894 with warehouses, a sawmill, hospital and other facilities, (including an ox-drawn railway to Stephansort) various ventures, such as the coffee plantations and [[Nypa fruticans|atap palm]] processing proved economically ruinous, due to malaria and inclement climate. From 1895 and 1896 several German warships were stationed here for a survey of surrounding waters, during which time a total of 295 men came down with malaria. In 1899 the capital of the New Guinea Company was transferred to [[Kokopo|Herbertshöhe]] on the island of New Pomerania (now [[New Britain]]).
Following [[World War I]], the area was turned over to [[Australia]] as part of the [[League of Nations]] mandated [[Territory of New Guinea]].
