Question 1

True or false: All of the Torres Strait Islands are uninhabited.

Accepted Answer

False. Many Torres Strait Islands have permanent communities, with over 4,000 people living on islands like Thursday Island and Horn Island.

Question 2

True or false: Torres Strait separates the island of New Guinea from the Australian mainland.

Accepted Answer

True. Torres Strait lies between the northern tip of Queensland, Australia, and the southern coast of Papua New Guinea.

Question 3

True or false: Torres Strait was named after the Spanish explorer Luis Váez de Torres.

Accepted Answer

True. Luis Váez de Torres, a Spanish navigator, sailed through the strait in 1606, and it was later named in his honor.

Question 4

True or false: The first European to sail through Torres Strait was Captain James Cook.

Accepted Answer

False. Spanish explorer Luis Váez de Torres sailed through in 1606, more than 160 years before Cook's 1770 voyage through the strait.

Question 5

True or false: Torres Strait contains over 1,000 islands.

Accepted Answer

False. Torres Strait has about 274 islands, with only a few dozen inhabited. Claims of over 1,000 are incorrect.

Question 6

True or false: Torres Strait connects the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean.

Accepted Answer

False. Torres Strait connects the Coral Sea (part of the Pacific) to the Arafura Sea, not the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean lies far to the west.

Question 7

True or false: The Torres Strait Islands are home to a distinct Indigenous culture known as Torres Strait Islanders.

Accepted Answer

True. Torres Strait Islanders are a Melanesian people with their own language, customs, and history, separate from Aboriginal Australians.

Question 8

True or false: The Torres Strait Treaty, signed in 1978, defines maritime boundaries between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Accepted Answer

True. This treaty established the seabed and fisheries boundaries, also protecting traditional way of life for Torres Strait Islanders.

Torres Strait Trivia Questions