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At 2,234 sq mi (5,786 km˛) it is just outside the 100 largest islands in the world. It is also known in the aboriginal Tiwi language as Yermalner.
The first European to sight the island was Abel Tasman in 1644. In 1818 a British Naval Officer named it for Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, first lord of the Admiralty, who is also commemorated by the much larger Melville Island in the Canadian arctic. Shortly after this, the British made the first attempt to settle Australia's north coast, at the short-lived Fort Dundas .
The adjacent Bathurst Island (2,100 km˛) is named after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst (who, like Viscount Melville, is also commemorated by a Canadian island).
The two Australian islands are still occupied by the same Aboriginal groups as before the arrival of the Europeeans. They were proclaimed an Aboriginal Reserve in 19121912 is a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar) Events January 1 Establishment of Republic of China. January 6 New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U. January 17 British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four begin the, and ownership of the islands was ceded to the Tiwi Aboriginal Land Trust in 19801980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. Events January-February January 1- April 1 National steel strike in United Kingdom January 1 Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother January 5 He.
The population of Melville & Bathurst Islands ( 19961996 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty''. Events January January 5 Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone Jan) was 2,033 of whom 93.8% were Aboriginal.