Torres Strait

/tawr"iz, tor"-/

a strait between NE Australia and S New Guinea. 80 mi. (130 km) wide.

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Passage between the island of New Guinea and Australia's Cape York Peninsula.

It connects the Coral Sea and the Arafura Sea. It was discovered in 1606 by Spanish navigator Luis Vaez de Torres. About 80 mi (130 km) wide, it has many reefs, shoals, and islands, including the Torres Strait Islands, and is treacherous to navigate.

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▪ strait, Pacific Ocean

      passage between the Coral Sea, on the east, and the Arafura Sea, in the western Pacific Ocean. To the north lies New Guinea and to the south Cape York Peninsula (Queensland, Australia). It is about 80 mi (130 km) wide and has many reefs and shoals dangerous to navigation, and its larger islands are inhabited. Discovered (1606) by the Spanish mariner Luis Vaez de Torres, its existence was kept secret until 1764. The second European to sail the strait (1774) was Capt. James Cook. The Australia–Papua New Guinea boundary is about 3 mi from the New Guinea shore.

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