Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,519 |
14 Facts About Torres Strait Islands
2.
Torres Strait Islands had joined the expedition of Pedro Fernandes de Queiros, which sailed west from Peru across the Pacific Ocean in search of Terra Australis.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,520 |
3.
British administrative control did not begin until 1862 in the Torres Strait Islands, marked by the appointment of John Jardine, police magistrate at Rockhampton, as Government Resident in the Torres Straits.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,521 |
4.
Torres Strait Islands originally established a small settlement on Albany Island, but on 1 August 1864 he settled at Somerset Island.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,522 |
5.
Torres Strait Islands made periodic tours of all the islands and was known to all the natives.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,523 |
6.
Torres Strait Islands established the system under which the hereditary native chief of each island was installed as chief magistrate, supporting the local traditional system.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,524 |
8.
In 1904, the peoples of the Torres Strait Islands were made subject to the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, which gave draconian powers to the Queensland government in placing legal restrictions on natives and on their land use.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,526 |
9.
Torres Strait itself was previously part of a land bridge known as the Arafura Plain which connected the present-day Australian continent with New Guinea .
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,527 |
10.
Many of the western Torres Strait Islands are the remaining peaks of this land bridge which were not completely submerged when the ocean levels rose.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,528 |
11.
The Torres Strait provides a habitat for numerous birds, including the Torresian imperial-pigeon, which is seen as the iconic national emblem to the islanders.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,529 |
12.
Torres Strait Creole is spoken by most Torres Strait Islanders and is a mixture of Standard Australian English and traditional indigenous languages.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,530 |
13.
Torres Strait Creole is spoken on the Australian mainland, including in the Northern Peninsula Area Region and coastal communities such as Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Brisbane.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,531 |
14.
Music of the Torres Strait is principally vocal accompanied by instruments.
| FactSnippet No. 1,256,532 |